Mary S Corning,

06/04/2026

An open gate

After the hoof trimmer left, all the horses returned to the field. All but one. Bubba stayed behind as I was sweeping up the barn and it was obvious that he really wanted my attention.

Bubba and I spend a little quality time together each week. Last week, due to my physical state, I missed our time together.

It was such a joy to see his interest in being together in this way. Especially after just having his feet trimmed.

You would never know that some years ago Bubba had an explosive experience with a farrier.
The farrier went after him with a rasp for misbehaving. Bubba was tied and could not get away. I was not there and only found out after I realized Bubba was traumatized.

This horrendous experience created so much fear in Bubba that I honestly wondered if we would ever witness his trust again.

There was not a whisper of stress in him yesterday, as his friend “The trimmer” cleaned up his feet. Bubba actually seemed content.

It was such a pleasure to see he wanted to stay with me, even after the other horses had left.
I felt it was an honor to oblige.

I decided to leave the arena gate open so I could fully understand what Bubba wanted from our time together.

The only answer that I can assume is my attention. There’s a popular phrase in the self-help culture, “To be seen, heard and understood.“
There is much written about how this is what life longs for. And if you ask Bubba today, I think that would be pretty accurate.

As I ponder our time together, I actually think it goes way deeper than that. But then again, I think everything goes deeper than we can see on the surface.

I often write about “Coming home”. There are endless metaphorical parables that tell the story of the prodigal son. Or how pain and suffering bring resurrection.

My life is absolutely one of those stories. And it’s being written as I’m being lived. When I think of coming home and what that message statement holds… it really points to love.

Not the kind of love that is so commonly misunderstood. Not the love of one and another. But the ultimate realization that love has no conditions, no opposite and no separation.

But as long as we are making something happen, we are believing it’s not happening.

As long as we are striving and driving for some desired outcome, we believe that it has not yet been attained.

My life has taught me that this is a cardinal misbelief. That my inner work is to shift the attention to the deepest consciousness and to realize, I never left this place of ultimate love.

Carl Jung wrote about the fact that alcoholics are on a quest to find God. And that they are some of the most driven of all. I was an alcoholic half my life and I’ve been exposed to this culture for all of it.

I see, we can now add many substances or behaviors to that list of striving to find God. Even religion itself fosters this misbelief.

It’s wanting things to be different than they are ambition. Finding the elusive ultimate. I feel the reason that humans are so desperately trying to change things, is because we have misplaced our intuitive nature. Our own projections have misled us.

This desire to have things a certain way is not about the things. It’s about that deepest drive for the ultimate contentment.

What does all this have to do with Bubba in the open gate?

Well, Bubba lived his life not fitting into the box that the world presented him. Finally, he couldn’t conform anymore and he rebelled. When this happened, it created pain and suffering. I am Bubba. I know that journey.

It has been quite a journey relating to this horse that was so incredibly frightened of the whole world that he would stand by himself away from the herd.

But now, Bubba has family. Bubba is accepted as he is comfortable in his own skin. Now he is an essential part of the herd and very interested in being with people.

Now, Bubba actually asks for contact. But that took a great deal of insight. We had to release the pressure of trying to make Bubba into something he wasn’t .

I think that’s what we do to ourselves as well. We have all these ideas that we have to be a certain way or do a certain thing or make a certain amount of money or have a certain amount of knowledge. But we don’t!

Once we stop forcing ourselves to fit into a box, we’ll see that the gate is open.

We can understand that we can be in the arena of life by choice not by mandate. We can begin to see others who feel boxed in and understand that they have yet to find the open gate. We can begin to empathize with the behavior that this enclosure creates…this self imposed enclosure.

The human race is spiraling into the place that Bubba experienced when he was tied to a wall and another being was attacking him. Our culture is experiencing all that this metaphor points to.

But I am the ultimate optimist… Not as some unsubstantiated positive thinker, but from truly observing the contrast of Love and fear. I have endless experience in navigating the waters of fear and love.

