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Feb 26

Stop. Look Up.

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.”― Dejan Stojanovic

“The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

Signs, signals, wonders
All around
Awaiting our arrival, attention, tending
Whisper, invitation, welcoming
On this very ground, sky at your feet
To see the same in a different way
Pull over, stop, look up
Brilliant blue sky, big world, beauty abound
In the middle of the noise, chaos, distractions
Abundance in the noticing, awe, reverence
Fresh eyes, curious heart, open arms.

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Feb 25

Hello Sunshine

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”― Mary Oliver

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.” – Mary Oliver

Loosen your grip.
Put it down.
Lighten up.
Make way.
Give into joy.
Smile spilling into laughter.
Song to dance.
Gratitude, grace, goodness.
May you bask here awhile.
Be made new.

“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.”
― Mary Oliver, Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays

Feb 24

Arriving and Unfolding

“Thriving is not an end state—it is a continuous” journey.”― Sahil Bloom, The 5 Types of Wealth

“The arrival fallacy is the false assumption that reaching some achievement or goal will create durable feelings of satisfaction and contentment in our lives.”― Sahil Bloom, The 5 Types of Wealth

Perpetual spring.
In all seasons.
Desert and oasis.
Changing, growing, unfolding.
May I never be done.
Present and grateful.
Finding and sitting with joy woven into the daily journey.
Hidden in the ordinary.
Knit into detours, delays, waiting.
Hope. Light. Bloom.
Revised. Renewed. Refreshed.

“Accept that you are a work in progress, both a revision and a draft: you are better and more complete than earlier versions of yourself, but you also have work to do. Be open to change. Allow yourself to be revised.”― Maggie Smith, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change

Feb 23

Plant a Rose

“Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet.” – Katharine Lee Bates

“Let grace go first.
Let it carve a path, however small,
and show that
even the tiniest efforts
can multiply in love.” – Kate Bowler

Love well today.
How?
Call to say “hi”
Ask and listen, ask more
Smile, eye to eye contact
Yield in traffic (ugh)
Warm embrace
Laughter and play
Encouragement and enthusiasm
Gratitude and grace
Small, beautiful ways to plant seeds, prepare for bloom.

“It is the hour to rend thy chains, the blossom time of souls.” – Katharine Lee Bates

Feb 22

Lighting Dim Places

“Our role in life is to bring the light of our own souls to the dim places around us.”— Sister Joan Chittister

“But grace tiptoed in, and I remembered that the meaning of the day is about as plain as it gets — we come from ashes and return to ashes, but when we stop our chaotic activity for awhile, and experience this, there is something that remains, deep and true, quiet and sweet.

Ashes can definitely be scary to confront, the dark night of the soul stuff that John the Divine writes about: we may fall into an abyss that we have been trying to outrun since we were little children. The American way is to trick out the abyss so it’s a little bit nicer. Maybe go to Ikea and get a more festive throw rug, right? But if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten, which may leave you empty and afraid. Spring is the offer of new life.” – Anne Lamott

Wintering, rest and slow.
On the road to spring.
Attune and awake for the whole journey.
New life unfolding quietly.
Spring never skips its turn.
Winter neither.
Threshold of transformation.
Seasons. Cycles. Rituals.
Beauty of enough.
Lighting dim places.

“Never let the quest for more distract you from the beauty of enough.”― Sahil Bloom, The 5 Types of Wealth

Feb 21

Random Awakenings

“Don’t wait for your life to magically come together–it’s your work to do. Every day, every moment, you are making your life from scratch. Today, take one step, however small, toward creating a life you can be proud of.”― Maggie Smith, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change

“Today is always a good day for a little random awakening, here and there. Decide not to hit the snooze button. Breathe, take it all in, both the miracles of life and the suffering all around us—look around, gape, give thanks, help the poor, be there gently in all of this for your dear, rattled, baby self.” – Anne Lamott

Steps
Drops
Moments
Small things
Exchanges
Encounters
Pokes
Prods
In the cracks and crevices
Waiting and detours
Random awakenings abound
Invite. Allow. Welcome.

