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Posts from the ‘Emergence’ Category

Jul 8

Emergence in the Pause

“There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep. ”
― Elizabeth Bishop

“Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.”― Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

In the pause, stillness
Gaze
Abide
Release
Reset
Slow
Mindfulness spilling into grace, gratitude
Anchoring
Patterns reshape
New stories emerge
Narrative wanders off path
Peace, delight, anticipation
In the paragraph on the blank page of this day.

“In our frantic search for something to quench our thirst, we overlook the water all around us and drive ourselves into exile from our own lives. ”― Sharon Salzberg

Jul 6

Carried by Surprise

“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”― John O’Donohue

“That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.”― Lao Tse

Softening
Yielding
Pause
Grounding
Flowing
Slowing
Response rather than reaction
Unfolding
Unhindered
At attention
Witnessing and participating
No rearview mirror
No crystal ball
Anchored
In this day alone.

“May today bring us simple things in simple packages. Easy-to-use things. Things we can tuck into our hearts and don’t require instructions or batteries. Simple things like love and peace, like comfort and joy.”― Mary Davis, Every Day Spirit: A Daybook of Wisdom, Joy and Peace

Jun 28

1 Comment

Creation Speaks, Listen

“Why struggle to open a door between us when the whole wall is an illusion?”― Rumi

“These small moments of gentleness offer mercy and grace that we can touch, taste, and feel. And they recall the great hope underneath each moment of our lives: the hope that beauty will indeed save the world, that God, by his grace, will finally reestablish us and all things. Creation speaks its comfortable words over us.”— Tish Harrison Warren, What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience

Slightly gentler.
Oneness spilling into peace.
Layers and nuance.
Of beauty, grace, hope.
Abase and abound.
Duty of delight.

“We have many responsibilities in this life, but among them we must recall that we also have the blessed responsibility to take up those things that make life ever so slightly gentler.”— Tish Harrison Warren, What Grows in Weary Lands: On Christian Resilience

Jun 7

In Stillness, Revelation and Delight

“Stillness reveals what hurry hides.” – Pico Iyer

“Life is a spell so exquisite that everything conspires to break it.”― Emily Dickinson

In stillness, revelation
In hovering, awe
In abiding, emergence
Soft whisper
Deep stirring
Exquisite beauty
Peace that passes understanding
On the altars of this day
Kneel
Become new, again and again.

“We turn not older with years but newer every day.”― Emily Dickinson

May 31

Plenitude in Presence

“Beautiful things don’t ask for attention.”― James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

“Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around us in awareness.”― James Thurber

Weave, braid, knit sabbaths into each day
Shabbat – to cease, to rest
Pull over, pause, be still
Pockets, slivers, teaspoons
Beauty, awe, wonder
Inquiry, awareness, observation
Emergence
Plenitude in presence.

“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”― James Thurber

Apr 26

Sudden Lift

“Shall we do without hope? Some days
there will be none. But now
to the dry and dead woods floor
they come again, the first
flowers of the year, the assembly
of the faithful, the beautiful,
wholly given to being.”
― Wendell Berry, Leavings

“Bless the moment that catches you off guard—
a laugh, a moment of levity,
a sudden lift.

Bless the laughter that feels almost wrong,
and the delight that doesn’t match the circumstances.

May you notice all that is unnecessary and beautiful—
the ridiculous, the fleeting, the most-alive.

And when joy feels impossible,
may it find you (or you find it) anyway.” – Kate Bowler

Softly and tenderly
Brisk and bold
Light and easy
Solo to choir of flowers bursting in color and harmony
Ferocious love, feisty hope, sudden lifts of delight.
To find and be found.

“May we be…the ones who hold our opinions loosely and yet love ferociously.”― Sarah Bessey, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith

Apr 18

Frame of Vision

“The way we experience the world around us is a direct reflection of the world within us.” – Gabrielle Bernstein

“There is a beautiful complexity of growth within the human soul.
In order to glimpse this, it is helpful to visualize the mind as a tower of windows.
Sadly, many people remain trapped at the one window, looking out every day at the same scene in the same way.
Real growth is experienced when you draw back from that one window, turn, and walk around the inner tower of the soul and see all the different windows that await your gaze.
Through these different windows, you can see new vistas of possibility, presence, and creativity.
Complacency, habit, and blindness often prevent you from feeling your life.
So much depends on the frame of vision — the window through which you look.” – John O’Donohue, Anam Cara

May your gaze wander.
Daily trance interrupted.
Auto-pilot disengaged.
New windows, fresh eyes.
Possibility. Presence. Creativity.
Where you stand, right now.
Look again.

Mar 4

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Kiss the Joy

“Kiss the joy as it flies.” – William Blake

“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.”― Alan Alda

A slight adjustment
Break in routine
Intentional interruption
Play hooky
No grand gestures, perfect circumstances
Putting aside “should” and “someday when”
Releasing false sense of control and order
No fixing, just allowing, inviting
Get out of your head, to do list, expectations, demands
Into play, wandering, inquiry, blank canvas
To immerse self into this day, each day
Slivers of 10 minutes scattered throughout will do
On the hunt for beauty, delight, wonder
Opening the door, cross the threshold into awe
Clean and clear windows into the world to see the same anew
Let surprise, serendipity, light in
Kiss joy, embrace presence, sit a while.

“To insist on a certain outcome–one outcome–is to deny yourself the surprise experiences life was going to give you–the things you didn’t know you wanted until they came knocking and you were daring enough to let them in. By tying yourself to an ending, you’re making arrangements to be miserable if you don’t get exactly what you want. Or worse, you get exactly what you want and it doesn’t make you as supremely happy as you thought it was going to.”― Samara O’Shea

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 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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