I've been reflecting on worthiness lately. Somewhere along the way, a lot of people internalized the story that worthiness has to be earned. Maybe you learned at a young age to get the attention you needed from your caregivers by bringing home all A's. Or being the fastest runner on the track team. No one told you it was necessary for you to do these things to be worthy of love or support. But that's the message many of us received from the world around us. Then years later, we find ourselves underpaid, underappreciated, or stuck in patterns that feel far too familiar. So we try to think our way into feeling worthy. If we just have the right mindset. If we just heal enough. If we just become a better version of ourselves. The challenge is that our bodies often carry an older story. A story shaped by experiences, expectations, disappointments, criticism, rejection, and all the moments we learned it was safer to be who others needed us to be than who we truly were. I've found that some of the most powerful shifts happen when we stop trying to convince ourselves we are worthy and instead allow ourselves to experience it. When we slow down long enough to notice what it feels like to belong to ourselves. When we remember a moment we felt fully alive, fully present, fully ourselves, and allow that experience to take center stage again. Over time, those moments begin to tell a different story. Not a story about becoming worthy. A story about remembering that we already are. Because the truth is, you are worthy because you exist. You are here. What helps you feel most connected to your sense of worthiness?

Lao Tzu wrote this over 2,500 years ago. "When the great Tao is forgotten, virtue and morality arise. When knowledge and intelligence are born, the great pretence begins. When there is no harmony within the family, filial piety and devotion arise. When the country is confused, and in chaos, loyal officials appear." At first, that might sound strange. Isn't virtue a good thing? Isn't loyalty something to praise? But here's what I think he was gently pointing out.... We only invent words for what's missing. You don't need a rule about "kindness" in a room where everyone already loves each other. You don't need to announce "I'm devoted" when harmony is just… how you live. Think about your own life.... When was the last time someone had to tell you they were honest? Or prove they were loyal? Probably in a moment when trust was already broken. Lao Tzu isn't against virtue or loyalty. He's inviting us to look deeper. Before the word "respect", there was simply seeing the person in front of you. Before "gratitude practice", there was a quiet heart, already full. So here's my gentle question for us all this week.... What if we stopped trying so hard to be good, and started simply listening for the harmony that's already there? Not the loud, performative kind. The quiet kind. The way your child laughs without reading a parenting book. The way you helped a stranger without pausing to call it "compassion." The Tao was never lost. We just forgot we were already living inside it. Let's remember together. With Love ❤️ Always Mark A pen and ink drawing i made of Lao Tzu in 2016

Our beloved @Mark Lawrence, my darling friend 🤗 Today, you have completed another trip around the fire ball that gives life to all! 👏🏻 I am so grateful that you are on this Earth! Your kind heart and kindness never goes unnoticed and your poetry is the highlight of any day! I invite you to celebrate yourself today with joy, amazing food and laughter! I am there with you in spirit and hopefully one day we will meet in the flesh too! Happy birthday, my dear brother 🫶🏻💜🤗🎂

Hi Everyone 👋 I wrote a short Poem on Perseverance for @Karen Hamilton 's poetry group this morning , I hope you like it 😊 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲. Don't push the door. Just keep breathing on the other side. Some mornings, getting upright is the whole practice. Some days, the path is just not lying down again. Perseverance isn't climbing. It's staying when leaving would be easier. It's washing one bowl because the next bowl isn't here yet. The wind doesn't try. It just keeps being wind. Be that kind of tired..moving, but not striving. Fall down seven times? Fine.Get up eight? Only if you want to. Sometimes the eighth time is tomorrow. And that's still perseverance. Just slower. Just softer. Still real. With Love ❤️ Always Mark

Hi Everyone 👋, I’ve been ill for nearly three weeks now. Fatigued, low on energy, zero motivation, and honestly, lonely at times. Even as I write this, my body feels heavy and my mind a little fuzzy. But here’s what I keep coming back to, even in the middle of this… The Buddha taught that illness is not a stranger to any of us. It’s part of being human. And in that shared vulnerability, there is a quiet, powerful connection. So if you, too, are feeling unwell today whether in body, heart, or spirit, please know you are not alone. If you’re tired, bone-tired, soul-tired, rest doesn’t have to be earned. You are allowed to rest simply because you exist. If you’re feeling isolated like the world is moving on without you may you feel a gentle hand on your shoulder. Right here, right now, I’m holding you in loving-kindness. I don’t have much strength to give today, but love doesn’t require strength. Love just flows. So here’s what I can send…May you feel held by the kindness you’ve always offered others. May your exhaustion be met with permission, to stop, to lie down, to let go of “should.” May your loneliness be touched by the warmth of this community, even in silence. And may you know, deep down, that you are still worthy of care, especially on the days you have nothing to give. As a little Buddhist practice for anyone who needs it…. Place a hand on your heart. Breathe in slowly. And whisper to yourself… “This is hard. And I am not alone.” That’s a sacred truth. Right there. With Love ❤️ Always Mark From my sickbed to yours.. however you’re showing up today.