I've been thinking a lot lately about grace.  How much easier it is for me to grant grace to others than myself.  And how when I don't grant myself grace...ease...I create so much suffering for myself. 

I'm a pick yourself up by your own bootstraps kinda gal.  I've been super independent since I showed up on Earth.  A famous phrase echoing the halls from me in our house when I was very young was "I do it."  And yes I did. I did many things.  But the perception that I did them on my own I believe is an illusion. 

"Spiritual practice is not what you are doing, but what you are thinking."  ~ Swami Satchidananda

I saw this quote earlier this week during my morning reflection.  And I loved it so much that it's been singing in my heart ever since.  What I love about it is the lesson I'm reminded of time and time again...that we always have an opportunity to turn anything we do into an act of devotion to what we care about most.

Welcome to Joy Tip Wednesday.  Where I've been collecting love letters from the Universe these days and I'm inviting you to do the same.  When my energetic battery feels low, I know it's time for some self care.  For some more time in silence.  Deep reflection.  And maybe even a trip up to New York to see my teacher Sri Dharma Mittra.  While classes with him, connection with amazing community, and time away refilled my battery so did something else.  Love letters.  Tons of them.  From the Universe.  They are always there when I'm receptive to them.  But the question, is I'm willing, open, and ready to see the love letters that the Universe is writing back to me each and every day cheering me on?  Telling me how much I'm always loved? How supported I am?  

Welcome to this week's addition of Joy Tip Wednesday where we let ourselves run free as the wild souls we are.  Here's what I believe.  I believe each of us are composed of irony.  An irony of both absolute uniqueness, never to be created again the same, and similarity with a Great Intelligence behind it all as the energy pulsating through every ounce of our very being.  Our uniqueness, the individual person that we are, is our greatest gift.  But also our hardest gift to stay true to and share with the world.

This week I've been thinking a lot about energies and mainframes.  Primarily scarcity versus abundance and problem solving versus appreciative inquiry.  About how often I think find myself asking the wrong questions and not the right ones.  

Boundaries.  They are something I've struggled with finding the right dance with most of my life.  I've either built up iron walls and boundaries so strong that no one can come in, or I've swung the door so far open that I open myself up to unexpected pain and suffering.