JoAnn Saccato

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5/6/2018

Home...

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{Repost from CSJ Blog 4/19/2013}

It's official. I'm a homeowner. For the first time. By the grace of divine unfolding and many friends assisting along the way, the house I've lived in for the past six months has become mine. The poignancy of this moment is humbling and I miss Shyla more than I can hold in my heart right now. It's spilling over.

It's full spring here--the leaves have all sprouted on the maples and dogwoods--the blooms are bursting forth as much as they can in the heavily forested pines where I live--where I now call home. The breeze dances the new green leaves in a shadowy Samba.

Gratitude? That is so diminutive of a term for what I'm feeling in this moment....

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1/21/2016

My Home Still Stands: A Case for Compassion (Pt. 3)

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It's amazing how quickly the mind can forget profound truths. Particularly those that are discovered in exhaustion and under stress. Like the wind that blew through our camp, this attitude and outlook upon the situation drifted out of my mind upon waking in the morning. My mind resorted to trying to figure out all the differing scenarios of possibility.

I had been homeless before upon the ending of a 13 year relationship. Shyla and I spent a year in a tent on a friend's property--it was one of the best experiences of healing and perfect opportunity for connecting more deeply to the Tao of existence. It also was the stepping stone to my living in the cabin for all those years. Was this a bad thing? Quite the contrary! Not anything that I would have specifically chosen for myself, but so deeply grateful the situation presented itself and circumstances were as they were where I had to live there long enough to find the depth of beauty and aliveness that held me there for over 10 years.

Is this the fate that was in store for me again? After three years of setting up home on Cobb, was it all to be gone?


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12/23/2015

My Home Still Stands: A Case for Compassion (Pt. 2)

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The good thing about camping during the period of not knowing what was happening with the #ValleyFire was that we were kept busy enough with just the basics of living. Sarah and Julie were able to find a sweet, rocky spring fed creek a brief distance from camp while my friend and I rested and set up our tents.

I revealed a perfectly ripe peach that had been sequestered in the dark, protected regions of my sturdy (and heavy!) bear canister. I sliced up the fresh treasure and shared it out, each of us taking delight in the refreshingly moist, cool peachy experience, particularly delicious because of dry conditions at our camp spot, despite being just above the shoreline of the Pacific.

We made a trip back to the spring before sunset, resting our tired feet in the cool running water.

By the time dinner was over I was ready for bed--my body completely exhausted. But my mind was reeling. I hadn't even finished processing the loss of the cabin from the #RockyFire and was still working on the blog recounting that unexpected and profound experience.


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11/19/2015

My Home Still Stands: A Case for Compassion (Pt. 1)

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Lost Coast Trail, California.
While hiking the Lost Coast in Northern California, my friends and I received word that the #ValleyFire had started in Cobb, California--the area I live. It was my first overnight backpack trip and four of us trekked into the remote redwood region north of Redway.

I trained for weeks for this event in the neighboring forest (Boggs Demonstration Forest) some 5 minutes from my home. I carried increasingly more weight over a period of a few weeks to ready for the 30 pounds of necessary accouterments I would need for our two night adventure.

Also during that time, my friend and I poured over the map of the area, checking distances and elevation gains. Our second day hiking, though, was more than each of us had foresaw and far more than I intended for my first time out overnight.

The sites were stunning as we crossed rushing creeks and walked painstaking switchbacks up steep embankments. At about six hours in, we crested a hill giving me first time access to cell phone coverage. I read a text from my longtime friend, Vicki Crystal, "How close is the fire to you?  Praying big time."

Curious, I texted back, "Huh? Where? I'm hiking Lost Coast."

She responded, "Fire on Cobb evacuating town of Cobb extreme winds.  50 acres & growing fast.started a 1:30.  Probably won't have official update until tonight later will keep u posted."


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  • Home
  • Events
    • Ongoing
    • Free Workshops
    • Mindful Resilience Course
    • A six week introductory course in mindfulness
    • Half Day Retreats
    • Full Day Retreats
    • Self-paced opportunities
    • Scholarships
  • Working with JoAnn
  • Blog
  • About
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  • Donate
  • Tambo Elephant Fund
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