Change is the only constant.  Most of the time we go about our lives without any recognition of how impermanent everything is.  We remain blissfully unaware until an event so impactful stops us in our tracks and takes our breath away.  It’s in these moments, no matter how, painful, awkward or beautiful that we are reminded how quickly everything can change.  

Moments like this remind us that what we take for granted as constant is often anything but.  They have the power to instill a sense of urgency to live in the present and be thankful for what we know.  At the same time they can also challenge us to not let the fear of what we do not know paralyze us from the present. There is beauty in the contrast of urgency and cautiousness these experiences can leave us with.

Recently my family lost its eldest matriarch a woman who had been the strong foundation to many.  Someone who has had a deeper impact on my life, and others, than I could ever have imagined.  She was alive during the second World War and the great depression.  She saw the civil and women's rights movements come into the mainstream.  What she saw I cannot even begin to fathom.  But what I do understand from both first hand experience and stories that were shared is that she was strong, resilient and kind.  She gave her time, her energy, her faith and most importantly her intellectuality to leave this world a better place.

While the pain of her passing and the fear that I wasn’t present enough is real the fact that she is gone has re-inspired a sense of urgency to live life fully.  To not take for grated what I can not know but most importantly to embrace the qualities I know have had a lasting impact on my life; altruism and empathy.  

These qualities are not simple or easy to embody they take courage to practice and time integrate.  But I know that the more I approach each person and each situation with these qualities I can begin to make the world a more connected and less divided place. Since change is the only constant I can only hope that my approach may influence others to do the same and perhaps one day our collective impact will be great.  All I know is I hope to leave this world a better place and to find grace in the change

It was  a long dry summer and as the days turned from hot and baking to wet and damp there was a collective sigh of relief.  Drought has taken its toll this year and I have secretly craved the rain.  While the endless blue sky of this summer was beautiful it was also a reminder of the changing climate and the shifting seasons.  

I craved the rain not only because we desperately needed it but because when it rains it is like we’re given permission to slow down.  To cuddle up with a book and take a day to rest away from the chaos.  This is often times the respite we so desperately need yet never give ourselves permission to take until the rain reminds us that there is another way and it is slower.

Just the sound of the rain is calming.  The pitter patter on the roof of a house, the gurgle of the gutters as it searches for the ground.  Even the booms and crashes of lightning remind us of excitement within the calm.  

Now I acknowledge that not every rain is soothing.  Some storms are big and scary but the rain no matter how brief or torrential has a way of helping us take pause.  Reminding us that there is more to life then our jobs and smartphones.  That what really matters may not even be what we think about on a daily basis but more importantly what surrounds us.