A Stormy Night at the Beach

Surrounded by my family in my cozy beach house, I swing from enormous gratitude for them all, and a feeling of overwhelm:  eight beings swirling about me, each with his or her own urgent need (s).  So many feelings here, so many pieces of history getting re-threaded together....  We know each other so well on one plain, and yet the mystery of our individual selves remains.  That desire we all have to maintain our sense of self, of our uniqueness.  Why do we need to stay separate and "unique?    There are times when I can melt into the whole, amidst my grandchildren and children, and there is no discomfort.  And then, the voice of attachment to patterns arises, and I feel the need to take charge, create order, and generally prevail.  

We have been confined in this little house overlooking the ocean and Salmon Creek with the wind blowing and the rain coming down, and there is a sense of being compressed, pushed closer together, and it's hard for each one of us, I suspect, to be thoroughly comfortable with that.  Of course, if we all were to let go of our individual "needs," then peacefulness would prevail.   

Loving people comes with its huge challenges.  Can we foster this love and sense of connection, and still let go of the need to be uniquely in control?

I am grateful for the swirling winds outside which will blow through here, and leave us with a turbulent grey sea, grateful for the playful love of grandchildren, and cautious love of children.  We are all fortunate to be inhabiting this life, just now, in this moment...