Welcome

About 13 years ago, I bought a copy of Don Miguel Ruiz' book The Four Agreements. I couldn't have been at a scarier point in my life. About to have a child as a single mother, going back to school to get my masters degree, and living with my folks...I had no idea where life was going to take me, or how I'd gotten where I was in the first place. Unfortunately, it was not the right time or place in my life for the book to resonate with me.

Fast forward 13 years. I now have a career, a husband, a 12 year-old daughter, a house and a cat, and things couldn't be better on the surface. On the inside though, I was a mess. I found I was still angry and hurt about things that had happened years ago, and was still beating myself up about mistakes I had made and bad choices I had made in the past. My anger, frustration and hopelessness were bleeding into my work and my family life, and I knew something had to change. When I re-discovered my copy of The Four Agreements on a shelf in the basement about a week ago, this time I devoured it. I realized after I re-read the book how little time I spent on the here and now, today, this moment, and how important it was to forgive myself the past in order to move forward. And that was when I realized that it was time for me to put The Four Agreements into action.

I chose my blog title, Tabula Rasa, which is Latin for "clean slate", because one of the precepts of The Four Agreements is to start fresh every day, without judging anyone for what happened in the past, without judging ourselves for past mistakes, and not to worry about what might happen tomorrow. No one keeps score and everyone gets a second chance. We laugh at ourselves if we mess up and forgive and forget instantly. It's more of a challenge to live in the here and now than I realized it would be!

This blog will be my journey as I try to work through the concepts of living fully today. Feel free to leave your own thoughts!