Last month, on my daily walk along the Railroad Trail in Montclair, spring was pushing her way up through dirt covered in old eucalyptus droppings. Bright yellow eggleaf spurge, the sweet, white-flowered three-cornered leek, and cow parsnip - small now, but soon to be seven feet tall - will be hovering over me as I walk by.
It’s my fourth year walking this path in spring, and every year I marvel at the beauty, as well as how nature consistently marks the passing of time. How she reliably shows up, reminding us that we are held by something larger than our personal highs and lows.
The challenges are inevitable. How we meet them is the work of meaning."
Transparently, there have been recent challenges that have knocked me off center - calling me to tune in, make adjustments, and, most importantly, continue surrendering to the growth that comes from meeting life as it is… not as I wish it to be.
What I struggle with most is how to hold it all while maintaining perspective. How to flow with the busi-ness without being swept up in it. How to do the work while remaining connected to that larger something. The challenges are inevitable. How we meet them is the work of meaning.
The call to beauty is not only in what we are tangibly creating through buildings and interior spaces; it is a call to meet the creative process, the endless to-dos, the running of a business that supports people, and everything in between with as much awareness, softness, and kindness as possible in each moment. It lies in doing the real-life human work and learning the real-life human lessons so that we can show up with excellence, while at the same time remembering that it all means nothing if not done with integrity, love, and our very best effort.
May we exist in muddy water with purity like the lotus."
— Zen meal chant
The quote above reminds me that even in the “mud” of daily living, beauty can and does exist.
Wishing you an easeful and beautiful late spring.
XO