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Posts from the ‘Awe’ Category

Hovering Sweetness

“Breathe the sweetness that hovers in August.” – Denise Levertov

Don’t Hesitate by Mary Oliver

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy,
don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty
of lives and whole towns destroyed or about
to be. We are not wise, and not very often
kind. And much can never be redeemed.
Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this
is its way of fighting back, that sometimes
something happens better than all the riches
or power in the world. It could be anything,
but very likely you notice it in the instant
when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the
case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid
of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.”

Clenched, curious, attentive.
Joy woven in presence.
In the small and seemingly ordinary.
Unfolding and unfurling.
Stance of awe.
Leap of wonder.
Deliverance of love.
Do not hesitate.
Inhale and exhale.
Sweetness, beauty and light.
Hovering next, around and in you.
On this ground of this very day.

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”― Susan Sontag

A Bit of Sky and Peppermint Wind

“It’s amazing the difference
A bit of sky can make.”― Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

“There is a place where the sidewalk ends,
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.”
― Shel Silverstein

A bit of sky
Off road beyond the sidewalks
Of thoughts, worries, resistance
Wander, roam, saunter
Peppermint wind to awaken
Presence in this day

“How much good inside a day?
Depends how good you live ‘em.― Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic

Joy Doing and Receiving

“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”― Walt Whitman

“Do anything, but let it produce joy.”― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Reclaim reverence, awe, wonder.
Keep it close.
Restore delight, frolic, play.
Weave it in the ordinary.
Release all that is not yours to carry.
Walk lightly with the rest.
Awake, aware, tending.
Sacred, holy ground of this day.

“Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.”― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Today Such a Day

“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”― Rumi

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.”― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Curiosity, inquiry, observation.
Reverence, reverie, reflection.
Open hands, heart, eyes.
Breeze, sky, beauty.
Notice and partake.

“On a day
when the wind is perfect,
the sail just needs to open and the world is full of beauty.
Today is such a day.”― Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

Secret Symmetry

“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… Draw alongside the silence of stone until its calmness can claim you.”― John O’Donohue

“Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” – John O’Donohue

Small quiet miracles
Silence of stones
Claimed by calm
Sacred gift of this day
Wrapped in wonder

“Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”― John Ortberg, Soul Keeping

Dew of Little Things

“I want a brighter word than bright”― John Keats

“In the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” – Kahlil Gibran

Refreshment of morning
Cast onto all things
Renewal, restoration, reclamation
Rejoicing rising from lament
Transformed and transfigured
In the dew of little things
Words brighter than bright
Fertile fields abloom
Glory ablaze.

“So I have taken up the tale
to tell it full and free.
The tale that makes the heart rejoice,
I tell it, for I have no choice—
I tell it till another voice
takes up the tale from me.”
― Malcolm Guite, Galahad and the Grail

Open as the Sky

“Peace comes when our hearts are
open like the sky,
vast as the ocean.”
― Jack Kornfield

“With an undefended heart, we can fall in love with life over and over every day. We can become children of wonder, grateful to be walking on earth, grateful to belong with each other and to all of creation. We can find our true refuge in every moment, in every breath.” – Tara Brach

In the pause
In ordinary moments
In the hustle and hurry
Deep breath, open heart, light spirit
Wonder, gratitude, delight
May you find peace
May peace find you
The dance.

“The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand or fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consist in being completely sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive.” – Allan Watts

Take the Long Cut

“Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you. – Anne Lamott

“When hope is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it sometimes floats forth and opens.” – A Anne Lamott

Inches and hours
Anticipation and invitation
Attention and reverence
Take the long cut
Go off trail too.

“Nothing can be done but by inches. I write out my life hour by hour, word by word . . . imagining the existence of something uncreated this poem our lives.”― Adrienne Rich, Diving Into the Wreck

Sunshine Swimming

“When you regain a sense of your life as a journey of discovery, you return to rhythm with yourself. When you take the time to travel with reverence, a richer life unfolds before you. Moments of beauty begin to braid your days.”― John O’Donohue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

“Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.
Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.
Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.
Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.
Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.
May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.
May anxiety never linger about you.
May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.
Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.
Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.
May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.” – John O’Donohue

May beauty braid your day.
Wonder wander in, take your hand, come follow me.
Awe rise inviting reverence in.
Open hands, soft heart, quiet mind.

“When we approach with reverence, great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty in things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace.”― John O’Donohue, Beauty: A Study of Beauty in Celtic Spirituality and the Human Spirit

Flower Dust Sprinkles

“The morning air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet… From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything.”― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

“Mystery is the essence of divinity”― Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road

Flower dust and divinity.
Color and delight.
Laughter spilling into joy.
Put on a new dress.
Breath in the morning air.
Peace, beauty, grace.
Journey of loving and living.
On the path of this day.

“There is two things everybody got to find out for theirselves. They got to find out about love and they got to find out about living.”― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God