February 2021

I love you.

We’ve been through so much since I last wrote you. When I wrote last month that we are experiencing transcendent moments, I was aware of a global shift in our consciousness.

January 2021 will be remembered for all time as a transcendent moment in the vast memory of history. Each of us will carry the reality of January 6 on our shoulders.

Two weeks later, collectively, we experienced the ceremony, dignity, pageantry, ritual and resolve of the transfer of power in our country when the inauguration of the 46th President of the United States took place at the Capitol.

In those transformative moments of tradition, pomp and elegance, I felt we were experiencing hope made visible. When the youngest inaugural poet, Amanda Gorman, age 22, gave voice at the inauguration ceremony, this angel graced the podium and we together experienced a transcendent moment.

“The Hill We Climb” was inspired by the uprising at the Capitol on January 6. Amanda Gorman calls us to rise up, “to offer hope and laughter to ourselves” as we “rebuild, reconcile and recover.”

We will soldier on. Shoulders back, chin up. We have work to do. We’ll all roll up our sleeves as “we lift our gaze.” Onward and upward. I’m reminded of Peter’s arrows he drew piercing a heart at the end of his notes and love letters. His arrowheads always pointed upward toward the North Star, toward the light of truth, the trust of love.

To put February, the month of love, in a universal perspective, I want each of us to read out loud Amanda’s 710-word poem. I experienced her composure, brilliance, confidence and compassion with a flood of tears and a body tingling with soul-bumps. I felt alive, aware of our connectivity to all of humanity.

You and I are called to be light bearers. We all light candles. We revere those mentors and brave heroes who have encouraged us to find our passion, our purpose and meaning for being. “The new dawn blooms as we free it.” You and I have a mysterious bond that binds us together. I feel love’s power more deeply now than ever. I feel certain that we are headed in the same direction as the light of truth and love guide us.

I’m opening my eyes, reaching out my arms, embracing the awakening of unconditional love. I walk on the sunny side of the street, move from room to room in the cottage to be in the light. By taking time to mindfully reflect on all the beauty I see, feel, hear, touch, taste and smell, I am fully present to just how wondrous it is to be alive.

As much as we can rejoice at all our good fortune to love life, this pandemic has brutally taken lives away. I received a thoughtful letter from a friend (through my writing) who began her medical career in Atlanta in the 1980s. I inquired what I can encourage us to do to prevent getting Covid and spreading it. Susan Claire appreciated my acknowledgment of just how sad and exhausting the medical field’s hospital work has been during this past year.

She suggested the following in her letter:

• Believe and urge all your friends to trust the science. Covid-19 can be a deadly disease.
• Get the vaccine. (I just had my second dose today!)
• Continue to wear masks.
• Social distance until significant numbers of us are vaccinated.

We have to take the long view. Susan Claire reminds us that “this won’t last forever.” Her advice is known to us. I’m grateful to be reminded of the simple but not easy things we need to do to stay safe.

Be brave and strong and do not take any unnecessary risks until the science gives us the green light. Covid-19 is what we are living through now. It is crucial that we respond and do everything in the power of our will to take responsibility for everyone’s safety.

I highly recommend the special edition of Time magazine called “The Power of Joy: Elevate Your Life * Finding Joy in Trying Times * A Spiritual Peak.” Joy is always timely. A quote from Grace Notes, my daily meditation book, for January 27 is so apt for our situation today. It’s a wise Native American saying: “Sorrow shared is halved and joy shared is doubled.”

It’s natural to feel sorrow when we experience loss. I always think back to Peter’s and my mutual Sanskrit motto, “Participate with joy in the sorrows of the world.” Each one of us, in our own individual way, is experiencing the reality of the massive suffering and loss of life. We are in a pandemic with no clear end in sight. Now, perhaps more than ever, we can focus on joy.

