"Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart, ya just gotta poke around..."

It's so beautiful to find things I cherish alive and well in the world around me. Like loving kindness, art, and music. When you find a home among strangers, you might be at the Hessler Street Fair in Cleveland, Ohio.

Some pieces of art I bought at the fair:


Wellington wood sculptor David DiZinno carved this beautiful little tree, which will be a first new piece of art in our new homestead


And Diane Dickens creates these whimsical hand-painted pieces with wood and beer bottle caps! I love her work!

I have been meditating daily for the last month or so. A reoccurring thought or theme that comes up nearly every time I meditate is acceptance/judgement. I blame author Cheri Huber's quote, "Love answers all the questions that judgement fails to hear."

Stop and ponder that for a moment.

How can we love and judge simultaneously?



Judgement makes our world small.



We cut ourselves off from other people because of conditioned beliefs that are largely unconscious, automatic responses. Cutting our self off from people/experiences/knowledge limits us. An old Zen saying is that a teacup is useful not because it is full, but because it is empty. Likewise, when we empty ourselves of preconceived notions of what something/someone is/isn't, possibilities become limitless.



We cling to our truth as though it is THE truth. My experience might say the picture below is of a bicycle. Someone else's experience might suggest otherwise. And you know what? Both are true.



Because your experience is your truth, just as my experience is my truth. Neither is right or wrong.

When we can escape our judgements and preconceived beliefs - even of ourselves - we can experience a freedom to love.



Accepting someone else's experiences or "truths" does not have to mean we agree with them. It simply means we accept and respect their experiences. We confuse "acceptance" and "agreement" often.



I shot all of these photos at the Hessler Street Fair yesterday. It was beautiful to experience the freedom and peace I'd been feeling in my heart among people who demonstrated the same freedom and peace.



Of all the people there, I think I will remember this girl the most.



Namaste, my friends.