I got a haircut today. Shorter and befitting my new glasses and new outlook on life. Last night Rob and I went to a meeting at Phil McWilliam’s house. Lovely group of people intent on spreading a peace that begins within and illumines the dark landscape.

Oh, yes, the eclipse happens in a day but the darkness of the human landscape grows dim indeed. My teacher, Vernon Howard, spoke of this darkness with unflinching insight. We all listened to him and tried to drink in as much wisdom as we could. He once said, “Get all you can from me before I die.” And at 74 he was gone.

Now it is up to me to speak of my own inner landscape and how I endure it. Life is no walk in the park of Eden but a slow grinding trip through hell. Vernon taught us to walk through it consciously so that angels would go with us. No one else will or can.

Leonard Cohen has left us a legacy of light, but only if we heed the darkness well. So tomorrow, remember your own darkness and all the promises of light to come. They are surely true.

I have left behind my own bit of darkened and charred landscape. I now try to breathe light in and breathe it out. This is no small task. There are daily falls and daily remembrances of light. There is no other way out.

Vicki Woodyard