So now here we are. Each of us in our own family units, our own communities, this country, and the world, together in this same wild situation. Reminded every day – every moment, in fact - how inextricably interwoven our cells and well-being and lives as beings on this planet are.

"I love the thing that I most wish had not happened." Talk about fierce acceptance.

And that's what we're doing with all this awareness cultivation. We're learning to create more space to help us accept whatever "is" in our lives. The pleasant, the unpleasant, and everything in between.

It's never too late to start cultivating a new level of kindness toward ourselves. Self-compassion practice is where we can begin.

What might shift for you if you were to act as if everything your heart most desires is already on its way? If you could relax and trust that you're right on track, how would you use this down time to weed your garden and prep the soil for the sweet new things about to blossom? What happens when you stop waiting and start preparing?

Keeping an open heart in this world isn't for the faint of heart.

Staying as open as possible while simultaneously protecting our energy and soft spots when appropriate. Riding out the open and closed phases of the heart.

And the reality is, the heart does open and close. Rhythmically. Naturally.

Our work is to let ourselves feel life in its insanely wide spectrum as best we're able.

We stay quiet because we fear if we put words to the things we fear most about ourselves, it will confirm that they're true. Paradoxically, the reality is the moment we share our secret shame - our monster in the closet - someone else inevitably chimes in with "Oh my God, you too? I thought it was just me!!"

The truth is, beating yourself up all day isn’t actually making you more productive.

The habit of beating yourself up as an attempt at motivation is actually likely damming your flow up way more than you realize.

Yes, long-held beliefs have layers. But if you chip away steadily and with heart-centered intention, you'll get to their core, and you'll uncover what's actually always been true: That you are 100% whole. That there is nothing you need "out there" that you don't already have "in here." That you are fully capable of giving and receiving love. And that you are worthy of love. Right. Now.

We don't have trouble feeling happy about someone else's happiness because we're terrible people. We have trouble feeling it when we want something like what they have for ourselves...

And we secretly fear we may never be able to have it.

You never know whose life you might be changing for the better right this second by just showing up. There's no different way, no "more” you need to be to positively impact someone's life right now.

Sitting around focusing on my heart and repeating that I wish myself and others well, and expecting it to actually change anything? Please. I felt way too far gone for that. But its simplicity is precisely why the practice of loving-kindness is so brilliant. It's like a backdoor into self-love.