…to be more lighthearted.

I take my life pretty darn seriously.

In this new year, I intend to keep doing that, in the sense that I will continue to hold my relationships to others, my inner being, work, and the world up for rather ruthless scrutiny. I just want that journey to be a happier one than it has so often been in the past.

I will never be Miss Perky Pollyanna. I don’t intend that at all.

But I do think it’s possible for me to laugh at some of the same things that tend to make me cry. And I want to laugh in a way that expresses real joy in my existence, not in a way that is trying to cover or push past pain. (Happiness as a mask.)

I came into this intention as I read The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology by Jack Kornfield. The plan is to read the book more slowly again this year, do the practices in each chapter, and write about it. The book and the practices and the writing will support my intention to be more lighthearted this year.

In many ways, whether they know it or not, my friends nudged me towards this intention and even the book, although I am the one who ends up recommending the book to them. I have incredibly wise friends. I am so excited that they will be joining me in the read, the practices, and the writing. Also a couple of family members, who are also friends, will be joining in. As a group we are in different places in age, geography, and in knowledge of Buddhism, psychology, and experience, and I know that’s going to make this conversation interesting for all of us. Maybe others will jump in along the way.

I look forward to whatever happens here.

I feel myself getting lighter already.