The word freedom covers a lot of territory. It's something we fight for and sometimes hide from. It's something everyone wants and deserves, and on closer examination, it demands of us a willingness to surrender...

So often, we are our harshest critic. The source of our impatience with others can be easily traced to our impatience with ourselves. What would it be like if that harshness were to soften, inside and out? If there were a way to view our life journeys as a process of ripening rather than falling short, or weakness, or even success...

In a matter of a few minutes, we could probably tell someone who knew nothing about us the basic pattern of our days. It would be a broad brush stroke, but pretty easy to lay out what goes into a typical day -- from morning routines to the day to day of work, children, pets, caring for loved ones, friends, our intentions around exercise, and other things that make up a "normal" day. What would get missed in the broad brushstroke, however, is the sweetness, the messy parts, the little details that put color into the picture...

There is something very comforting about a calm lake or a gently flowing stream--a place to gaze or dream, breath deeply, and relax. This is so very needed in our world. And yet, we are also drawn to cascading water and rivers rushing far above their banks. We need this too: the push, the edge, the wildness that comes with being "out there..."

We can try to measure growth. Certainly work and school environments have systems in place to track learning or assess strategies. We set goals, use metrics and analytics to measure deliverables, and track growth. And yet, there is a whole dimension...

We make assumptions. All the time. From first impressions to reading "into" things; from assuming outcomes to judging what we see. It is our nature. And it can lead to colossal misunderstandings or hurt feelings, to name a few...

Our lives mirror the weather and seasons. Anyone who's had enough spins around the sun knows this--the cycles of ups and downs, the understanding that there are beginnings and endings and back again...

All of us carry a unique blend of possibilities and routine. Sometimes they are entwined--things we've done or believed for a long time begin to shift. Other times, the possibilities are a new direction, a path we've not taken before...

Call it a gut reaction or some deeper form of knowing. Once in a while you have a sense that you should do something, say something, or perhaps stop doing or saying something. Often these thoughts come to you unbidden, when you aren't focused on whatever it is...