No matter what the details have been in my life, I see the deeper message below. This is what I feel Carl Jung was pointing to when he said that alcoholics are looking for God.

God is the ultimate truth. It’s Life with an open gate. God is love.

And this journey is not only an outward one. For a while, we travel in that direction so has to come up against the wall of our self imposed enclosure and understand that there is another way. There is the ultimate choice.

This is, as Joseph Campbell phrased it, “The Hero’s Journey“ and each one of us are on a different place on the path of Love and fear.

If Bubba can do it so can I! It doesn’t happen all at once. It requires dedication and devotion. But there is no greater realization than coming home to Love.

05/31/2026

—Eden Wasn’t Enough

“I have this enormous stage to observe what God created. Not only in its beauty, but in its behavior. “

I have lived many years diving deeply into human behavior. It really wasn’t a choice…more like a calling.

For a great part of my life I was very skeptical about people.

At an extremely young age I witnessed some of the worst characteristics of human behavior.

I witnessed violence, addiction, corruption, and the pain and suffering that accompany those behaviors.

I also, contrastingly, felt and witnessed unconditional love, faith, compassion, and reverence.

This was all part of my early education. I laughingly joke, I don’t have a PhD I have a GhD.

My education came straight from the highest court, often in the name of God.

While on this arduous journey of the last 64 years, I have never let up on my inquiry into what forces in the human being bring such contrast to our world?

Each day I uncover a little more ground that has been over grown with the w**ds of the mind.

Like any garden, left unattended the garden of the soul can become almost unrecognizable if forgotten.

I choose the “Garden” metaphor specifically because I often reflect on the story of human creation— The Garden of Eden.

If we were to slow down long enough to really understand this story from a philosophical point of view, we may gain some clues about where our true nature was buried.

I feel that the metaphorical garden is our true nature. And that we chose to lose sight of it. We chose the mind’s draw to something more. Eden wasn’t enough.

Due to my early education in human behavior, I deeply questioned the grace of love that I felt when falling in love with my husband.

I had to look deeper into this fear to move forward. I went to see my long time counselor. For almost 2 decades he and I poured our inquiries onto the table for hours of discussion about love.

On this particular visit I stepped into his office and my first question was “Love is real, but is it enough?“ His answer totally changed my trajectory and cleared the way for me to know myself as love.

Love is not something I find, it is simply and profoundly uncovering my true nature. It is the return to Eden.

Upon contemplating my question, “Is love enough?” My counselor simply replied “Enough for what?“

Now, I’m notorious for answering a question with a question. Because I have realize it’s not in the answers that we find ourselves, it’s in the inquiry.

“Enough for what?” Takes us all the way back to the creation story.

—When we have everything, what creates the longing for more?

In this world today, technology, industry, power and money, lead the destruction and the disruption of this amazing garden we were given—The garden of Earth.

I honestly believe a five-year-old could identify the difference between what man makes and what ‘God’ creates. I wish to clarify, I use the word “God” here, as the true essence or nature of life itself.

Recently, while driving down the road, I saw they cleared another piece of land that was centered in the heart of town.

My husband and I often talked about how, if we were rich we would buy the land and create a garden for the community to enjoy in the middle of the city.

As they started construction, I saw that they were building another fast food restaurant. This realization just dropped what felt like lead, in my belly.

I see this tendency in so many aspects of life. Recently, while visiting with some friends, they played a beautiful piece of music with words by Rumi.

To me Rumi’s poetry explores, in-depth one’s journey of discovery into the true essence of love.

My friend mentioned that the music and the vocals were all created by AI. I felt saddened and honestly, a little shell shocked at the thought.

The destruction of Man has been on a progressive spiral from the beginning.

We have moved from our emergence of nature as hunter-gathers, to mono-culture farming, then to the industrial age and now the technical era. We are getting farther and farther away from our true nature. And now even music and art is created by an inorganic agent.

