I remembered my mother’s instruction: to allow myself the pleasures I wanted for everyone on earth. My gratitude returned me to the present moment. Each place expanded the aperture of what I could see and therefore how much I could breathe in, and with each breath, I was learning how to love my body and its place among things—the wide wet earth, the sweep of human civilization, the kingdom of animals, the timeline of evolution, and the stars in the universe. I was accessing the force of life within me.