With compassion for all those who are deeply suffering, we can rejoice in our ability to empathize with their pain. Through the intangible power of love, we can be a source of comfort and undying support. I cry, feeling the anguish loved ones suffer. I also understand that joy comes in the morning. We are all intertwined in the invisible threads that bind us together.

When we love, there is happiness and joy. Without love, darkness. Joy is paradoxical. When I learn of someone hurting, my heart immediately focuses on what I can do to ease their anxiety and distress—a phone call, a note, flowers or a prayer. I always can light a candle, think good thoughts, and I find I have more pep in my step.

“The Power of Joy” makes us realize joy is highly contagious. It’s easy to transmit. We can be an oasis of peace and a pool of serenity that can ripple out to all those around us.

Many of you have read The Book of Joy by the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with Douglas Abrams. “The Power of Joy” magazine has meaningful, memorable excerpts from this tear-wrenching book that was published in 2016. Two spiritual leaders, both Nobel Peace Prize winners, whose joy is “burnished by the fire of adversity, oppression and struggle,” met at His Holiness’s India home in exile for a week.

The central theme of their exciting reunion’s conversation was that by being a “reservoir of joy” we can help others heal and also foster our own happiness. “Together they explored how we can transform joy from an ephemeral state into an enduring trait, from a fleeting feeling into a lasting way of being.” We form a virtual cycle. “The more we turn toward others, the more joy we experience. The more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others.” Archbishop Tutu believes we are “meant for a very profound complementarity”: “We are bound up together. We are bound up and can be human only together.”

Of all the wise people who have taught me the most, it is this humble Buddhist monk, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Happiness is his way of being. Joy is how he approaches the world. This living, breathing human being is jolly. “The human drama is often a comedy,” he wrote, “and laughter is the saving grace.” Thank you, Peter and the Dalai Lama for the laughter, smiles and lightness of being that you grace me with this “dark winter” of the pandemic. By providing comic relief, we have moments of lightheartedness as antidotes to counteract the intensity of our own existential threats as well as our inevitable anguish.

The Dalai Lama teaches us everything we ever have to know and feel about happiness and joy. If we want to be happy and if we want others to be happy as a way of being, we must cultivate compassion in our daily practices of mindful meditation and prayer.

Allow the Dalai Lama’s timeless words to speak to you: “I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not but, at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.”

His Holiness chooses his words carefully. He instructs us that as “humans who live on earth,” we have been assigned by destiny to take on the difficult undertaking of “making a happy life for ourselves.” Our tools are free will and choices that support this ultimate state of being. Karma teaches us about cause and effect. Positive, wholesome actions are the root causes of happiness and joy.

February is, has been and will be forever the month of love. When we take the task of making a happy life for ourselves seriously, we realize we can’t put our lives on hold. I often hear people lament, “I can’t wait until this pandemic ends,” or “I’ll be happy when life gets back to normal.” The harsh reality is that when everything in our life runs smoothly, we have a tendency to take happiness for granted. There is nothing typical in our lives now. Each one of us has to figure out how to become enlightened as soon as possible. Because each of us is profoundly individual, we are responsible for envisioning spring in the heart of darkness. I tenderly water and mist my plants and flowers. I kiss the buds that are soon to blossom.

Our days are now becoming brighter, longer. We’re headed in the right direction. We’ve just had another snowfall, painting nature into a quiet, pure wonderland. The temperature has dropped to the low teens at night. I luxuriate in bundling up, keeping warm as I spend more time inside the cottage I so dearly love.

Brooke miraculously was able to get an appointment for me to have my first vaccine shot the end of January, rescheduled from March 8. I received the shot and am feeling fine. I’m celebrating my good fortune in all aspects of my life. I’m thriving on your unconditional love, grateful you and I have each other to “love up.”

While my heart is wide open with an expansive feeling of joy, please remember what a huge role you play in my well-being. It is all my friends-in-love who make me the whole person I am. You are role models of the pure love that makes us inseparable.

Happy February 2021. Happy Valentine’s Day 2021!