I am blessed beyond measure to say I live deeply in nature. This is probably the most important practice of my current existence and inquiry.

-I have this enormous stage to observe what God created. Not only in its beauty, but in its behavior.

I feel the answer to every question lies right here, before my very eyes.

In nature, I tend my own inner garden. I emerge myself into what’s true, rather than what is contrived.

I feel the words “Come home, come home.“

As I age I realize that this body of mine is becoming more and more limited. The ambitions of doing greater or more accomplishments fade in the dust of youth. All that disperses like a cloud gently fading back into the blue sky.

I feel no longing for yesterday.
I simply learn from yesterday.

I’m watching the manmade world turn on itself. And I’m well versed in the cycle of the contrast between destruction and love.

I know I have a choice in this moment as to where to place my heart. And I’m also not shy of taking part in the voice for humanity.

I’m not afraid to hold the banner that says “Come home to love”. I’m not afraid to point out when addiction or abuse is killing my human family.

I don’t choose silence when I see destruction. Personally I feel that’s what my voice is for.

I am vastly experienced in the patterns of addiction. Much of my biological family has suffered, even died from this dysfunction.

I have watched myself over the years evolve in the conversations about self-destruction. I know without a doubt, from experience, I can’t choose for them. But I also know I can’t close my eyes in silence while they fall.

This deeply personal, psychological exploration has probably taught me more about human nature than any other —

Witnessing the willing self-destruction of one single person is really no different than witnessing the self-destruction of all humanity. It all comes from the same source.

So my beginning, and my ending are really the same.

I know and live as love.

My faith in truth, and God, as the source of all that is, is never lacking.

I cannot be lost. Because truth is my true nature.

I do know, however, not attending to the garden grows the w**ds of the mind and this can make seeing from the intrinsic garden the human challenge.

It is a pivotal shift of perspective. From manmade culture to living in Eden as Eden.

Meanwhile, the human expression that we call Mary, will continue to write, share, and speak of the contrast. All this to continue to w**d the greater garden of humanity.

May peace abide in all in all life.

May we know our true nature and abide as that.

05/17/2026

Wow!!!
-Thank you all who attended the Next Level Community group today.

I am stuck on feel good, smile mode!!! 😁🙏

This group completely lives up to its inherent name.

The picture of Poco and the cow bird is specifically for those who were here today.

We can and we do make a change in our world when we share our stories for the benefit of others.

Magnus and I are deeply grateful for everyone’s involvement in making this group a lasting and fulfilling community.

With love and appreciation!
Mary and Magnus

05/17/2026

Next level community FREE online group meets Sunday, May 17, 10 am PST
SEE YOU THERE!😃🙏🫶🏼🙌🤗

It doesn’t matter where we live, our age, our financial status, or health concerns. We all experience the rise and fall of the duality of the mind, the vulnerability of body, or the sensitivity of the heart.

05/14/2026

THIS SUNDAY MAY 17, 10am

Join us for an intriguing conversation about the perfection of imperfection.

We all find times, whether benign or extreme, when life gets messy! From a simple inconvenience to life changing hardships—life is not a flatline.

I named my book “Perfect Practice” based on the wisdom that came from a lifetime of practicing dysfunction.

For half my life I unconsciously practiced the very things that I wanted freedom from— separation, addiction, fear and all that came with these maladies.

I was graced to finally realize, I get good at what I practice. Therefore I found I had better develop a pattern of practicing what I wanted rather than what I didn’t want.

This is human psyche 101. Humans, whether it’s recognized or not, often work from fear. And in turn this builds a fearful world.

Perfect imperfection is the realization of the benefits of contrast. We can use duality to clearly draw a road map for creating the best life we can imagine.

This monthly group conversation is a catalyst for positive change. Our community is built upon ordinary people living extraordinary lives. We share our thoughts and experiences to expand our perspective.

The group is low-key and casual. Everyone is welcome and it’s completely free.

We are now at the one year mark for these gatherings and each time Magnus and I still say, “That was the best one yet!”

