Oct 27
“Exuberance is beauty.” – William Blake
“The greatest thing in the world is to know how to belong to oneself.”― Michel de Montaigne,The Complete Essays
Allow margins on the page of your day.
White space to breath, be present, receive, allow, embrace.
Quiet for reflection, gratitude, anticipation, delight in belonging.
Pausing to take in beauty, abundance and light.
“Happiness is the harvest of a quiet eye.” – Austin O’Malley
“Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.”― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Slow and pause.
Look longer.
Read between the lines.
Take a deeper dive.
To here and now.
To present.
In, out, all around.
Receive the overflowing gifts borne of attention, of wonder, of awe.
Open eyes. Open heart. Warm embrace.
“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”― Henry Drummond, The Supreme Gift
“An awake heart is like a sky that pours light.”― Hafiz
“The secret of life is to let every segment of it produce its own yield at its own pace. Every period has something new to teach us: The harvest of youth is achievement; the harvest of middle age is perspective; the harvest of age is wisdom; the harvest of life is serenity.” – Joan Chittister, The Monastery Almanac
Wherever you are in this moment, be fully present.
Listen, look, inquire.
What is right in front of you? Notice.
Sow, tend, harvest each day.
Awake heart, light abundant, beauty overflowing.
“Maybe we give up so we can more fully receive. Maybe we give up so we receive something better than what our small minds had wanted.”― Heather Lanier, Raising a Rare Girl: A Memoir
“Just take this step…
The horizon will look after itself.”― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
“The greatest illusion,” said the mole, “is that life should be perfect.”― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
In the pieces and parts
Corners and crevices
Steps to miles, one by one
Unknowing mixed with some knowing
Wholeness over perfection
Gratitude sprinkled on the ordinary to transform each day.
“How liberating it is to pursue wholeness instead of perfection.”― Morgan Harper Nichols
“For the raindrop, joy is entering the river.” – Ghalib
“May the grapes convert into a magical potion that releases you from the tyranny of the head and brings you back to the sovereignty of the heart.” – Mirabai Starr
May we not miss, dismiss, bypass joy each day.
May we wear cheerfulness and dance with delight.
May we reside in the sovereignty of the heart.
Dive deep into wonder and awe.
Leap.
“I would like an abundance of peace. I would like full vessels of charity. I would like rich treasures of mercy. I would like cheerfulness to preside over all.” – St. Brigid of Kildare
“just as you would not neglect seeds that you planted with hope that they will bear vegetables and fruits and flowers so you must attend to nourish the garden of your becoming.”― Jean Houston
“At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities.”― Jean Houston
Walk lightly.
Look up, down, around.
Hold joy.
Embrace delight.
Entertain laughter.
Release angst.
Unchain spinning thoughts.
Height.
Depth.
Width.
Abundance
Leave linear and cannonball into dimension.
Malleable.
A kaleidoscope of new possibilities.
The extraordinary, waiting to be released.
A balm, a healing, a beacon.
“We all have the extraordinary coded within us, waiting to be released”― Jean Houston
“Praise the bridge that carried you over.” – George Colman
“I praise loudly. I blame softly.” – Catherine the Great
At least give praise the same space as complaint.
Perhaps complaint could succumb to praise.
A much sweeter tune.
Delight. Dance. Proclaim.
“Nature is the one song of praise that never stops singing.” – Richard Rohr
“I imagine that yes is the only living thing.” – e. e. cummings
“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
How we frame our world, bucket people, box it up to explain shapes our world, often limiting, greying, and stunting.
We put blinders on, losing our peripheral vision, our gazing-ability and wandering-instinct.
When we allow unknowing, mystery and exploration, we broaden our view, deepen our connection, enrich our experience of daily life, discovering a 360-degree, technicolor landscape filled with beauty, joy and mystery right in front of us.
In a flower, in another’s eyes, in our own heart.
Explain less, relinquish “control,” trade sight for vision.
Invite the horizon, the sky, the ocean into view.
Gaze, grow, imagine.
Expanse, depth and light, right in front of you for the taking, and the giving.
Break the frame, empty the bucket.
New eyes, open arms, beating heart.
Get a glimpse of the wonder and awe, hidden in reach.
“Every creature is a word of God.” Meister Eckhart
“All of nature begins to whisper its secrets to us through its sounds. Sounds that were previously incomprehensible to our soul now become the meaningful language of nature.” – Rudolf Steiner
Dive deeper.
Granular, specific, hidden in plain sight.
21,710 is the number of photos on my phone from the past 10 years.
When I look back through the years, there’s richness, story, connection, fun.
They spark gratitude, invite joy.
Joy and gratitude require daily practice, rigor.
We ride too much on the surface, going fast and furious.
Checking off our “to do” list.
Tasks, efficiency, progress, the race to nowhere.
Pause, breathe, take notice.
Enter moments and let them enter your being.
Joy is woven in the ordinary, amidst sorrow and loss, a whisper, a gentle breeze.
If you don’t have a lot of photos, start taking them daily.
My favorite subjects show up here daily – the dogs, flowers, friends, family, water, nature, butterflies, trees, bees, the sky, sunrise, sunset.
All joy catalysts, sparklers that stop me in my busyness to discover awe and beauty in reach.
Awaken from dormancy, spring awaits.
“The capacities by which we can gain insights into higher worlds lie dormant within each one of us.” – Rudolf Steiner
“Look around for a place to sow a few seeds.” – Henry Van Dyke
“Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.” – Henri Nouwen
What gifts will you find today?
Right in front of you.
What gifts will you give away today?
Right within you.
What seeds will you plant today?
On fertile ground.
What harvest will you reap today?
Bounty of yesterday’s seeds sown.
Sow, wait, harvest.
Unleash your energy and capacity for joy and gratitude.
Not waiting or relying on circumstances, perfect timing or “someday when.”
Now is the gift to open and give away.
Today, a field of plenty, overflow and abundance await your arrival.
“I do not know You, God, because I am in the way. Please help me to push myself aside.” – Flannery O’Connor
