I was once given three ducks at an interesting time in my life. I was hosting a week-long dance retreat at my home. The workshop was filled with movement, internal work, and discovery. Just days before it began, my landscapers showed up with three ducks. I hadn’t planned for them, but there they were, waddling into my life just as I was diving deep into my own emotions and transformation.

REFLECTION:

Beauty is always found in balance; the hypnotic perfection of a master martial artist and the aesthetic glory of a simple ceramic vase, the balance of night and day, lights and shadows, joyful sounds and a joyful soul. When things are in balance, matched evenly,

A hammer on steel. A saw through wood. The scrape of boots on dry earth.

I grew up hearing those sounds. My dad, my granddad, my uncles—men who knew their work, men who didn’t need to say much because the proof was in what they built