Can you find a place that reflects you back to yourself, a place that shows you the way toward inner stillness?

Can you find a place where the cares of daily life slip off your shoulders like a silk shawl slipping to the ground? Can you create such a place in your mind, color it richly and make it real? Can you go there whenever you like? For me that place is Lake Crescent in the Olympic Mountains. This is how it looked last week when I returned from Neah Bay, with the blushing alders painting the lake pink. I am never more centered, grounded and calm than when I walk along and sit beside this magnificent lake.

I urge you to do whatever it takes to give yourself the gift of a place like this in your life. You deserve this much inner delight and peace. We all need this escape. Close your eyes. You can go there now.

sometimes the water is dark, it's all right...click to enlarge

This magical spot is called La Poel. Inhale the pink spring light. Exhale everything that doesn’t belong here. Inhale joy.

CONTEMPLATIONS

• What do you see reflected in your lake?
• Where do you feel most grounded?
• What color is the light in your most sacred place?
• What do you call your La Poel?

Take a walk around Lake Crescent and into the old woods here.