Where do we find the faith, hope, courage that keeps us going in our work, in our lives? Steve Jobs famously said that "You have to trust in something--your gut, karma, life, destiny, whatever--because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path and that will make all the difference."
Many others have passed on this same wisdom; for me it was my grandmother, who guided me to live from my heart--to be present in the here and now, having faith that everything will be alright. Living in that way I found the flowers within me mysteriously blooming. Our neighbor poet in Japan, Sakamura Shinmin 坂村真民, captured this beautifully in the poem 念ずれば花ひらく.
If you are heartful
flowers will bloom
When I was suffering my mother always said these words And one day I too
became able to say them
And then
miraculously, my flowers
one by one
began to bloom
念ずれば花ひらく
念ずれば
花ひらく
苦しいとき
母がいつも口にしていた
このことばを
わたしもいつのころからか
となえるようになった
そうしてそのたび
わたしの花がふしぎと
ひとつひとつ
ひらいていった