Skip to content

Sep 28

Autumn Composition

“Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow” – Emily Bronte

Song for Autumn
by Mary Oliver

“In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”

What will you bring to this day, this season?
Will you slow, pause, praise?
Or pass by hurriedly in a haze?
Pull over, gaze, graze?
May presence, attention, awe be my first response.
Dancing with wonder too.

“I trust in nature for the stable laws of beauty and utility. Spring shall plant and autumn garner to the end of time.”
Robert Browning

Sep 27

Harvest Hues

“As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas and colours enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” – Vincent Van Gogh

“He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.” – Horace

Colors shifting, softening, glowing
Jewel tones
Depth, hues, nuance
Harvest time
Partake in the feast
Slow pace
Easy cadence
Light step
Beauty woven in each day, season
Hour of living, today.
Discover the gold in your pocket.

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” – Jim Bishop

 

Sep 26

Late September Bloom

“Every flower blooms at a different pace.” — Suzy Kassem

“If you tend to a flower, it will bloom, no matter how many weeds surround it.” — Matshona Dhliwayo

As Autumn begins its journey
Summer’s work done, harvest time
Deeper colors
Drying leaves and land
Then suddenly
Popping up bright
Late bloom, sliver of summer
Transitions, seasons, transformation
Never late
Time and timing
Blooming in all seasons.

“Autumn is a changeling, busy as a squirrel in a hickory tree, idle as the languid brook. It is August ended, October inevitable, Summer’s ripeness and richness fulfilled in sweet September.” – Hal Borland

Sep 25

Light Abase and Abound

“Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven’s river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.”― Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali

To gladness overflowing
Brilliant light, blue sky
Floods of joy, on the banks of ordinary days
Luminosity abase and abound
To witness, partake, participate
Peace

Sep 24

Harmony Woven in Presence

“If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich.”― Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”― Seneca

This day
Overflowing with possibilities
Presence, curiosity, receptivity
A shift in view
Loosening grip
Open heart and hands
Same place, different person.

“If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”― Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

Sep 23

Bright Morning Invitation

“Here, root yourselves beside me.
I am the tree planted by the river,
Which will not be moved.
I, the rock, I the river, I the tree
I am yours—your passages have been paid.
Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, and if faced with courage,
Need not be lived again.
Lift up your eyes upon
The day breaking for you.
Give birth againTo the dream.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

“Come, clad in peace and I will sing the songs
The Creator gave to me when I
And the tree and stone were one.
Before cynicism was a bloody sear across your brow
And when you yet knew you still knew nothing.
The river sings and sings on.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

Pulse of a new day.
The rhythm and rhyme.
Poetry woven throughout, rising up, overflowing.
Birthing, renewing, restoring.
Flowing like a river.
Deep roots.
Rock solid.
Good morning, good day, good life.
Accept the invitation.
Grace, hope, joy.

“Here on the pulse of this new day
You may have the grace to look up and out
And into your sister’s eyes,
Into your brother’s face, your country
And say simply
Very simply
With hope
Good morning.” – Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of the Morning

Sep 22

Enchantment to Transformation

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” – Simone Weil

“Incidentally, the world is magical.
Magic is simply what’s off our human scale… at the moment.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Encounter
Enchantment
Delight
Partake in magic
Woven through the day
Borne of attention, awe and wonder.

“Enchantment arises on the threshold between human activity and nature’s presence. It is always a liminal phenomenon, a momentary relationship, made of the right arrangement on stars and planets and elaborate with art by human consciousness.”― Thomas Moore

Sep 21

Don’t Skip to the End, Behold

“Don’t skip to the end,” he said, gently. “Don’t skip to the end.”― Kate Bowler, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved

“I have to remind myself not simply to look, but to behold. So let’s bless the gift of cultivated attention. May it bring us endless oooohs and aahhhhhs” – Kate Bowler

No skipping by
Going around
Shortcutting
Counting and comparing
Busy overwhelm
Task overload
Notice, pause, pay attention
Awake and aware
In this day alone
Behold, bemuse, be kind
Yep, even on a Monday, especially perhaps
Scatter seeds frivously
Joy, peace, laughter
Cast light.

“but I believe in joy. We can’t mistake it for anything less than what it is: one of the most powerful ways we experience the deepest and most healing forms of gratitude, delight, and hope. It is a kind of transcendence; joy is a glimmer of love and forgiveness and wholeness that lifts us out of reality for a moment and gives us back to ourselves, anew.”― Kate Bowler, Joyful, Anyway

Sep 20

Tips and Dust

“The true harvest of my life is intangible – a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched.”― Henry David Thoreau

“Direct your eye inward, and you’ll find / A thousand regions in your mind / Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be / Expert in home-cosmography”― Henry David Thoreau

Busy, rushing, noise
Distractions, short cuts, avoidance
Clear clutter, in and out
Go off path
Make room, create margin, horizons
Pause, ask, listen
Partake and dive into wonder, awe, reverence
Hidden in moments
Harvest of life
Abundance in tips and dust.

“I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.”― Henry David Thoreau

Sep 19

Moments to Seasons

“These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter. You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur — this lovely world, these precious days…”― E.B. White, Charlotte’s Web

“Stolen moments” create a feeling of enjoyment in our “intensive time” awareness. The glow and the intensity of those instants can guide us throughout a whole lifetime. They can expose a second or a third dimension of the daily events and shed an expounding light on all the little details we encounter.”― Erik Pevernagie

Each day, stolen moments falling into months and seasons
Abundant with gifts and offerings
Woven in ordinary and perceived sameness
Transitions, transformations if we allow
Joy, delight, beauty, shedding, growth
Attention required, open hands too
Pause, look, listen.

“The world is full of talkers, but it is rare to find anyone who listens. And I assure you that you can pick up more information when you are listening than when you are talking.”― E.B. White, The Trumpet of the Swan

← Older Entries