Beyond Enough
January 27, 2025: Today, I turn 70. It brings so many thoughts, reflections, feelings, and gratitude. Here, in Sanibel, on a gloriously sunny day, watching the sun sparkle on the waves as they roll to shore, I am on my knees in awe, contentment, and devotion.
Just this moment of grace and glory is enough. It is beyond ‘enough’; it is abundant with beauty. This moment is nature at its most bounteous, life at its most generous.
This fragile island is much like life itself—beautiful and bountiful yet subject to the impersonal laws of nature, and it can come to an unwelcome end at any time. Two and a half years ago, Hurricane Ian came to this area and wreaked havoc, destruction, and devastation that many people and businesses, trees, animals, and vegetation have not recovered from. It all changed in a flash, not unlike the recent fires in LA.
I believe the way to reconcile this is to savor what we have while we have it, keep it close in our hearts, and simultaneously hold it lightly enough that a hard twist and turn doesn’t do us in. I’m reminded of Mary Oliver’s words:
"To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and when the time comes, to let it go."
None of it is truly ours, at the end of the day, not even our very lives. We’re here for this brief moment in time, built for love, connection, creativity, and joy no matter the circumstances, even when conditions obscure our access at times.
I fully realize I say this from a place of extreme privilege, which is not so for all humans and for which I am deeply grateful. And it remains true that we – all of us – are here for a moment. My wish, my prayer, my aspiration, is to savor it, share it, and with some frequency, to bow down before the unspeakable miracle of it all.
I write this sitting on a chair in the sand, watching that play of light on these gentlest of waves. I write in a journal whose pages are sprinkled with words of wisdom from beloved teacher Pema Chodron. On this very page on which I write, I discover these words:
“Joy has to do with seeing how big, how completely unobstructed, and how precious things are.”
As I enter this new decade, I have no idea what lies ahead. I imagine it will be a mix of the welcome and the unwelcome, so for now, I will let joy in, savor what is good, and yet hold it lightly enough so that when things change, I don’t get rope burn.
May we see the preciousness of life with eyes, hearts, and minds that attune to and welcome in … joy. We need this now more than ever.
Where do you find joy in your life these days?
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