Please join us. You’ll be so glad you did.

The zoom link is in the attached email. And if you would like to register for future emails there is a subscribe button as well.

There are no hidden costs. This is a community offering. We are so glad to provide the space for this kind of transformative experience.

See you all on Sunday.

It doesn’t matter where we live, our age, our financial status, or health concerns. We all experience the rise and fall of the duality of the mind, the vulnerability of body, or the sensitivity of the heart.

05/09/2026

My goodness how time flies. It’s approaching the time to circle around and share in the rich and vibrant wealth of community.

The Next Level Community Free Zoom is May 17th, at 10 AM PST.

Each month the discussion vitalizes the group with a feeling of relatability. The conversation is organic and spontaneous, and always heartfelt and authentic.

The topic this month is Peace in the Peril—Perfect Imperfection.

We’ll look into the practice of redefining hardship, and realizing that hidden in the struggle is often the most profound of lessons. In other words, the tough stuff is the good stuff.

We don’t have to experience extreme suffering to gain insight. Even mild irritation can bring a deeper awareness.

Developing the willingness to look beyond the surface and to adapt, strengthens us for those times when we may have to bloody our knees in surrender.

Life is exceptionally good, but of course, it’s not without its lessons. So learning to find peace in the perils is a profound and deeply beneficial practice.

Click on the link below to find all the information about this completely free and fabulous group. Everyone is welcome.

Inside the link there is also an option to subscribe to email notifications, should you wish to be in touch for the future meetups.

We hope you will join us for a lovely Sunday conversation.

See you there!

It doesn’t matter where we live, our age, our financial status, or health concerns. We all experience the rise and fall of the duality of the mind, the vulnerability of body, or the sensitivity of the heart.

05/02/2026

— This work isn’t special, it’s incredibly real.

This may be hard to believe, but these days I often find myself at a loss for words, especially when describing the deepest parts of my personal journey.

And, I also find it’s nearly impossible to describe what I am experiencing in my relationship with my horse, Grace.

I suppose the most simple way I could put it is, this work isn’t special, it’s incredibly real.

I stopped having ideas about what I should be doing and where I should be in my technical ability. I started looking in the deepest way I could imagine, at the source of all my intentions. This is when a whole new world opened up.

This experience as with many of my previous life-changing experiences offers the soul searching question, how bad do you want it?

“How bad do you want it”, is the ultimate barometer. The challenge in the question is, am I willing to dedicate myself to something and proceed without pie in the sky accolades? The question challenges my dedication of not settling for less than what I feel to be real and true. This requires faith.

This all shows up in my relationship with my horse Grace, in everything we do. No one is watching, I can’t rely on someone else’s opinion as a marker. My indicator is the quality of the relationship.

I am not in front of a group, I’m not riding with others, I’m not going to clinics where traditionally I put myself and my horse in a space of “less than”.

Where we are today is real and true because I’m not projecting outside of this space and time. The current moment is the mirror, not somewhere I’m trying  to get to or become.

In the past, I set my bar high when I chose my horsemanship teachers. And for the better part of my life, I knew, or at least felt, that I would never reach their level of expertise. Back then I thought this was a humbling and necessary perspective.

What I realize now, is that it was limiting. Not because of what I did or didn’t do. It wasn’t the act of going to clinics that was the problem. In fact that was very much fulfilling on an intellectual basis.

The way it limited me was in how I saw myself.

The strange thing is that the striving to be is what ultimately woke me up to see my true Being.

Oh… I remember so many times, going into my tack room in the horse trailer and crying. I was so hard on myself. Clinics were extremely difficult, but not because of my horse. They were heartbreaking because of how I saw myself around other people.

This also showed itself in other life interactions. The politics of community felt separating to me. And of course it would as long as I allowed myself to see me as less than.

My saving grace was that I always felt at home and at peace with my horses. I always found solace there. Even if they bucked me off, it was never a personal matter. For some reason, there was an incredible sense of freedom in my relationship with horses. Back then it was rare that I felt that kind of freedom with people.

