Day 4: A Reflective Morning, an Insightful Meeting, and The Urge to Speak

Part 1 of 2 (Exploring)

Each day of the retreat softened the edges of effort. But just as ease began to take root, something stirred beneath the surface. It was a familiar doubt, subtle but sharp.

This entry explores the tension between belonging and detachment, grasping and grace, and the revelations that emerge when we stop trying to make sense of everything, and instead… just notice.

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Day 4: Forgetting; Remembering

(Exploring)

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If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.

— Anne Dudley Bradstreet, Meditations Divine and Moral

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Reflecting

Each morning felt more natural. I awoke before the bells that stirred the rest of the retreat. The steps to the meditation hall felt familiar, unhurried. There was nothing to resist. The silent sit was steady. Breath, sensation, stillness. No need to grasp at anything. The lesson on the second arrow had landed, and I felt an ease with letting things be as they were. Or so I thought.

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