Mindfulness Isn’t Solitude—It’s Showing Up
 
   We often talk about mindfulness as a solo practice: breath, body, silence. But in a household like mine—multi-generational, multi-family, multi-cat—mindfulness is relational. It’s the pause before reacting. The breath before interrupting. The noticing of someone’s tone, not just their words.  Mindfulness in relationships isn’t about being perfectly calm or endlessly patient. It’s about being awake to the moment we’re in together. It’s the difference between “I’m listening” and “I hear you.” Between “I’m here” and “I’m with you.”  In caregiving, mindfulness is the split-second awareness that someone’s cough isn’t just a cough. In friendship, it’s the quiet attunement to what’s not being said. In community, it’s the willingness to be changed by what we learn from each other.  Mindfulness doesn’t isolate—it connects. It’s not just a tool for stress reduction; it’s a practice of presence that makes relationships more honest, more resilient, more alive.  So today, I’m not meditating ...
 
