My family and I just returned from a long-overdue trip overseas. I feel tremendously grateful to have had the opportunity to do so. And, I have no doubt that as I get over the jet-lag and general exhaustion (from travel with 3 kids and driving over 2500 miles covering most of France), I will be processing the many amazing experiences we had for a long time to come.

One thing that always strikes me about travel is the way in which I perceive so differently - with new eyes and new ears - not just while I'm away but also upon return. Travel, especially to new places, bring our attention strongly to the surface - out into the unknown - and we operate in a moment-by-moment state of exploration. 

What I've come to learn, over the years, is that though travel can heighten the awakened state in us, we can awaken ourselves to all of life by learning direct and strengthen our attention in this moment, now. 

This is not an easy task because we a so conditioned to be asleep to life - to operate in conditioned states, in patterned ways of processing and relating to experiences. As my teacher Pat says, "we are almost never having a new experience." We are overlaying what we already know on top of what we actually don't know. 

So as I settle back into the house that I know, the schedule & routines that I know, the city that I know, I am doing my best to NOT know - to perceive from a place of newness and openness; from a place of possibly and expansion.