“The difference between misery and happiness depends on what we do with our attention”

- Sharon Salzberg

In the middle of a weekend meditation retreat, at the end of a long day, my Zen teacher said to me,

"You know, people are really beautiful."

I looked down at the ground, thinking about this. I was carrying a large cushion and couldn't see my feet. I understood completely, but didn't know how to respond. It felt like a secret was being shared. A secret everyone knows, but no one talks about. After a short pause, I replied,

"Yes, but we often don't see it."

He nodded. Something about the moment made me feel incredibly sad. And yet I had never experienced more energy pulsing through my heart. By the end of the retreat, my heart was bursting and I wanted to hug everyone. I simply couldn't help myself. I felt and continue to feel such an enormous gratitude that it has brought me to tears more times than I'd like to admit in the past couple of weeks.

("Sometimes we feel like Clark Kent, and sometimes, if we are lucky, we feel like Superman." - Christopher Reeves)