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Sep 30

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Unhurrying

“Simplicity is ultimately a matter of focus.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things, tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing…. Through all that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing it away.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

In slowing
Fullness of moments, days
In attention
Beauty in the backdrop comes to the forefront
In unknowing
Space opens to learn, relearn, grow
In reflection
Gratitude expands
In awe
Wonder and joy show up
In presence
Abundance overflowing

“Life is so urgent it necessitates living slow.”― Ann Voskamp

Sep 29

“No Mud. No Lotus”-Buddha

“Practice several minutes of centering prayer. Remember that meditation is a not-doing. It is just letting go of small mind and merging with the stream of Divine Mind.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“To learn to see- to accustom the eye to calmness, to patience, and to allow things to come up to it; to defer judgment, and to acquire the habit of approaching and grasping an individual case from all sides. This is the first preparatory schooling of intellectuality. One must not respond immediately to a stimulus; one must acquire a command of the obstructing and isolating instincts.”― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Stimulus and response
Creating space between, a gap, a pause
To contribute something meaningful rather than adding to the noise
Peace, grace, awe in this space
Cast light, kindness, joy
Narrow path, worth the trip.

“As the lotus rises on its stalk unsoiled by the mud and water, so the wise one speaks of peace and is unstained by the opinions of the world.” – Buddha

Sep 28

The Sky or Just the Weather?

“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.”― Pema Chödrön

“Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.
Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.”
– John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

Be claimed by calmness
Gentle spirit
Generous heart
Open hands
Rooted in the sky rather than the chaos of the weather
Color, beauty, light, peace to you this day
And may it flood the world

“Peace is not the absence of chaos — it’s learning what deserves your reaction.”― Runarok Hrafn

Sep 27

Window of This Day

“For us, too, change is almost always a source of dislocation, but if nature teaches us anything, it’s that nothing prevents the passage of time, the turning of the seasons.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

“May I live this day
Compassionate of heart,
Clear in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love.”
John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

To remain in this day, fully
Not looking back, but a glance in gratitude
Not looking forward, but a glance in hope
Generous and overflowing in love
Window of this day

“I stand at the window looking out, trying to remember the truths that nature always brings home. That what lies before me is not all there is. That time is ever passing, and not only when I notice. That strife and pain are no more unexpected than pleasure and joy. That merely by breathing I belong to the eternal.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

Sep 26

Quiet Abiding Presence

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa

Presence
by Gabby Jimenez

“Presence doesn’t make a grand entrance.
It doesn’t need the spotlight.
It doesn’t always come with answers or certainty.

But presence stays.
It listens.
It breathes alongside you in the silence.
It says, “I don’t know what to say, but I’m not going anywhere.”

The truth is, we don’t remember every word someone said when we were struggling,
but we always remember who was there.
Who sat beside us.
Who made space for our feelings.
Who didn’t try to fix us or rush us through it.

That is the gift of presence.
It is not loud, but it echoes.
It is not everything, but it means everything.

True presence has boundaries.
It’s rooted. Steady. Clear.
It says, “I’m here with you, not instead of you.”

You can hold space without losing yourself in someone else’s storm.
You can show up without having all the answers.
You can offer compassion without taking it all on.
Real presence honors both people in the moment: the one who’s struggling, and the one who’s showing up.”

May we be present to others.
In small, ordinary daily ways.
Show up.
Not to fix, frame, platitude, solve, give advice.
To walk along side.
Often in silence.
Abiding and accompaniment.
Remembering that we belong to each other.
Though the world and my ego would disagree.
Love well today.

“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.”― H. L. Mencken

Sep 25

Dancing Light

“When the heart is open, good humor flows and the ego’s rigidity melts like snow in the sun.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“May my words be truthful, encouraging and humble. May my words be kind and filled with care.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Observer, glance to gaze
Third person to self, others too
Not to judge
Rather to offer kindness, a warm embrace
Assume there’s more to the story, beneath the surface
Choose goodness and light
Delight, encouragement, joy
Open heart and a lot more dancing.

“A person who is not afraid of looking like a fool gets to do a lot more dancing.”― Margaret Renkl

Sep 24

Undoing and Singularity

“Hold still. Be quiet. Listen.”― Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss

“What if resting, all by itself, is the real act of holiness? What if honoring the gift of our only life in this gorgeous world means taking time every week to slow down? To sleep? To breathe? The natural world has never needed us more than it needs us  now, but we can’t be of much use to it if we remain in a perpetual state of exhaustion and despair.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

From fast and furious
To slow and savor
Stop, reset the pace
Cadence and ease
Undoing, mere being
Singularity, simple delight
Overthinking to senses ablaze
Curiosity and wandering
Awe and wonder
Woven in this very day
Put it down

“There are worse things, I think, than leaving a task undone. The oak forests of the world would not exist if squirrels did not lose track of acorns.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

Sep 23

No Seed, No Bloom, Plant

“Our mind is like a field in which many seeds germinate.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“Seed Thought Meditation is a form of mental martial arts. If we resist thoughts they will overpower us. But if we just step lightly out of their way, letting them come and go like birds flying overhead, we can use their energy to further focus our minds. ― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

What seeds will I plant, nurture, water, feed?
Thoughts, words, actions
My own, not others
All in my command and control
May I put my effort, energy and attention here
To cast light, color, joy rooted within
Walking in love, kindness and generosity
In the world, not of the world
Imperfectly, intentionally, with gratitude
Choosing well, living well.

“When my ego starts in with its judgments about what is wrong, what is not good enough, let me notice this pessimistic thinking and instead, see my blessings.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

Sep 22

Aperture Adjustment

“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke

“Within you is the light of a thousand suns.” — Robert Adams

The lens aperture is the adjustable opening within a camera lens that controls the amount of light reaching the image sensor.
Measured in f-stops, a smaller f-number indicates a larger aperture, allowing more light in.
Less is more.
Slow down.
Reflect.
Focus on today.
Adjust the aperture.
Let the light in.
Beauty and joy too.

“Love is not consolation. It is light.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Sep 21

How to Live Well

“When earth and sky collide, it’s a dance older than time.”― Heidi Barr, Collisions of Earth and Sky

“Practicing presence is remembering how to live.”― Heidi Barr, 12 Tiny Things

Silence
Within
Reflection
Presence
Kindness
Contemplation
Empathy
Gentleness
Prayer
Gratitude
Generosity
Beauty
Awe
Joy
Curiosity
Wonder
Hope
Daily prescription
To live well in this world
Catch and cast light.

“life, you will fill me with joy in your presence.” – Thomas Keating, The Daily Reader for Contemplative Living

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