Year-end lists often represent the two most powerful causes of suffering: clinging and craving. A list of things that you desire can mean craving for things to be different from what they are. A list that wants things to stay the same and have life consistently provide you with only the good is unrealistic and out of sync with the way life works.
My desires for 2016 aren’t material and don’t demand from life what it cannot give. I simply want to continue the work of calming my mind so that I can better hear and follow my heart, and to continue to soften that heart so I can be of the most benefit to my work, my students, and the world.
I think this work is also essential for the artist, who needs to stay open and vulnerable in a business that can be discouraging and challenging—not to mention in a world that is becoming increasingly hard and aggressive.
Below are some thoughts on how to use the wisdom of our years to reconnect to the softness and wonder of the child-like heart:
Lead with an undefended heart instead of an armored brain.
Dissolve aggressive thoughts of self-improvement and soften into the peaceful feeling of self-acceptance.
Have the mind be more informed by the heart and
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