“Ask yourself about the kind of life you want: What would you do day to day, and with whom, and where? Consider the life you have. Do one thing today, however small, to close the gap between the two.”― Maggie Smith, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change

Feb 20

Beams of Love

“And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love.”― William Blake

“You can either practice being right or practice being kind.”― Anne Lamott

Kindness. Generosity. Hope. Joy. Laughter. Enthusiasm. Grace.
May these be the path I choose.
Daily.
To dare to bear the beams of love.
To be a beam.
Cast light.

“Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”― Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Feb 19

Quiet State of Wonder

“The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton

a blessing for when you want to wake up to joy by Kate Bowler

“Blessed are you for feeling the pull,
that tug back toward a part of yourself
so easily ignored.
Yourself at ease.
Yourself in the flow.
Yourself at play.

Pain or boredom or business has sucked up all the energy.
But wait. Aren’t you more than a crisis firefighter?

Blessed are you when you relax.
When you feel young again
When you LAY THE STRESS DOWN.

Blessed are you when you remember
That you used to be pretty good at guitar
Or piano, or actually you’re a terrible singer but, wait for it, you’re going to bring out the showtunes.

Blessed are you who put the words FUN in the calendar
Even when you have no idea what you might actually do.

You are more than a list of things to do, people to love, problems to survive.

You are a big, loud laugh. Or a quiet, study of wonder.
Extroverted or introverted.
Splashy or contained.
May the joy of fun be poured back in your roots,
And may you watch yourself come back to life.”

If but for a moment, maybe 20.
Put it all down.
Time out.
Take a walk.
Have fun.
Quiet study of wonder.
Joy poured back into your roots work.
Nature, kids, dogs, playground, music, poetry, laughter, dance.
In reach, conduits to delight.
Being not doing.
Allowing not pursuing.
Brought back to life.

Feb 18

Life Anew in the Layers

“God’s gifts put men’s best dreams to shame.”― Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“We enter Lent to enter our own earth, to make a pilgrimage into our own terrain. We move into this season to look at our life anew, to consider what has formed us, where we have come from, what we are carrying within us. Lent invites us to look at the layers that inhabit us: our stories and memories, our imaginings and dreams. This season invites us to notice what in our life feels fallow or empty, where there is growth and greenness, what sources of sustenance lie within us, where we find our inner earth crumbling to reveal something new. Lent opens our own terrain to us, that we might meet anew the God who lives in every layer of our life.” – Jan Richardson

Ash Wednesday
Lenten journey begins
Desert time
Invitation within
For each and all
Relationship, not religion
Take your journey
All, all, are welcomed and loved
Made anew in the layers.

“I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.”― Elie Wiesel, Night

Feb 17

Crammed with Heaven

“Earth’s crammed with heaven…
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

“O Life,
How oft we throw it off and think, — ‘Enough,
Enough of life in so much! — here’s a cause
For rupture; — herein we must break with Life,
Or be ourselves unworthy; here we are wronged,
Maimed, spoiled for aspiration: farewell Life!’
— And so, as froward babes, we hide our eyes
And think all ended. — Then, Life calls to us
In some transformed, apocryphal, new voice,
Above us, or below us, or around . .
Perhaps we name it Nature’s voice, or Love’s,
Tricking ourselves, because we are more ashamed
To own our compensations than our griefs:
Still, Life’s voice! — still, we make our peace with Life.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh and Other Poems

Make room, create margin, yield to…
Joy
Beauty
Poetry
Music
Movement
Gratitude
Grace
Light
Astonishment
Awe
Wonder
It’s there
In seemingly small things, places, people
Right in the mess
In the striving
Not to diminish or deny struggles
But to be a companion and friend
Anchor and foundation
Someday when…
False horizon
Find goodness in this day, crammed with heaven
In cracks and crevices
On the ground you stand
Life’s voice calling, heed.

“Light tomorrow with today.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

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