I sit at home with the sound of my 3 boys breathing, deep in sleep. And 150km away at the her parent’s home in Melbourne, my wife is suffering the horrible pain that comes with an ear infection. Not just any ear infection, this one is hideous with intolerable pain despite a healthy mix of high end medications.

I can’t sleep and so I write from the heart and try to notice this time and the events of the past 2 days. One things stands above all else … the love and kindness of people around us.

As I begin to read ‘The Places That Scare You’ by Pema Chodron, I am introduced to ‘bodhichitta’, a word that may be easier to understand than translate.

“Bodhichitta is also equated, in part, with compassion – our ability to feel that pain that we share with others.” P. Chodron

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The couple next door to us have 2 girls. Our boys have known them all their lives. They have become more than friends. Their girls are like our son’s sisters – their relationships and care for each other flows deep. What we share is an ability to sense the pain and struggle in each other. We provide support and care for each other in just the right measure.

And whilst the links between my story and ‘awakening bodhichitta’ are tenuous at best, what I feel right now is an innate love and care from those around me. An offer to be part of an emotional and unpredictable journey. In some ways, it’s an offer to improvise together – to be average, to say yes, to do something and let-go of where things will end up.

Something has happened in our life that is big enough to disrupt the normal flow of things. I feel a deeper sense of connection to friends and family and a ‘letting-go’ of a whole heap of other stuff! Stuff that can simply wait … stuff that is noise and is my ego.

Now I am ready for sleep.