"Being upright means staying smack dab in the middle of what's going on. No running away. No pretending that the situation is any different than it is. It means breathing in and out and listening to our heart. And asking only one question: 'What can I do right this minute?' Sometimes I think of it as 'mountain and river' practice. Detroit is all too often a mountain of heartbreaks and a river of sorrows. All I can do is look for cracks where some help can be offered. Sometimes I can only witness. Some days I can only pick up the garbage or make the first call to a shelter or delete the email and chant for the person who wrote it."