Week 8 : Befriend Life

“Befriending life may be about strengthening and supporting life’s movement toward its own wholeness.”

Reading: Read the first half of Section V, through the chapter entitled “Integrity.” As you read, personify each chapter in order to see it as a human friend telling you a story. Which of these friends do you feel most drawn to? Which do you want to see again? How do you want to respond to them?

Kind Action: To understand the concept of befriending life, I suggest you consider your comfort zone in the context of other people. Try to take one small step outside of it in the direction of someone you feel drawn to but you’ve been resisting because of some kind of fear. In doing so, see this action as primarily a kindness to yourself, not to the other person (although it very well could be, of course). And in being kind to yourself in this way, notice if the action ripples out to touch anyone else.

Blessings Journal: Note when you or someone else steps beyond a perceived risk to do something thoughtful or kind. Rachel says that to do this requires us to let go over and over again. Noting it helps normalize it, making this letting go process easier and easier over time.

Link to Book: “My Grandfather’s Blessings”