For you and I, the concept of time is a construct of human memory. A collection of past memories, and what we anticipate that is yet to come, is how we tend to make sense of time.

The fact that we have clocks is also kind of crazy…

You've never been born before, and you'll never be born again. Not like you are in this moment. Not with the body that houses your unique soul, not with the desires and dreams that light up your heart, not with the same loved ones with whom you're in relationship with, not in the city you call home and bobble around in, not with the service you're here to provide the world at this very moment.

Yet I bet, either some time today or at least in the past week, you've looked outside of yourself to bring happiness and fulfilment…

sa tu dirghakala nairantarya satkarasevito drdhabhumih

Practice that is done for a long time, without break and with sincere devotion becomes a firmly rooted, stable, and solid foundation.

Sutra 1.14

Want to know the real "secret"?

Here it is…

If there is ever to be a goal in life, it should be to be well rested.

From a well rested state, everything flourishes, and grows with strength and durability. We become better at both receiving what we need, and discerning of what we don't need.

When it comes to being well rested, I'm not just talking about sleep. Sleep is an important piece of the puzzle, but deep rest that results in a state we call 'restful alertness' takes life to a whole new level…

It came up in conversation a couple of days ago in my women's circle.

Do you feel the need to finish everything you start?

(We all agreed though, that often the opposite goes with books - will very happily start books, and not finish them without regret or concern).

Do you feel that if you don't finish something you started, that you've failed? Is it easy to let go, or do you finish what you started through suffering and/or hesitation, and a certain stuffiness from the ego?

You're not designed for everyone to like you.

*read that again*

If we're to turn to the wisdom of the Veda, people pleasing and the pressure it places upon us involves the focus of our divine attention outward of ourselves, which isn't moving with the tide and flow of evolutionary progress…

Imagine a world where the emergence of our senses in pristine form meets the truth of how things *really* are.

To experience all of those magic things, as Yeats so simply puts it.Is that flower over there just a yellow flower...or is it a yellow flower that has been formed entirely from the spontaneous perfection of nature’s intelligence, yielding a level of beauty beyond its size?

I’ve come to find, this sense of fearlessness has made itself at home within me.

I don’t remember the last time I was truly scared. I say that knowing there are horrible and scary things happening in the world and I haven’t had to deal with fear of my life on a moment to moment basis. Yet the truth is if we take away the environment that surrounds us, that uncertainty always remains.

Early this morning I was on my way to a 6am yoga class...or so I thought. Instead, I quickly became both a witness to a road accident, and a first responder. A cyclist was hit at a fair speed by a car travelling in the lane to the left of me, after failing to give way to the cyclist who was turning through a roundabout. I saw it all unfold in front of me and instead of turning right to the yoga studio, I pulled over to the left past the car who had hit the cyclist and prepared myself for the worst.

This week I fell into the work of Esther Perel following contemplation on this quote, which formed the theme for my women's circle with The Fifth Direction:

"I hold this to be the highest bond between two people: that each should stand guard over the solitude of another." - Rilke