Dear Reader,

I opened my computer this morning to a short story by my 13-year-old son. It was called Down, Down, Down, and it's about the day he learned to swim.

Not ready to swim with his friends in the deep end, he dove for quarters in the shallow end, only to keep floating back up. And then...

Sometimes our flailing takes us to the very place we didn't expect. We're reaching for the coin, trying to grab the thing, not seeing the wondrous other thing that is already here. You're so frustrated trying to dive you don't realize that you are floating.

What a moment of wonder, to discover you can swim!

In her new book of poems, The Wonderment, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer writes: "For me it seems the only moments when wonder isn't accessible are moments I am very certain. My hypothesis: Certainty obstructs wonder."

• What coin are you after?
• What is your endless work?
• How is certainty obstructing wonder?
• Are you already swimming but don't know it?

These are the questions I am beginning to ask as I prepare for this week's salon, and next week's in person sangha at Art & Soul Gallery.

When we stop diving for coins, we may just realize we are swimming in community here in Santa Barbara and globally.

Nothing is certain and we can share in wonder.

Come.

Dr. Diana Hill Your Wise Effort Guide

This Week's Sangha Each week I choose one word, give a short talk on it, and then we practice it together in meditation. Wondering what this week’s word will be? Join us. JOIN

Tell the Truth Salon Join us for an evening of poetry, conversation, and wonder. In-person guests go home with a copy of Rosemerry's new book, The Wonderment. ​Thursday, October 1 · 5:00 PM GET YOUR TICKET TO THE SALON

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