Note to Myself After 20 Years of Practice

Stay curious in the face of despair. Learn the varieties of pain and how to tend to each one. Accept that you will treat suffering, at times, while suffering. Care for yourself, even when there are easier options. Never pretend to know the outcome. Show up empty and wide, but able to narrow in, like a funnel. Listen with more than just the senses. If you are bitten, ask if it was out of fear. Do not equate compassion with self-sacrifice. Never bend for unreasonable demands, but be halved by humor. Keep your tools oiled and sharpened, never let them rust or dull. Set it all aside when the week is done; if you can't, spill your disappointments to only your most sacred friends. Continue to master what you were built to do. When it comes to your vocation, avoid mistaking a fulcrum for an endpoint.  Remember that you can always be surprised.