But I kept going back. I kept putting myself and my horses in that situation. And I kept doing the same thing hoping to find different results. The lesson held true. Until I was able to get to the source, I continued to feel separate.

It wasn’t until I wrote my book that it really came to a head and woke me up.

After I published Perfect Practice, a group of women spoke to one of the teachers mentioned in the book. One woman actually said ” I would cross the street before I would buy that book”. It truly surprised me as she was saying this to one of the people that the book was dedicated to, as well as someone who actually endorsed it.

These women had no idea who I was. Or even what the book was about. They were just convinced that there was something fatally flawed with both me and what I had to say.

I shared a little bit about these kinds of interactions in one of the chapters in Perfect Practice. I also shared how I found solace with my horse Far Go during a clinic where I was faced with this kind of unwarranted scrutiny.

So fast forward to the next decade and this time in my life with my horse Grace. Here I was again faced with the question “How bad do you want it?”

This time when Grace was 2, someone I love and respect very much, called and said to me “Grace will never meet her full potential with you.”

Once again, I was met full throttle with my own feelings of inadequacies. My mind believed these words, but my heart knew better.

I knew the relationship I had with my Grace. And I knew it was the most important relationship I could imagine, not only for me but also for her. I wasn’t buying it.

This relationship wasn’t about chasing cows down the fence, learning a turnaround or doing a sliding stop. I was here to honor The Relationship. That is, to me, the greatest potential in all of us. And I believe it is also the greatest potential in the world of horsemanship.

I feel this is becoming much more evident now. I also feel that my mentors 40 years ago were somehow pointing at this, but it got lost in the doings.

When I heard my teacher say “I owe it to the horse for all the wrong things I had done.“ I didn’t fully understand what he was pointing to. For me, back then, I seemed to interpret it on a practical, or technical level.

But in my life today, and in what I see in the world of horsemanship, It’s actually about respect, empathy, partnership, and perhaps one of the most important things, equality.

Grace has taught me the disability in a hierarchical relationship. Because I became open to it. She has shown me the wonder and the miracles in truly being. Every day Grace and I excel beyond my wildest dreams in a way that I never even conceived of back then.

So perhaps, this is why it’s hard to share in words or in images what I’ve come to know as truth in this stage of my life.

I hope by telling the story, some sense of feel will come through my words. This realization is certainly not limited to horses. This has affected every area in my life. And I owe it all to Grace.

So you see, all of that hard stuff brought me to the good stuff. All of those tears and lonesome separating experiences gave me the greatest gift I can imagine. Separation gave me unity.

I used to say, I would wander in where angels fear to tread. I put myself through a lot in those 30 years. And I was probably my worst enemy. But now I feel like I live in the most real and fulfilling space I can possibly imagine. And it is irregardless to the opinions of others.

What a concept that is! It’s so much bigger than a mental construct. It’s literally learning not to take the world personally.

A couple of weeks ago, a man came on my page and started commenting about a political post. He implied that I couldn’t possibly be as “humble and happy” as I portray.

I really had to look at the experience he presented me. He seemed incredibly threatened by the happiness I share. He wandered in from the great divide just to tell me this.

I thought a lot about this interaction and I wondered, why would someone be threatened by someone else’s happiness? I boiled it down to a lack of understanding, a lack of relatability perhaps.

Several of my friends asked me why I didn’t just delete this person from my page. That literally wasn’t an option for me. By deleting him, I would be owning his beliefs. Instead, I used it to understand myself and him on a deeper level. I didn’t have to be right or “good enough“. I just wanted to be real.

Being real doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions. It’s not that the pursuit of truth and peace absolves us from the pain of this lifetime. Just like I couldn’t bear to see someone abusing a horse or beating a dog, of course I have feelings and reactions.

I don’t know that this guy got much out of our interaction. He does seem to show up now and again. I actually asked him “Why are you here? There must be something in it for you?“ but that is his journey, and for some reason he wants to intersect with mine.

