Here I am.
I have witnessed the pain of loved ones, colleagues, and clients, and nothing could fill the void of not being truly listened to. The connections that transformed people were the ones where authenticity could flourish: where stories were exchanged in confidence, and where touch was offered to replenish, not to take. Selfless giving. The constant push for inner work, however beneficial, will never fully ripen unless we practice it alongside others.
For a long time, I was clenching. Gripping my armor tight, building walls around my heart, and yearning for spaces where I could exist without them. So I made myself a promise: I would create places where others and I don't have to stay braced all the time. We are not constant improvement projects. We are symbiosis. We are permeable beings, moved by the tides, the seasons, and the living things around us.
Who are we if not in relation to the other?
masks from San Juan’s Art Museum, May 2026
In the morning, I get ready for the work with a cup of coffee. In the other room, a Tom Petty CD I borrowed from the library is playing.
And the days went by like paper in the wind
Everything changed then changed again
It's hard to find a friend
It's hard to find a friend
Memories start to surface: moments with friends and loved ones, the beautiful ones and the complicated ones. Sometimes they feel almost prophetic, glimpses of the tangled web we're all part of. If I share joy, more joy spreads. If I share misery, discontent, or fear, that spreads instead. Climbing out of my own head feels a lot like coming out of a deep meditation.
As I come out of the silence of meditation, I try to remember that stillness is not an escape. It's a homecoming. The quiet I touch within is the same quiet that lives in all of us: a place where the nervous system rests and the heart remembers its natural rhythm.
Stillness clarifies perception and softens reactivity. From that ground, we can respond instead of react, and offer a presence that calms instead of amplifies. When we nourish that inner well, our outward action flows with courage, clarity, and compassion. Joy, when shared, never decreases.
So we return to this stillness not to hide from the world, but to meet it: steady, awake, and loving. Be still… then show up. Carry your inner fire into the storm.
I'll speak to you soon.
With love and warmth,
L. — Recovering healer, somatic storyteller.
