Before there is Paradise, say the prophets of Kabbalah, there is a barren desert, then darkness.

My rules for finding the light, and moving away from the darkness and the anger:

I seek to do good, not to argue about what good is.

I do not mourn what I have lost, I celebrate what I have.

I live in the present, not the past, and look to the future with hope and strength.

Fear is a bluff, an idea,  a geography, a space to cross, again and again.

My search to create Light out of darkness, in my own life and beyond, is an expression of humanity’s deepest longing and greatest desire: to be the source and cause of my own happiness.

I take responsibility for my life. No one can can give me the life I seek but me, no one can take it from me.

I do not speak poorly of my life and my work, it is listening. Everyone suffers, everyone is fighting their own battles. I take responsibility for my brokenness, but my life, like everyone else’s life, is full of challenge and struggle. Grace is my response.

I have never known argument to solve a problem or make it go away. There is always another way.

I stand in my truth and open my life. I have no secrets to hide.

I practice radical acceptance and  radical forgiveness. Everyone does the best they can.

I respect nature and the animal world, animals are not my dependents or children, they are my partners in our journey through life. Mother Earth is my sister.

On the other side of paradise is fear, the spouse of darkness.

Love is the point.

We each  hear our own voices. Those are the things I tell myself every day.