True North

I have a beloved friend who reminds me to place my feet on twelve o'clock, on True North. It's a helpful cue that sparks presence, regrounding. It reminds me to show up.

Let's talk about showing up--about ignoring the noise and distractions and tuning in to the true thing, the real thing, the right thing, the thing that feels like home and carries us forward.

Showing up means drawing from our past to help shape our future. It means not repeating behaviors that hurt. It means using all of our knowledge--our intellect and our emotional sensibility and our instincts--to be as whole and aware as possible. Showing up is loving inquiry. It's openness. It's allowing vulnerability and bravery to exist side by side without letting one overpower the other.

Yesterday morning, having just finished a run, I stood breathless and sweating in this spot. I felt my heart beating in my chest. I felt my toes in my shoes. I felt my legs (a little weak) and my hips (a little achy) and I realized that showing up starts the same way a run starts--with faith, with one step into the unknown, with a desire to brush your fingertips against the very edges, with love and with trust and with a solid sense of self.

And I realized this: I always want to show up for this life--for these years we have together, to make a difference, to make the people I love laugh and feel special. I always want to place my feet on twelve o'clock and make eye contact and laugh out loud. I want to feel this life as much as I possibly can.