Alone together under the stars

It's Thor's day. In the mailbox this first day of 2023 June:

The English poet John Masefield was born on this day in 1878 Ledbury, England. He was the U.K.'s poet laureate from 1930 to 1967, second in duration only to Tennyson.

The root of suffering is the pain of separation, the fears and loneliness that arise when we have forgotten our intrinsic belonging to each other and to all of life. It's easy to have this illusion that you're home alone and others are out there engaged and doing things. But take a moment to reflect and imagine how many people are also in their own spaces looking at this email through a screen, from countries all over the world.

As you sense other readers, know that none of us would be here if we didn't have a longing to connect. You might mentally whisper "we are friends".When I reflect like this it helps me shift from feeling separate to the sense that we are all connected, and sometimes we're alone, together. – Tara Brach

Sea-Fever

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking,

I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

– John Masefield