Consider for a minute that you are merely an organism on this planet. You are the result of every effect following another effect so far back that we cannot make out the fuzzy long distance image of what an original cause might have been. This moment you are experiencing right now is exactly what needs to happen and is what creates the moment you are experiencing now just seconds later. Imagine that there are countless timelines all moving forward and intersecting each other, with every person, every animal, every molecule experiencing a varied experience of the very same shared moment in history.

Life is so beautiful because of it’s diversity/difference and rich lush landscapes with one complex harmony of structures meeting another. The intricate network of nutrients in transit in the structure of a leaf sits against the cold lifeless concrete that’s been from the soil, to the factory, to the truck, laid down by a worker and has now seen thousands of these leaves live and die against it. When I slow down and think about the complexity of every object, every being, every aspect of my daily experience, I find that not only is the world inherently forever in motion and constantly changing but that each and every state of every thing is perfect.

As an employee of Café Gratitude, I have a variety of feelings and thoughts on the closing of the company. Most of all, I am deeply saddened by the actions that brought it to this point. Yes, I grieve the loss of my job, but more importantly, I am grieving the loss of the company which has been so life-giving throughout the five years I have been an employee.

The staff meeting we had right after we found out about the company going out of business was full of emotions and questions. In the history of my time at Café Gratitude, staff meetings have always inspired me, and this day was no different. As I left the café that morning, I walked past the fire station. The fire fighters must have been doing some training or testing of the water because I saw a huge fountain of water spurting up in the air, the forceful fountain that can only come from a powerful hydrant. The kind of water that puts out fires. And I realize that's exactly what this feels like – a forest fire, burning everything in its path to the ground. In that moment, seeing the fountain of water in the early morning sun, I realized that anyone standing on the opposite side of it must have seen the biggest, brightest rainbow ever. I was sure of it. The wall of spray was so thick, and the sun was so bright, I was sure that the rainbow must have been glorious. I decided to go out of my way to simply catch a glimpse of that magnificent rainbow. Before I got there,

 though, the water spray stopped. I had missed my chance. But even just thinking about that rainbow and how beautiful it must have been put a smile on my face that lasted for several minutes. That's how powerful imagination is. The rainbow that day gave me hope.

This week I encourage you to be courageously transparent.  Consider that we create walls surrounding our authentic selves in fear of not being loved.  As Matthew Engelhart says, all we are ever really saying is “love me” or “I love you”.  I’m beginning to notice that most of us are so caught up in ourselves, trying to conceal parts of ourselves in fear of not being loved that we don’t look up to see others.  

Sometimes I feel so alone that I never open my eyes to see that I am constantly in community and there are millions feeling the same way.  What will it take for us to be loved?  Be ourselves!  This week I invite you to open up to your truest self, whatever that means to you. If there is something that you are hiding in fear of judgment, then you are not giving others the opportunity to love all of you, to love you to the core.  I invite you to crack your castle walls and lower your defenses to be seen for who you truly are.  Maybe this means thinning a mask of makeup for a day.  Maybe this means expressing when you are hurt.  Maybe, just maybe, it means telling someone that you love them.  How funny we are in our aim to be loved and yet withhold loving.  It’s up to us to break the cycle.  My invitation to you is to lower your walls and connect more deeply with those around you.  Imagine a community of people truly knowing each other and having such a safe container to love each other in.  Know that the only thing at stake in speaking up is your ego.  Remember that we love you, that you are powerful, that you are perfect.  Thank you for who you are, and for who you aren’t.