It could be said that finding beauty in the ordinary…

Mt Wittenberg Trees in Fog

It could be said that finding beauty in the ordinary is a deeper exercise than climbing to the mountaintop. – Cole Arthur Riley

The calendar officially welcomed summer with the Solstice June 20. In the San Francisco Bay area, the summer fog has settled in along the coast. Friends from NYC made their first ever visit to California and were treated to a tour of Pt. Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) in a soft blanket of cool, still fog.  It brought me such joy witnessing the delight and awe of others taking in the wildness of the Pacific ocean, the beach and dunes, with hardly any other humans in sight. A majority of the dairy farms in PRNS are being dismantled and the grasses are already starting to grow back without the constant grazing. We saw elk, a white tail fawn, a lone elephant seal, quail, hawk, a raven and bountiful wildflowers. This is why I live here. Just another day in paradise.

Beauty-as-Medicine™ June Gallery    (Click on any image for larger view)

June 16, I officially turned 70, although a college friend pointed out that turning 70 is like turning 21 in Celsius!! I think I’ll go with that as my new starting point, but with seven decades of hard-earned wisdom. A group of friends and a few precious family members from out of town, joined me on a local beach to celebrate. It was so lovely to be in gentle community, feeling the love. A big thank you to everyone who came. I love you all. And, thanks to the weather spirits, the morning started out overcast and then the clouds lifted for a perfectly sunny day.

Just as the party was winding down, I noticed a tickle in the back of my throat. By the next day I had a full-on summer head cold, that I am still dealing with. Just the body telling me to slow down, way down. I think I’m a slow mover, but I’m realizing that while the body might move slowly there’s an internal energy that is still super-charged, amped up, raring to go. Maybe you’re feeling that too? How can we not be affected by the frantic pace of the current upside down world? I can meditate, I can walk, I can numb out watching “Resident Alien” on Netflix… and still that undercurrent of energy (shakti) is running. It’s not anxiety exactly, but it is scattered, often making it hard to stay present in the moment. It may be the realization that the years ahead are far fewer than the years behind, creating an urgency to slow down, if that makes sense–to create spaciousness, now! There’s also a shift from asking, “What’s next?” and perhaps saying yes to too many things… to asking “Why am I doing any thing that I’m doing?” creating more room for discernment. As Babaji would say, “Stop, take a step back, take a breath.”

As we move into July, may we cultivate meaningful ways to celebrate our interdependence, friends and loved ones, and the world around us. May we be gentle, kind, mindful, present. May we find beauty in the ordinary and embrace what makes our hearts sing.

2026 Retreat and Workshop Dates
The Seen and the Unseen – July 15 – 19 with Katrina Leathers, Holden, ME
Visio Divina for Spiritual Direction – September 12 for Marin ICC, Stinson Beach, CA
Sisters of Upasana Annual Retreat – October 29 – November 1, Fort Bragg, CA