I also remember my teacher saying “I wish I knew then, what I think I know now”

I sometimes wonder how things would’ve been different, if I understood then, what I think I know now? I still have a lot of that little girl fear that pops up every so often. I still deal with inadequacy and insecurities.

But the difference now is that I don’t see it as who I am, I see it as the weather of the mind. And that weather ultimately brings me home.

Now home is grace.
I hope that my transparency here will resonate with those who also feel the sense of separation in their lives. We don’t have to buy into it. But we can use it to bring us closer to the truth.

If I could’ve avoided all that pain, but I wouldn’t be where I am today—I wouldn’t have traded it in. The pain was worth the gain.

May all beings be at peace. And may we live to understand ourselves and others from a true perspective of transparency.

04/22/2026

—Every day matters!

The funny thing about habits, is that they sneak in quietly, often when the mind feels a sense of gratification. That’s when the mind endorses its attachment to more.

If things are good —-more good must be better. This dysfunction is so easy to see in our world, especially now. The rich want more money, more power. It is quite simply the addictive mind in man.

I am not without my own addictive tendencies. Albeit they are considerably improved than the old days when substance and scarcity ruled my world. Because of overcoming these surface addictions I consider myself somewhat of an expert in the field.

Next week will be my 30 year mark for sobriety. But having success does not excuse me of the very engrained tendency of the human ego. I get lots of practice looking at my attachments—especially to feeling good.

My horse seems to be my greatest mirror. The other day I posted about an amazing evening I had with my horse Grace.

Everything seemed to flow. Grace offered beautiful arena work and then we headed out for a magical evening ride in the warm sun. It was one of those rides that little girls (and a little older ones too) dream of.

Thats when the sneaky little attachment to gratification came slipping in the back door. I was hooked and I wanted more!

Wanting more led to expectations and expectations took me right out of my dream world and into the mind’s ideas of “The next great ride”. This is a slippery slope, and one I am familiar with.

The beautiful thing about horses is they hold a perfect mirror when we’re primed to see ourselves.

The next time I rode Grace , I was excited to have that same experience. But Mother Nature has a trump card with mare’s, especially in early Spring. It’s called hormones.

Animals in general when given the opportunity to be authentic have feelings, good days, and bad, sick and well, inspired and restful. I think if we are truly authentic with our horses we can see that they are rarely the same day in and day out.

Some mares experience more effects from hormones than others. Grace is perfectly reasonable but is on the top side of the margin.

Whether we recognize it or not, the body mind and spirit goes through cycles. I can see when dear Grace is in her romantic stage, and then days later she smooths out and goes back to bossing the boys around. In spring time these stages can be easily seen.

So a couple days later when I went to ride, I was all about replicating that spiritual enlightened evening that we enjoyed the last time. My ambition clouded my awareness of how Grace was actually feeling.

It wasn’t long before I noticed that was then and this is now. Although we did much of the same things just a couple days later, nothing felt the same. This time the same activity seemed complicated, forced, and tight.

But I still had stars in my eyes and I just kept riding with a smile on my face, thinking certainly Grace would catch up with my ambition and enthusiasm.

I am guessing that if anyone was watching they would not have seen the resistance I was feeling between us. But I felt it. And that’s what woke me up from my gratification addiction.

That night after pondering my ride with Grace, I came to a realization of my part in this process. I thought, “I’m a terrible listener.“

It was right around 2 AM when I made a solum vow, “today I am going to be a better listener. Today I am going to give Grace what she needs. “ I became aware of my need to dictate the agenda and I realized that’s not a practice I want to cultivate in any relationship, least not one of the most sacred of my life.

So day 3 in my story. Grace and I entered the arena and I saddled her up. I decided to do some groundwork at liberty to see how she was feeling. Grace complied with her standard beautiful circles, smooth transitions and loving attention. But there was one very obvious thing. She didn’t have any energy. It was all very lackluster.

