This past month I've received the gift of EXPANSION - the call to "show up" in previously un-chartered territory. And, it has been a mysterious and crazy ride. I'd liken it to sailing a ship - a ship with much different make-up than previously sailed - moving through unknown waters and unpredictable weather.

Be Here. Now.

Many of my dad's classmates were shipped off to war within the next few years following their high school graduation - as the US entered the Korean War.  Some never to return alive - others returning wounded and maimed.

For my dad, the call came in 1953, when, in early summer, he was shipped off to boot camp. By July,  he was on his way to  Korea. 

Up to a certain point in life, I believed responsibility meant to behave in a manner most accepted by society.  It was caught up in what I thought responsibility should "look like". 

What was I missing?

We are an ancient people participating in an ancient and incomprehensible dance of life - from no beginning and with no end that we can truly prove or know. Yet, we feel these ancient emotions run through us. 

Sometimes our business writing doesn't always reflect who we are and what we can bring to the table. It's easy to get caught up in the need to sound professional while missing the point of true communication that can be heard, felt, and understood. Earlier this week, a small business owner contacted about editing a proposal she was sending to one of her most important clients. Here’s what she said:

“Hi Jo Ann, can you take a crack at this? It doesn’t have the intended feel yet, what are your thoughts?”

My children push me to my edges, make me look over the peaks and valleys of my life - not without fear or longing but laced with great courage. They show me how to show-up. They get in my face and demand action. They show me my shadows. And, most of all, they teach me the depths of forgiveness and mercy - of love without bounds.