Agnes Martin, Untitled, 1988
Welcome to Hold Nothing; thank you for being here. If you choose a paid subscription, you’ll have access to the entire archives, be able to comment on all posts, and attend our monthly Live Gatherings, during which we have talks, writing, learning and discussion time. All subscriptions here are donated to causes supporting women and children.
Our next Live Gathering is Wednesday, July 2nd, 12pm Eastern, and this week’s meditation for paid subscribers is below. If you have financial restriction, scholarships are available. Don’t hesitate to ask.
Today, for you and your humans, whether you live in the Middle East, Los Angeles, anywhere in between, and are feeling the unmistakable reverberations of pain. First, from new friend
Please
If you are one who has practice
meeting the pain of the world,
we need you. Right now we need you
to teach us it is possible to swallow
what is weighty and still be able to rise.
We need you to remind us we can
be furious and scared and near feral
over injustice and still thrill at the taste
of a strawberry, ripe and sweet,
can still meet a stranger and shake
their hand, believing in their humanness.
We need you to show us how
we, too, can fall into the darkest,
unplumbed pit and learn there
a courage and beauty
we could never learn from the light.
If you have drowned in sorrow
and still have somehow found
a way to breathe, please, lead us.
You are the one with the crumbs
we need, the ones we will use to find
our way back to the home of our hearts.
—Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Before we move on, let’s commit to living our most fearless contentment, with big doses of self-empathy when feelings of sadness creep in. We are tasked to live fearlessly contented, every day as if it’s our last.
If you have any insight of benefit, feel free to share with us here. Below you’ll find a few chances to study together, then a meditation for you.
Summer Study: If you practice yoga asana and resonate with the philosophy, here is a free two-week journey to enrich and delight you. Two weeks of study with Alberto and me, FREE. Come sit with us; I’m interested to hear how this lands for you. Click the images below for more details.
The Inner Practice of Medicine, July 10th -13th at Upaya Zen Center
Serving the doctors who do their best to operate within our flawed medical system, this program brings together ideas, humans and practice to create change in the world. Offering intervals of movement during this important weekend for clinicians at Upaya Zen Center is an honor.
“This program is truly revolutionary, and the seeds of changes sown in the hearts of this remarkable group of physicians will no doubt be a catalyst for the healing of our broken medical system from within.”
-Emily O., DO, Interventional Radiology
“Enlightening and important work is done here. To help reform, change, and transform medicine, we physicians must first ground ourselves, identify and honor our limitations, connect with ourselves and each other. I will be better able to serve my patients, staff and colleagues moving forward. Many people talk about physicians’ growing lack of satisfaction in their work—this is one important way to help mitigate the problem, and an important tool to help us prevent it in future generations. Should be taught at every medical school.”
-Cheryl D., MD, Emergency Medicine and Palliative Medicine
Our reading and meditation for this week are below. May we find steady ground together.
The Big M, Weekend Retreat with Dr. Sara (Gottfried) Szal and me, Sept 12th-16th
Join us in the magnificent fall light of Santa Fe, for a long weekend of practice, learning, listening, walking, movement, healing food and the best company, specifically for women. This small, twenty-person retreat will be an ideal way to end the summer and begin a new season.
Watch our short chat to learn more.
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