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Posts from the ‘Connection’ Category

Oct 18

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Put Civil Back in Civilization

“What do you think success is?” asked the boy.
“To love,” said the mole.”
― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Ations by Shel Silverstein

“If we meet and I say, “Hi,”
That’s a salutation.
If you ask me how I feel,
That’s a consideration.
If we stop and talk a while,
That’s a conversation.
If we understand each other,
That’s a communication.
If we argue, scream and fight,
That’s an altercation.
If later we apoligize,
That’s reconciliation.
If we help each other home,
That’s a cooperation.
And all these actions added up
Make Civilization.
(And if I say this is a wonderful poem,
Is that exaggeration?)”

A smile
An extended hand
A warm embrace
Inquiry followed by listening
Put the “civil” back in civilization
Followed by kindness and connection
In proximity, we gain understanding
Be the bright spot in someone’s day today
Cast light

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.”— Dalai Lama

Aug 8

The Gifts of Presence

“Be here now.”― Ram Dass, Be Here Now

“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.”
– Gabrielle Elise Jimenez

Presence
To others
Self
The world before us, beauty, quiet, chaos
Awake, available, attune
Attention rooted in now
Love well today
Find joy, give joy
They are woven together in the giving and receiving
Cast light.

“There are souls in this world who have the gift of finding joy everywhere, and leaving it behind them when they go.”― Frederick William Faber

Jul 17

How About, Rather Than

“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention…. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words. ”― Rachel Naomi Remen

“And I think that’s what our world is desperately in need of – lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about.”― Shane Claiborne, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Connection rather than correction
Kindness rather than judgment
Empathy rather than criticism
Compassion rather than advice
Belonging rather than excluding
Humanity rather than othering
Listening rather than lecturing
Proximity rather than distance
How about the love
The only action that changes the world, others, self
Plant seeds, cast light, love in action
Transformational

“Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing.”― Rachel Naomi Remen

Mar 15

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Lift and Bridge

“Praise the bridge that carried you over.” – George Colman

In seemingly small exchanges this week
A thread, a throughline, a bridge

Calling my health plan to ask questions about coverage
She patiently answered my questions
Kindly giving me guidance and direction
At the end of the call, I thanked her for the answers as well as for being in health care which can’t be easy with little gratitude from the masses who they unselfishly serve every day
She was surprised and I could hear the lift in her voice
A simple, genuine thank you shifted a job call into a calling few could sustain if they really knew the burden
Heroes
Lift

At a follow-up doctor’s appointment yesterday in the waiting room
Heads down
Two women started a conversation about how many shots they had in their eye and if it hurt
Retina war stories shared
One woman said, “you never know what’s going to happen in life and THANK God”
The other woman agreed with a big smile and said she was 99 years old
The other woman said she was 84
The simple exchange lifted down heads into smiling conversation and connection
The tone of the room shifted
Lift

When given news that my injured eye was good and I could start running and regular activity again, I was thrilled
Celebrating with a 4-mile run at the end of the day, passing a park, a family was watching their son fly a kite
Running with delight
Dancing with joy
Lift

Small exchanges, deep meaning, big impact
It doesn’t take much
A kind word, yielding in traffic, a conversation with a stranger, a smile, a thank you
This is the real stuff, day changers
May you be the giver and receiver of lift today
The bridge that invites, welcomes, unites
The instigator of love

“What I do is the opposite of building walls. I build bridges. A bridge is something that connects instead of separating.” – Santiago Calatrava

Feb 28

Soft Beauty, Holy Ground

“To pay attention is to attend to something, to be present. We attend because the world isn’t cold and empty but filled with the presence of God. Every moment, every encounter, is meaningful and numinous. All ground is holy ground.”― Mike Cosper, Recapturing the Wonder

“What on earth can we do to make this sad and beautiful world a little softer for everyone?”― Shannan Martin, The Ministry of Ordinary Places

Inviting
Welcoming
Embracing
Open
Generous
Smiles and laughter
Walking with curiosity
In the unknowing and mystery
On holy ground of trust, wonder, awe
Not forgoing the gift of this day
And our place in the tapestry of it all
Softer, kinder, sweeter
Planting seeds, witnessing beauty bloom.

