Day 16,552 Gratitude

Today I am so grateful ...

For this morning's beautiful sunrise on this, the second day in a row of sunshine and blue skies. I was able to take a break from the indoor portion of the retreat to get outdoors and explore. The snow is melting. Birds are singing. And the sweet earth is emanating the scent of expectancy.

For the joy in reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. There are many people who I only get to see at these semi-annual retreats, so it always feels like a reunion. There are a number of repeat offenders such as myself. (Since 2002, I have attended no less than 10 times.) Sometimes friends tag along and new people hear of it and sign up in synchronistic ways. We had a full-house of 36 people for this January gathering! And after two years of corresponding by e-mail, I finally got the opportunity to meet Zeynep Yilmaz in person. She has done an amazing job of bringing the Cincinnati Reiki community together. I can't thank her enough for her hard work and dedication.

For the holding of sacred space ... for ourselves and each other. There is something so special about this place. The evidence is all around. We keep an altar together. Several, when you come to think of it. And the chapel where we have our yoga classes ... there's deep healing on tap there. It's as though all of the prayers by all of the people over all of the years and decades have been lovingly woven together to create a blanket of deep peace over every room, every building, every square acre. I arrive on empty and leave with a full tank. Every single time.

For watching the breakfast-fetching antics of the largest red-tailed hawk that I've ever seen. It hopped from branch to branch in a bare tree and then gracelessly scraped itself down the trunk to the ground. I wondered if it was injured or ill until I realized that it was trying to catch a squirrel that was desperately clinging to and winding its way around the tree. When I saw feathers come off of the hawk I wanted to run right over and see what treasures it had left for me, but wisely decided to wait. I went back a few hours later, greedily hoping for a tail feather or maybe one from the wing, but there were five downy feathers instead, probably from the chest or underwing. I'm secretly hoping that the squirrel prevailed.

What magical treasures or opportunities for deep peace have you found lately on your journey?