August 20, 2026

In the days leading up to my birthday, I continue sharing the feedback that has helped me to grow; today’s offering is the idea that:

Peace, purpose, and process are already aligned to bring us joy. We can experience that by leaning into gratitude for each other—gratitude for our core innocence and our good intentions, gratitude for the courage and openness to move through all our conflicts to resolution and the progress that effective communication brings.

And so yesterday I went to the river and offered up a gift of gratitude in that place where land and water meet in celebration of being one with our Creator Family among the elements from which they prepared a home for us.

Did you ever realize that fire cannot exist without the connection of sparks and fuel? A spark on its own flashes and disappears. Fuel on its own remains full of unrealized possibility. And when they connect, they become warmth and light. Useful, productive, progressive, creative together.

Perhaps joy is like that too. Already present in what each of us carries, waiting to be kindled through gratitude, courage, and our willingness to remain open to one another through the process of creating thriving healthy relationships as we engage with effective communication to resolve all conflicts between us, as Yeshua M’shikha, the Incarnate Heir of Love, showed and taught us to do.

I believe that we desire to become less defensive, to listen more patiently, and distinguish context from rebuttal. I see it clearly and also see that sometimes our emotions and ingrained survival reactions overpower our intentions.

When someone raises a concern, our minds may quickly see everything that we think explains what happened. And if that context arrives before we listen well enough to affirm that the other person feels understood, our perception may function as a rebuttal regardless of our intention.

A powerful discipline for us to implement would be:

“What I hear you saying is… Have I understood you?”

Then ask questions until they say yes. Only afterward is it best to move to:

“May I share what was happening for me?”

Our capacity to explain may be highly developed. Our next growth may be tolerating the vulnerable pause, being patient in that uncomfortable place where we may feel misunderstood, before explanation because we have faith that we will be heard.

I believe in our arrival at joy, as peace, purpose, and process align for us all. And for that I expressed gratitude on our behalf.