Derry Deringer
A practice in contemplation began for me while traveling solo through Spain and the Andean region of South America. That wasn’t my intention or even in my thoughts, but contemplation naturally arises in long periods of silence. This was 23 years ago now. I had quit a good job and career to follow a nagging urge to “see the world”. That fourteen months abroad is the basis for who I am today.
My spiritual practice ramped up about three years ago. It was then that I began daily meditation, hosting weekly meditation and mindfulness groups, mentoring a few individuals, lots of reading and journaling, and integrating intentional living into my work, family, and community life.
For me, the most interesting aspects of meditation and mindfulness are practices and growth in myself and others to a more loving, more kind, more curious, and more compassionate world today than yesterday. I love hosting a weekly group at Palouse Mindfulness, because it keeps me curious and facilitating that in others. A message I like repeating these days: Every moment is a miracle!
I’d like to conclude with Frank Ostaseski’s Five Invitations:
- Don’t Wait.
- Welcome Everyone. Push Away Nothing.
- Bring Your Whole Self To The Experience.
- Find a Place In The Middle of Things.
- Cultivate Don’t Know Mind.
© 2015 Palouse Mindfulness Inc.