I decided to see just what she would do if I completely left her alone to choose and I would just watch and listen.

Grace walked all the way down to the end of the arena the farthest from me and the other horses. She pointed her head towards the corner, c**ked a foot and dozed. I’m pretty sure I had never seen her so separated. Typically she’s alert and very connected to her surroundings, the other horses and especially to me.

I was still thinking I wanted to ride. But I wanted her to choose it. I didn’t want to be as insensitive as I was the time before.

I went down and sat on the fence at the other end near where the other horses were. I thought I would observe and see if she would look us up on her own. It seemed like I waited forever . Grace never turned around and simply continued to doze quietly, her head pointing away.

This really tested my dedication to what I had intended. “Am I going to ride her?” I asked myself. “She’s obviously showing me clearly what she wants. What shall I do?”

I realized this was a great test of my dedication as her partner. As a woman, I remembered the days of my hormonal cycles. I remembered there were days that I just wanted to stand quietly, c**k my foot and not do anything. Heck I still have days like that.

There were days that I wished nobody would ask anything of me. And I thought what a beautiful thing if someone was able to recognize that and support it.

There in the corner near where she stood was a bucket. I decided this was a pivotal time in my commitment to being a good listener. I got the bucket, turned it over in the sand near where she stood, and sat down to doze with her.

I cleared my mind from all those agendas I came in with. But I also had a chance to watch my thoughts as they kept interrupting the silence.

I could make it for a few minutes at that? But then I’d be thinking “Should I take the saddle off? We’re a long ways from the Saddle rack. Do I walk her down there? Is putting a halter on her listening?”

It was quite humbling to realize this seemed much harder than a flying lead change. Stopping the thoughts, therefore the agenda was absolutely an advanced education.

I have no idea how long we were in there, but I remember feeling so much gratitude for my relationship with Grace. At one point I looked up and her lower lip was hanging so low it looked like a great big smile. Her eyes were full of peace. And I felt exactly the same way.

After a spell I just left her there and went on to feed the evening chow. Finally, after a bit she peacefully wandered down and I took the saddle off. Grace then joined the others and happily munched on her evening feed.

This was a first in my life with Grace. I’ve sat with her many times in the past. But this was very different. Traditionally, she will put her head on my head, or nose around looking for a hidden treat, or stand waiting for our next move.

One defining factor in all of those earlier times, is I grabbed the chair and sat down first. It was still my decision. Her attention was following what it was I was guiding us into. Rather than the other way around.

From the time I woke up until I went to sleep that night I kept repeating the words “Every day matters.“ It was as if this mantra had taken the place of my agenda.

As I age into my mid 60s, I know how precious time with my loved ones is. I know the value of being present in this spring time and in each seasonal change. Nothing stays the same. And I know I don’t want to miss a moment of the opportunity to be real and to be present with my horse, my husband, my friends, and even strangers.

“Every day matters” and every moment in each day matters.

Yesterday Grace chose peace. She wasn’t shy about it. She was very clear what she needed. And what that moment offered. I’m so glad I didn’t get in her way. I’m so glad I listened. I wouldn’t have wanted to miss one moment the experience offered.

We are highly geared and dare I say habituated in accomplishment. This can often lead to always striving never arriving. We can do and do until one day we don’t. That day can be a gateway or a prison depending upon where our minds are. Can we see the joy in non-doing? Or have we built our lives like a house of cards.

I credit my life with horses as the very fundamental element of my essential realization that life moves through us, not by us. And that realization has offered more joy than any amount of doing I have done.

Do I treasure those amazing rides in life or on my horse when the world feels flawless? Oh heck yea! But… that is the beauty and the inspiration— I treasure them as the jewels they are. I don’t take one moment for granted.

Every day matters!
And every moment in every day matters.
Grace matters!
And Grace is ever changing presence.

May peace abide in our world.
And may I always know the choices I have.
I may not be present every moment .
But I absolutely know the true value of presence.