Is there a way?

Is there a way?

Isn’t this one of the questions 
We spent most of our sleepless nights on
Since the beginning of time?

Is there a way?

Is there a path through this?
Is there a way to make it?
Is there…?

The moment a storm starts to rise 
we tend to focus right away
On how to get out of it.

But what about 
The version of ourselves
The storm is supposed to turn us into?

Storms can be scary.
At least, they scare me. 
I think they’re supposed to.

Like walking into a forest 
that gets thicker, and thicker, and thicker
They make our breath go quiet 
And senses grow more alert.

They make us notice.
Stretch our awareness.
Enhance.

And maybe that’s the point.

To reclaim a state of presence we lost
And it’s needed — for what lays ahead.

“I need a practice that meets the intensity of this age” 
said Josh Schrei in a recent episode of the The Emerald

And I felt that. 

I feel the longing
For a relationship with that storm and forest
That spells “I know I’m meant to be here”
More than “how do I get out?”

And so let’s stand still. 

In these times of rising storms
Rising temperatures
Rising voices
And rising fears

Let’s
Stand
Still.

And reclaim our birthright 
to let that storm reveal our core 
And teach us how to become soil
Where fear and hate can’t grow.

~

I'm writing this as I embark on a journey to a remote region of Japan, to train with a Samurai for 10 days.

This might look like the opposite of "standing still".

But it's precisely that longing for inner stillness
For rooted presence
For bone-deep discernment
That set me on this journey in the first place.

I've never had so many people asking me "but you're coming back, right?"

I guess there's a part of me that craves for faraway places and deep practices more than frontline work — and people can tell.

But I trust I'll see you on the other side.

Hopefully still, and hopefully standing
and remember — when in doubt
let's just keep braiding roots and branches.

With love,
~M*

PS — What are your storms? How do you find your stillness? What helps you when things get thicker? I always love to read you. If you'd like to share, I'm all eyes and hears. 🤍