As part of my work this year to become a Lunatic for Peace, I am trying to be present to every day. I work to consider the wonder and the blessings, not just of my life, but in every day life. I’m trying to watch the Moon change its shape and notice how it pulls on the Earth.

In winter, that means I pay attention to the weather and what’s happening in my neighborhood. It means I work to embrace rather than whine about the snow and the ice… I try to find its beauty. Because although this is no longer the Snow Moon, it is sometimes called the crust moon, when the sun melts the snow and the night freezes it to a blank sheet that can be razor sharp when broken.

But still… it’s not all that hard, because it is beautiful. Every day is a wonder. It is sweet and precious… All the hard stuff that happens is all the stuff that life is composed of. Wishing it away is wasting life. Having spent so much time at bedsides of people who are leaving life, you realize, there really aren’t any throwaway days. Which means the weather is part of what we have every day.

And the other day we had snow. Beautiful, beautiful snow. It fell steadily throughout the day and was light and fluffy and beautiful. It was easy to shovel and to dust off the car. And best of all it looked like diamonds falling. A day filled with diamonds falling into my life. Pretty fun.

Peace is such a complicated package of big vision and little immediate actions. I choose to welcome what is true at this moment in my life. Peace. When it’s snow, fluffy snow, it’s a pretty easy thing to be joyful about and to take delight in.