Have you ever considered being hospitable to your thoughts and emotions that arise as though they are guests? Suspending judgement, giving the benefit of the doubt, asking questions to understand...

Most of us want to improve the relationships we have with our important people. Often (always?) there is a mix of joy and frustration with people we love, or the people we interact with on a regular basis. Sometimes there is more of frustration than joy but we are not able to easily change the situation.

And most of all, I am thankful I counted the cost and then went ahead with the day’s events. It was a lovely day.

The enneagram, a dynamic system that can lead to self-awareness and relational improvements, presents 9 types of people. These 9 are grouped into 3 triads, or centres of intelligence.

You’ve read the stuff or taken a test and you know your enneagram number. You have heard people talk about paths forward or moving towards growth or doing the work but so far all you see is a drawing with numbers and lines. How is this supposed to help with all the gunk in your life?

The Enneagram of Personalities, commonly called just the enneagram, is an internal map, leading us to investigate the experiences we prefer to keep hidden in our shadow: out of sight, out of mind. While it can be thought of as a personality typing system, there is more depth built into it.

This morning I have been reading about some of the science around different herbs. One herb that has caught my attention is Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis).

Moments of “being” are rare. Or at least our awareness of them tend to be rare. I think they happen more often when we are unaware of - not caught in paying attention to - ourselves. We can be in the flow of life, of an activity, a sport or a moment of stillness and then the moment fills us with amazement of “grace for us.” I love this kind of lack of self.

When it comes to to it, storytelling may not sound like the most efficient way of teaching, but I think it can count as efficient because what we learn through story tends to move into the very structure of how we live out our beliefs.

Grief comes to all of us. It’s one of the certainties in life. It isn’t fatal but it can feel that way.