This summer I have been meditating almost every morning in our backyard. I knew the meditation would have many merits, but I didn't realize how wonderful it would be to be outside every morning. I have lived here for 12 years, but only through this practice have I really come to know our yard and all who live and grow in it.

The meditative practice that I use most often includes a line, "The world then goes about its business." I love this line, and it fits well with all that I witness outside -- the bees and the flies, the tomatoes and the lettuce, the berries and the birds. These living things all have such clarity about their "business," and somehow that helps give me clarity about what it means to be.

I hope to be like the bee, intent on gathering nectar from the flower, like the fly resting on a leaf, like the tomato ripening in the sun, like the baby lettuce growing rapidly. I hope to know my business, to live it with intent and purpose, to be exactly what I am here to be.