“Our clawing, grasping attempts at answering every question and making sense of every mystery in life will end up in failure. Instead, God invites us to take a tour of the mad, mad world around us, to see ourselves as one mystery among the many, and to trust him that it all makes sense in some strange, cosmic way. In doing so, we discover that the presence of mystery in the world is an invitation to wonder, and a world without mystery is a world of despair. So go ahead; embrace the mystery.”― Mike Cosper, Recapturing the Wonder

Feb 26

Very Good Medicine

“Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” – Camille Pissarro

“Blessed are you, feeling the quiet ache of disconnection, wondering if anyone sees you, if anyone notices, if anyone might reach back if you dare to reach out. Blessed are you carrying the deep truth that you were made for connection, even if it feels risky. Even if it’s been a while. Blessed are you who send the text, ask the better question or show up for someone else. Not because it’s easy, but because you know we’re at our best when we hold each other up. And blessed are you who welcome others in. Who say yes, come over. Or I was thinking of you. Or you’re not alone. Because when we let ourselves care and be cared for, we remember this is how we were meant to live. May your loneliness soften just enough to let love in. May you notice the small threads of connection all around you. A wave, a smile, a voice that says I’m here. May you feel it deep in your bones. You are worthy of love. You are never alone.” – Kate Bowler

Wonderful podcast with Kate Bowler and Vivek Murthy this week on loneliness and what to do about it.
Reach out, text, call, get out, show up
Daily
Give, receive, give again, receive tenfold
We are made for connection, conversation, love
We belong to each other
And apparently, we have certainly forgotten
So here’s your reminder, wake up call, prod, poke, punch in the face
Out of complacency into connection, belonging, kindness, beauty, boldness, expansion, joy, laughter
We are good medicine for each other, very good
Love where you are right now and be loved.

“The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!’ ‘Yes, and the strongest, in the existence of any social species, are those who are most social. In human terms, most ethical…There is no strength to be gained from hurting one another. Only weakness.”― Ursula K. Le Guin

Feb 11

Water Shaping Stone

“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”― L.R. Knost

“Do not be hardened by the pain
and cruelty of this world.
Be strong enough to be gentle,
to be soft and supple like running water,
gracefully bending around sudden turns,
lithely waving in strong winds,
freely flowing over sharp rocks,
all the while quietly sculpting
this hard world into ever deeper beauty,
gently eroding rigid rock into silken sand,
tenderly transforming human cruelty
into humankindness.
Remember, true strength is not found in the stone,
but in the water that shapes the stone.”
― L.R. Knost

Over, around, through the rocks.
Make a way.
Flow and current.
Fluid and soft.
Strong and resilient.
Hopeful and gentle.
Kind and open.
Do not be dismayed.
Water shaping the stone.
Intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally.
Go love today.

“The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them. How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief, I’ll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only gratitude, I’ll become saccharine and won’t develop much compassion for other people’s suffering. Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which helps make compassion possible.”― Francis Weller

Feb 7

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Gift of Kindness

“We are all seeking the same things. We’re all seeking dignity. We’re all seeking joy. We’re all seeking love and acceptance, seeking to be seen, to be safe. And there is no competition for these things we seek—because they are not material goods; they are spiritual gifts! We can all give each other these gifts if we share what we know—what has lifted us up and moved us forward. That is our duty to one another—to help each other toward acceptance, toward peace, toward happiness”—Maria Shriver

To be seen
To be heard
To belong
A smile
A courtesy
A greeting
Invitations to welcome, include, embrace, expand, walk alongside
Common threads, same journey
Make life less difficult for self and others
Love well today
The simple and profound gift of kindness

“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”― George Eliot

Jan 10

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Details of this Day, Notice

“if you habitually look behind and beyond where you are, discontentment will be an eager companion.”― Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done

“True fulfillment comes from subtraction, from removing everything that distracts you from what matters and leaving only what’s essential.”― Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius Way

What’s essential to you, not others, you?
What really matters, has meaning, depth, beauty?
To remain in the present
Awake to beauty
Pursuing connection, contentment, ease, delight, awe, wonder
Subtract and double-down on what gets your heart beating, lungs expanding
Cardio workout for joy
The rest is noise
Quiet, clarity, notice
The details of this day.

“be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don’t…to you.”― Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius Way

Jul 12

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Good Work

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” —  Walt Disney

Not sure what to do, where to go?
Start moving.
The road unfolds before us.
A step at a time.
Direction rather that detailed map.
Compass, pull of true north.
Detours, delays, rerouting all parts of the journey.
When interrupted, be present and see where you can contribute.
Generous of spirit and presence.
Flooded by marvelous light.
Do good work.

“You can’t steer a parked car.” – Joyce Meyer

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