I am enjoying happiness that was granted to me almost overnight last year – well, it happened in a dream, but that’s another story. I did not know that the result would be a profound inner peace and a powerful knowing that I am not alone. Anything that seemed difficult before this incident is no longer so challenging. Naturally, I still argue with my children, but without rancor. If my preteen daughter is in a foul mood, I move into an objective place within myself that enables me at once to observe but also to remain in joy. When I tried to explain this state of being to a friend he refuted my condition: “If your children died and your house burned and your pets ran away, you probably still wouldn’t be happy.” He assumed that my state of being relies on desires and needs being met, but we all know or know of people who have all the money in the world but little happiness. I felt superstitious about outright denying his claim while knowing that what I am experiencing is beyond explanation; that I have been plugged into an infinite and powerful source that I believe is God. It’s not a unique or special experience; I think it is available to everyone and once you cross into this place of peace and compassion it is impossible not to begin helping to heal the world just by being. That is, maybe I will eventually be called to teach or heal in a more direct manner, but for now I am one of many people holding a space for joy as I follow my artistic muses. Collectively, we enable our brothers and sisters and the earth to take a deep sigh of relief.