Live lightly

Live lightly. By which I mean, listen more and talk less. Eat healthy foods and cut back on junk. Walk more, outside if you can. If you can't walk, open the window and listen, trying to hear natural sounds over man-made ones.

Read something on paper, not a screen. Listen to music instead of a TV or podcast. In fact, listen to music without words, something new to you. Maybe jazz or classical if that's not usually your thing. Or the American songbook, or African or Caribbean or South American music. Read a poem -- aloud.

Rest. Meditate. Or just sit. On a front stoop. On a park bench or stone wall or a beach chair, under a tree.

Feel the breeze. Smell a tree in bloom. Hold a small rock in the palm of your hand. Watch a cloud disappear.

Live can feel very oppressive sometimes. It can be sad, or confusing, or frustrating. You might feel stuck in a situation you don't like. I know. In fact, I know why it can feel this way for you. It's because you're human. It's because you're alive. It's because this is what life is like -- sometimes. But not all the time.

Living lightly will lead to everything lightening up.

Peace and love to you in the week ahead.