I get to be that weirdo, and I'm honoured

When I was in college, we had an older roommate who smelled of frankincense, used natural deodorant, ate organic and moved gently through the house and mostly within her own space.

I remember that the only time she spoke was an invitation to me to join her in things that I never understood and I always refused.

There was one invitation I couldn't turn down.

Not because I wanted to accept, but because I know now that I could see in her that this was important for me.

An invitation that landed me in someone's basement where about 30 people were gathered in a circle on the floor and began to meditate.

I sat there, eyes wide open, taking in my surroundings.

I had landed on another planet.

And I wasn't ready to feel at home here yet.

Where I now feel most at home.

In a Circle gathered on the ground in the energy and connection created through the breath.

It's exactly what I create, guide and hold space for today.

So much of her being has been my becoming.

She saw it within me, decades before I saw it within myself, and I am forever grateful for the seed that she planted on my path. For her part of my journey.

Today, for the kids and the teenagers and my Sisters that I guide in meditation for that first time, I see that I get to be that weirdo for them. The one who moves a lot slower than most and who burns incense to clear the space and plays different music and makes sure that they know they belong and that they feel safe enough to experience something new that lands them in the present moment.

And I hope that one day when they smell Patchouli or hear Trevor Hall or start to spiral out, that they remember the feeling of the power of the breath and that that memory brings their feet to the ground and their hand to their heart where they remember where their truth lives, and so they come back to love.

I get to be that weirdo, and I'm honoured.

It's in these experiences that seed has been planted for their lifetime.

Along the path on their own journey, whether we're together for just that first breath or that first breath and beyond through the depths of their journey.