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Let Us Dance

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…”― susan polis Schutz

“I do love the beginning of the summer hols,’ said Julian. They always seem to stretch out ahead for ages and ages.’

‘They go so nice and slowly at first,’ said Anne, his little sister. ‘Then they start to gallop.”― Enid Blyton, Five Go Off in a Caravan

Too cold, too hot
Too slow, too fast
Too much, too little
Measure, compare, grumble less
Invite, receive, open up to joy more
Summer’s call to presence, awe, life.
Dance.

“Some of the best memories are made in flip flops.”― Kellie Elmore

Replete with Meaning

“Part of doing something is listening. We are listening. To the sun. To the stars. To the wind.”― Madeleine L’Engle, Swiftly Tilting Planet

“Growing up is a process that never ends. It isn’t a point you attain so you can say, Hooray, I’m grown up. Some people never grow up. And nobody ever finishes growing. Or shouldn’t. If you stop you might as well quit. What I have to tell you is that it never gets any easier. It goes right on being rough forever. But nothing that’s easy is worth anything. You ought to have learned that by now. What happens as you keep on growing is that all of a sudden you realize that it’s more exciting and beautiful than scary and awful.”― Madeleine L’Engle

Eyes on the road ahead, not too far.
Feet anchored in path of this day.
Stop looking for a different ending in the rearview mirror.
Start where you are and carry on.
Time is moving.
Join the flow.
Transformation, ever unfolding.
Growing new, not old.
Stories yet to be written.
Canvas to paint.
Use all the colors.
Go outside the lines.
Bending, not breaking.
Stretching and reaching.
Stumble, trip, get up.
Laugh, alot.
Wander, wonder, delight.
Scattering, mattering, blooming.

“The everyday human gesture is always a heartbeat away from the miraculous — [remember] that ultimately we make things happen through our actions, way beyond our understanding or intention; that our seemingly small ordinary human acts have untold consequences; that what we do in this world means something; that we are not nothing; and that our most quotidian human actions by their nature burst the seams of our intent and spill meaningfully and radically through time and space, changing everything… Our deeds, no matter how insignificant they may feel, are replete with meaning, and of vast consequence, and… they constantly impact upon the unfolding story of the world, whether we know it or not.” – Nick Cave

Gifts and Fruits

“Spring is a youthful season coming forth in a rush of life and promise, hope and possibility. At the heart of spring, there is a great inner longing when desire and memory stir toward each other. Consequently, springtime in your soul is a wonderful time to undertake some new adventures, some new project, or to make some important changes in your life; there the rhythm, the energy, and the hidden light of your own clay work with you.”– John O’Donohue

“There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. . . . It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility, and our hearts to love life. Without this subtle quickening our days would be empty and wearisome, and no horizon would ever awaken our longing. Our passion for life is quietly sustained from somewhere in us that is wedded to the energy and excitement of life. This shy inner light is what enables us to recognize and receive our very presence here as blessing. We enter the world as strangers who all at once become heirs to a harvest of memory, spirit, and dream that has long preceded us and will now enfold, nourish, and sustain us. The gift of the world is our first blessing.” – John O’Donohue

Plant seeds, bear fruit
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
Gifts and fruits
Quiet, steady light of the Spirit
Ever present
Woven in each day to partake in
Attention, awareness, abiding the bridge

“The only little journey we have to make — the only little moment of transition — is the moment where we actually become aware of the dignity and beauty and light of the presence in which we already are. – John O’Donohue

Lilacs in Full Bloom

“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”― Maya Angelou

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”― Maya Angelou

Yield to joy
Make way for delight
Clear a path for laughter
Arrive full of hope
Shining bright
Lilacs are in full bloom
Slowly then suddenly
Senses ablaze
Transformation at work.

“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”― Maya Angelou

Riches of Wonder

“encounter the mystery and wonder of unsuspected instants. Let us dip into the marvel of the budding and the blooming” ― Erik Pevernagie

“And the deer–
how beautiful they are,
as though their bodies did not impede them.
Slowly they drift into the open
though bronze panels of sunlight.”
― Louise Glück, The House on Marshland

Sometimes seeking and searching
Sometimes beauty finds you
Too many times, passing by without notice
To be awake
To see delight
In stillness
Wonder strolls in, an invitation
To be found and held
Embrace of mystery, awe, reverence
Partaker of joy

“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

“Live bold, without fear. This is life amongst the deer.”― Katelyn S. Bolds

Poetry of the Earth

“The poetry of the earth is never dead.” – John Keats

“Home has less to do with a piece of soil then a piece of soul.” – Pico Iyer

To hold dear, with delight
Extraordinary beauty
Bloom and life woven throughout
Abiding and embracing
Richness and density
Lightness and buoyancy
Poetry of the earth
Alive and well
Join the prose.

“To experience sublime natural beauty is to confront the total inadequacy of language to describe what you see. Words cannot convey the scale of a view that is so stunning it is felt.” – Eleanor Catton

Fidelity and Flow

“A person susceptible to “wanderlust” is not so much addicted to movement as committed to transformation.”― Pico Iyer

“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.”― Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere

Fidelity to this day
Presence sought, found
Held, steady
Yolk easy
Burden light
River of joy running through it, undeterred
Slow. Attention. Stillness.
Reverence. Wanderlust. Serendipity.
Fidelity to this day.

“Serendipity was my tour guide, assisted by caprice”― Pico Iyer

Poets of Possibilities

“We are, always, poets, exploring possibilities of meaning in a world which is also all the time exploring possibilities.”― Margaret J. Wheatley, A Simpler Way

“Life offers us this great gift of self-organization, how we can be held in the basin of shared meaning and, within that, exercise individual freedom. It is such a shame to waste it on fear and doubt. Or to seek to contain and control it.”― Margaret J. Wheatley, Who Do We Choose to Be?

Perspective
Possibilities
Breadth
Nuance
Expanse
Meaning
Response
Exploration
Invitation
Entering
Opening
Take the long cut
The path to growth, bloom, transformation.

“In this way, dissipative structures demonstrate that disorder can be a source of new order, and that growth appears from disequilibrium, not balance.”― Margaret J. Wheatley, Leadership and the New Science

Blooming in the Now Things

“May you always be the one
who notices the little things
that make the light pour
through, and may they always
remind you: There is more to
life and there is more to you.”
― Morgan Harper Nichols

“Living in the moment is learning how to live between the big moments. It is learning how to make the most of the in-betweens and having the audacity to make those moments just as exciting.”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

Racing ahead
Focused on the “next thing”
Before partaking in the “now thing”
Root in this day
Slow down
Fill up
Look up
Light and beauty abundant in the ordinary
There’s blooming everywhere in and out.

“Even though you have learned the skill of running on empty, now is the time to learn the art of breathing deep all over again,”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

Sow Love, Bloom Peace

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” – Francis of Assisi

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” – Dalai Lama

Peace
Woven in pause, stillness, reflection, putting down, beauty, grace, generosity
A jolt out of complacency
Paddles to jumpstart your heart
To get out of your head
The figuring, counting, comparing, complaining, blaming, othering, assumptions
An inside job
Daily practice, consistency and commitment
A shift
In thoughts, words, actions
Kindness, thankfulness, gratitude, goodness, praise
Awe, wonder, love, reverence
Sow, tend, bloom
Cast light.

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” – Henry David Thoreau