Many Waves, Yet One Ocean | One Addict's Experience

The nuances and details of our lives are unique and different for each of us, yet the nature of feelings and needs tend to be the same.

What drives this Reality home for me in my direct practice of recovery is meditating by water. It can be oceans... lakes... rivers... creeks. Either sitting or standing, I breathe and watch... endless rising and falling ripples and waves... with their own very unique personalities... size... power... flow... emerging from and returning to the sameness of the water that it came from.

I do this because it reminds me of my experiences, the people I get to encounter, and the fact that no matter what the specific name of the person is... the eye color... the hair color... the skin color... the height... the things they like or dislike... the preferences and tendencies... where they or I grew up... the endlessly different lives and experiences that we've had... my truth is that the feelings and the needs are the same. It's also a very real reminder that "As long as the ties that bind us together... the ability to feel and love past the seeming differences... and we don't allow the disease... ego... the restlessness, irritability, disconnection, and discontent of the mind to tear us apart... divide and separate us... all will be well.

Just for today... I will take periodic vacations throughout the day... maybe 2... 3... or 5 minutes to reflect on specific people in my life... appreciating and honoring both our similarities and differences, following it up with acts of gratitude.

Calligraphy Note:

同心 | Dō Shin | Sameness of heart and mind... agreement within the same heart... harmony of heart and mind... without differences in heart or mind.