The world around us is so much more than nice or pretty. Every one of us—every one of you—is exquisite. Captivating. Just waiting for someone to remove their glasses and take a closer look.

Responsiveness is divine. It’s the stuff of co-creation. We can’t co-create without others. They sail that tennis ball back to our end of the court, rarely where we expect them to send it.

Creating is exciting. Co-creating is even better. You never know what's going to happen or how. Someone who suggested we meet up for a hike couldn't make it. The players shift and change, but every contribution counts. Each shapes the culture and activities a group stands for.

The rose who blooms these long nights of November will not stand down. Children stop to sniff, but her scent is faraway, like the long days of summer. The rose bows in reverence to what's lost, and still she perseveres.

The view from the top allows us to assess, gives us distance from each individual care, so we can pull them altogether as one. How our lives fit us from this perspective is all. I am poised here, orchestrating my masterpiece. That's really all we have.

In this space of witnessing, of feeling with one side and another, learning emerges. I wonder, how can we better hear what's important to each other on a grander scale? How can we better see across party lines into the heart of pain on one another's "side"?

I meandered to my gate, 3 hours early, and happened to see on the board that the plane at that moment was leaving the gate for Portland. Had I been stressed, this would likely have not registered in my visual field. We see and hear less when stressed.

With priming, it's more important to dial in to the feeling than it is to imagine the specifics of how you want to see those feelings come to be.

Most honeysuckle is not edible, but this beauty is indeed. Its berries taste like liquid toffee to me, though it's heralded to be a "chocolate berry.”

A beloved has moved on from this planet. She paints with the clouds, whispers secrets in the wind. My friend is gone, and she is everywhere.

The fruits of our efforts arrive when neural pathways are forged and trust is built.

Just because my childhood was hard at the time doesn’t mean it always has to be hard. Now that I see the value of my childhood, every aspect of it, I feel differently than I did then.

Green beans steamed, green beans sautéed, green beans stewed or in vinaigrette. I believed these to be the all the contents in the bag of green bean options.

I wonder why I tried this berry twice. I think it was the voluptuous beauty and rosy hue. Aren’t they pretty?

All of this is outside of my comfort zone. But the lake now has my full attention. How often do we zero in on discomfort as opportunity?

One place you can find me is at the creek outside of town. Reading, taking notes, asking crayfish for a download.

Can you step outside of your lifebubble that far? Can you pan out to see summer fruit, all the gifts of today, with eyes that fresh?

The ecstasy of a Saturday truly off did not come easily. I bucked against it for some time, sure I had “too much to do” in my business and garden. But I had read the statistics. I get that our productivity goes up when we have a little time off.

At the end of July, who is thinking of winter? The baby kale. It’s not easy to take root in the heat of summer. All respect to these youngsters.

The Unknown often brings the unavoidable, doesn’t it? After my bout of resistance and allowing emotions safe passage I primed for what I wanted.