heart forward

heart forward is a motto or kind of internal directive that emerged during pandemic times.

my professional transition from academe was a lot more than I bargained for. and just as I felt I was finally normalizing, COVID came to town.

by September of 2020 I realized that the ad hoc meditation practice I was doing was not enough to see me through. I returned online to Red Cedar Zen (Bellingham), the first Zen community I ever sat with.

I meditated most mornings at 7am, in online retreats, some evenings. a few months later, I learned about a community here in Seattle, Blue Heron Zen and began practicing with them too.

these two communities contributed big-time to prioritizing this heart-forward way of being.

when the teacher emailed us in May, asking of interest in taking the precepts with Blue Heron Zen, my heart hollered an unequivocal yes. taking the precepts means I’m making a formal commitment to Zen.

on Saturday, August 20th, surrounded by loved ones online and in person, I made this commitment—it feels right-timed.