Raising Usthey say we raise our childrenbut i say we raise each otherand that many timeslike todayit feels to me like our children are raising usto higher levels greater gooddeeper lovewiser actionsome backstory yesterday eveningwe were eating ice cream on the stoop anda text comes in and she says yesto her first job and promptly has to figure outhow much do i charge?as much as i can get?as much as they are able?a fair price according to such and such?i say,what’s the going rate?just charge thatdon’t undersell yourselfshe says,nothat doesn’t feel right there has to be more to this and so she talks with her momand she listens to her gutand they work with numbersand they work with feelingsand they work with valuesand they work with othersand they work with layeruponlayeruntil i heari’ve decided!i’m going to charge less than i couldbecause i want tobecause i know thembecause they’re like familybecause it feels right to mebecause i would do it for freeand i realize that she’s raising meraising usand reminding me this morningthat i’ve spent my own lifeloving living so much thatthere hasn’t been a time or a jobwhere i didn’t feel that i would be happy doing it for freethat something happens that we cannot seewhen we give more than we receivelike an extended exhalethe whole bodyrelaxes and stops fightingand starts trustingand starts receiving moreof just what it needs yesthere must be balancebut the values of this equation are much easier to reconcilewhen the body and mind are giving more than receivingjust ask the man trying to let go of a lifetime oftaking, taking, taking trying to let go of a near-constant, striving, reaching, grasping, holdingtrying to stop inhaling trying to stop just inhalingtrying to stop only inhaling trying to learn to let gotrying to muster up the trust toe x h a l e his way in tothat which cannot be taken