I have been focused on the devastating fires in Northern California. Those fires are horrific by historical standards. While the tragedies I witness from all over our planet deeply touch me, I notice this one has a unique impact because I can relate personally. I grew up and raised my family there, so I have family and friends I am concerned about and a long history I am witnessing disappear in smoke and ash.

Impermanence. I feel the loss and observe the different responses of those directly affected. I contemplate what mine would be, given the same circumstances. I pray.

Impermanence is an abstract concept ~ until it engulfs us in a reality of our personal experience.  

So even though I am 3,000 miles away, I reassess what is important to me. I notice how impermanence shows up for all of us; in loss of health, a home, a loved one, a job, a lifestyle, a history.

Impermanence can also result in new beginnings, improved attitude, increased gratitude, greater wisdom. Freedom in a manner never suspected.

So, as I think about those I know who have lost a great deal, I know they have not lost everything.  Impermanence is simply a change of form of something that always existed and always will.

I will remind myself of that next time I experience a loss. And again, I will pray.

May We All Walk in Beauty.