Change

The leaves are at peak in southern Vermont! I happened to have a session in person in my home office, and I was delighted to be able to drive up the mountain to see the Green Mountains all red and gold. It's amazing how nature puts on a show before the sudden change to sticks, snow, and stillness.

Life is like that sometimes, isn't it! Change comes with a big performance. Sometimes it's beautiful, like the mountains in the fall. Sometimes it's harrowing and it feels like we'll never get back to our center. We can never know exactly what the change will be when we're still inside it.

I've been thinking about this idea of change and finding center. How do you find your center when the boat keeps rocking? For me, I always come back to spiritual practice. That's my center. For others, it might be something else, like being in nature or making music. I don't know that it matters what it is, so long as it is something. What's the thing you keep coming back to, year after year, as your anchor?

The word anchor has come up for me in journeys a few times over the past six months or so. It's interesting, and it gives me a lot to think about. What good is finding center if you can't stay centered? What anchors you? For me, again, my spiritual practice keeps me from becoming unmoored. That doesn't mean I'm perfect at staying consistent, especially when I'm busy. But I don't think that's a bad thing. What use is an anchor, except for a ship that can set sail? Being centered is a process, not a destination. We live through change after change, always, hopefully, finding our center again.