Alive, Together – Mindful

A letter from Aware Journal’s 2026 Editor, Amber Tucker.

I learn a quote not too long ago that spoke to me, and to a key thought on this version of Aware: “We shouldn’t have to reside as if we’re alone.” (That’s author and environmentalist Wendell Berry, quoted in author and instructor Sebene Selassie’s Substack publication, Remind Me to Love.) I do know I’m not the one one who feels alone, typically, in lengthy hours hunkered over a desk, greedy for a way of gosh-darn interconnectedness.

On the identical time, making {a magazine} is an inherently (and at the very best of occasions, a joyfully) collaborative endeavor. Numerous tiny but essential steps involving dozens, even lots of of individuals all over the world, all relying on each other’s expertise, data, and dedication. Having labored at Aware for greater than seven years, I stay in awe of the ecosystem that introduced into being the Belief Your self subject you’re studying now.

Like a wholesome relationship, a significant undertaking requires belief in others, and belief in ourselves. There’s a generative energy in that. Belief that we’re extra resilient than the sore again or disgruntled ideas or horrific headlines or aching coronary heart that will, proper now, be overwhelming. Do not forget that we’re on this collectively, our ft planted firmly. As meditation instructor and writer Kimberly Brown says, in Stephanie Domet’s article: “It does take time to turn into intimate along with your physique and your thoughts and turn into pleasant with it. However when you’ll be able to let your self turn into acquainted, then you can even begin to belief.”

The tales in these pages discover belief from quite a few angles. Sue Hutton shares science-backed methods to honor your unique brain wiring, whereas Misty Pratt investigates why the mind craves certainty and the right way to reduce nervousness in regards to the unknown. Mara Gulens reckons with the grief of a changing body—possibly an sudden path to wholeness. Sharon Ross extols the artwork of a simple invitation to assist us break by way of loneliness and nurture neighborhood. And when you’re prepared for a recent begin with mindfulness (at any age or expertise stage), flip to web page 12 for a week’s worth of audio meditations, and to web page 75 for a guide to your own daily practice: important to turning into extra acquainted and pleasant with you.

I hope this subject of Aware provides instruments to your equipment for this lifelong journey of returning to ourselves and to 1 one other. Amidst the chaos and ache and love of being alive, we’re all we really have. Might all of us discover our approach to belief in that.