We Cannot Open a Door if Both Hands are Full

“We cannot hold on to things and enter. We must put down what we carry, open the door, and then take up only what we need to bring inside.”

– Mark Nepo, “The Book of Awakening”

At long last, I finally got around to ordering “The Book of Awakening,” by Mark Nepo. I love it!

If you haven’t read it, it’s a daybook…whereby each day of the year has a different idea to ponder and perhaps meditate upon. The book is full of insights, “All of which speak about spirit and friendship,” explains Nepo, “about our ongoing need to stay vital and in love with this life, no matter the hardships we encounter.”

Staying in love with life…I like that.

Are you in love with life? Are you in love with YOUR life?

In the foreword, Jamie Lee Curtis describes the book beautifully: “It’s simplicity rests in the profound distillation of ideas, thoughts, and stories often offered as another sage’s concepts, words, or actions. Mark takes the wisdom of great thinkers and then writes a homily that unfolds and evolves those beautiful precepts from long ago.”

One such story, near the beginning of the book, is comical. Nepo shares the…