It’s all about joy!

I’m a huge animal lover, and the other day, I caught a special on sea otters. My goodness, those little creatures are something else! Granted, I derive great joy from watching just about any animal (with the exception of snakes, spiders, and certain other reptiles), but the sea otters I saw had me beaming.

I think what got to me was watching them groom themselves. Apparently, they have the thickest fur of any sea mammal, averaging 850,000 - 1,000,000 hairs per square inch. They use air trapped between their hairs to keep insulated in cold water. If their fur gets soiled, they lose this insulation along with their body heat. Subsequently, they spend a lot of time grooming themselves.

As I watched the little creatures scrub their faces and behind their ears, I was beside myself with glee. “Just like us!” I thought, as I imagined them lathering up in the shower with soap or shampoo.

If you’re intrigued, check out this YouTube video, which is short and quite amusing.

I still smile as I watch it (even though I’ve seen it about ten times already!).

I reconnected briefly with a friend I met only six months ago at a meditation retreat. He’s a busy graduate student, so our communications are few and far between, yet they’re always rich with insight and inspiration. In his last email, he pointed me to a Web site featuring dharma talks that can be streamed or downloaded for free.

Dharma talks, for anyone wondering (which would have been me prior to the meditation retreat!), are quite simply the Buddha’s teachings.

Yesterday I decided to listen to a few.

I was surprised at how peaceful I felt throughout the day, as I sat through about two and a half hours of various talks on love, compassion, and living a more mindful life.

That meditation retreat had been my first one, and despite the fact that I left early, the peaceful energy of the place stayed with me for days. When I returned home, friends told me I looked different to them - changed, even. I certainly felt much more relaxed and perhaps even wiser.

Six months later, I long for that same feeling, recognizing that everyday life has a way of tying us into knots without our full awareness.

Today, though, I was delighted at how the mere act of listening to dharma talks via the Internet took me to a calmer place within myself. An open space where love, understanding, and compassion live, and insight is given the chance to grow.

Maybe I can put off attending my second meditation retreat for a few months if this comforting feeling lasts. Then again, as the Buddha taught, it’s probably wiser to simply enjoy the feeling for what it is, and let go of any attachment to or desire for its longevity.

Ah yes, well, perhaps today, then, I’ll listen to a few more of those talks!

At varying stages in everyone’s life, there comes a time when we have to say goodbye to someone we love. Whatever the reason for the departure, an elemental sadness hovers in our hearts, longing for comfort.

The aspects of life we cherish most - connections, companionship, safety, and love - are shaken when goodbyes become imminent. As if our very nature will be forever marred by the parting.

For me, this is certainly the case, as my immediate reluctance to bless these occurrences stems from fear and lack. If I say goodbye to someone I love, my life is suddenly “one less.”

Yet there is beauty in surrendering to this natural process of life; the process of ebb and flow. Especially when saying goodbye is our choice, and one we make to honor our highest good.

When a person leaves us - or we leave them - it opens us to a period of growth and newness we wouldn’t otherwise experience. Contrary to our initial assumptions, goodbyes offer us the chance to expand.

Like a closed fist unable to hold anything new, so it is when we cling too tightly to what we currently know and have.

The human spirit was created to withstand sadness, and in time, sadness gives way to acceptance and peace. With even a little more time, these eventually give way to new and fantastic joys.

So for me, there is joy in knowing when to say goodbye, realizing that the other side of a goodbye is the welcoming essence of a more expansive life.