Day Twenty-Nine of the Omer

Chesed in Hod - loving-kindness in grace.

We open up this week of the Omer focusing on humility, grace, and smallness. A week of remembering that the role of the pixel is both vital and beautiful in its importance and tininess.

How we interact with our environment may be an exercise in compassion. We are so small our impact seems negligible. Yet each of our infinitely tiny actions makes a difference, as we each contribute ripple effects that expand our smallness in all directions.

I work to be compassionate to the planet, to my neighbors, and to my family.

Every small action still counts.

Day Twenty-Six of the Omer (Yesterday)

Hod in Netzach - the grace of the minute in eternal victory.

[A delayed reflection on Mother's Day]

Attention to details matters. Small things make a difference in the biggest of pictures.

Yesterday, according to Ginny, the mother of our children, I did pretty well at providing her a good Mother's Day. Everything was about the small things: providing tasty and celebratory food for the family throughout the day, and cleaning up the kitchen too. Giving Ginny time and space to enjoy the day, start and complete an art project, now hanging in our living room, and attending to the little things that Ginny thought would be good for us all.

Providing a good day works when it reflects our attempts to provide good days all the time. The little details count so much more when we work on them regularly.

Day Nineteen of the Omer

Hod in Tiferet - grace and smallness in balance and harmony.

Composing thousands of seemingly irrelevant tiny details into a harmonious and beautiful whole - this is the stuff of artists and facilitators of all sorts.

Finding that one small thing, that one shard of our being, or someone else's essential contribution, that may contribute to a balanced outcome, there we discover a vital smallness in something beautiful.

Overcome the noise and the distractions and notice that detail that makes the difference. I try to thank the source of the idea or innovation once I've found it too.

Day 35 of the Omer - Grow from smallness

Malchut in Hod - the manifestation of reality in humble smallness.

Gaining perspective must be put to some use. We engage in contemplating how insignificant we are so that we can act effectively. So we must put that acquired wisdom into action and not get lost in our insignificance.

The seed must germinate and grow or not fulfill its purpose.

May our counting lead us to better agency!

Day 26 of the Omer - Dependence in Importance

Hod in Netzach - quantum smallness and awe in eternal perpetuation of the self.​

These ends of the spectrum - humility and ego - depend on each other. All sound thinking, feeling, and acting, relies on balanced and appropriate use of self, sometimes less, sometimes more, and fine tuning that adjustment and its other dimensions takes attention.​

To find the smallness necessary for a long term projection of our selves recognizes our interdependence, even as we assert our selves.​

We are dependent AND we are important. Recognizing these as co-existing enables us to do better.​

Counting continues tonight - blessings to all!​

Day 12 of the Omer

Hod in Gevurah - awe in our smallness, in power and rigor.

To recognize humbly the power that we wield often unknowingly brings greater wisdom to our actions. A small lack of consideration may have massive unknown negative impacts, and a small exercise of effort may make a difference far beyond our energy applied.

We can be easily humbled when we take note of the dramatic effect of a kindness offered to a stranger, or the outpouring of gratitude when we visit someone ailing or in need.

Adding a sense of awe to our own effect deepens our thoughts and actions.

Happy and thoughtful continued Omer Counting to all!