Dear Friends,
Yesterday, we explored the air element as shared breath – moving through bodies, environments, and time. Today’s reflection is an invitation to stay with that sense of exchange and connection, noticing how it shows up in ordinary experience.
To open the reflection, I would like to name a poem that feels especially aligned with this exploration: Longing to Help by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.
The poem begins with an epigraph by Joseph Hutchison, from “Comfort Food: Breath”:
The world enters
us as breath. We
return to it itself
as breath.
From there, the poem reflects on breath as a quiet offering – something shared, circulating, connecting us molecule by molecule across distance and time.
You might let this image linger as you reflect today.
Rather than thinking about air as an idea, you could explore it through simple moments of awareness:
- Noticing air entering and leaving the body
- Sensing how breath connects inside and outside
- Feeling how breathing places you in relationship with the wider world
You might also reflect on air as something shared:
- Breathing in a room with others (people, plants, animals)
- Stepping outside and feeling wind on the skin
- Remembering that the air you breathe has passed through many lives before, and will continue on afterward
As you go about your day, you might be curious about boundaries:
- Where does “inside” end and “outside” begin?
- What shifts when breath is felt as something exchanged?
- Does this way of seeing invite any sense of connection, tenderness, or humility?
The invitation is about noticing – allowing experience to speak for itself, without needing to define or explain it.
You are invited to let us know what you discover. You can reply to the email or post a comment to share a brief reflection.
With good wishes,
Andrea