“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo
“There is a time in the last few days of summer when the ripeness of autumn fills the air.” – Rudolfo Anaya
Cool mornings
Warm afternoons
Cool evenings
Summer not quite over
Fall knocking on the door
Flowers in bloom and drying up
On the cusp
The balance beam
The edge
Multiplicity, both and
Threshold, a foot on each side
Transition time, a familiar place of life
Do not surpass or rush by
Stay awake on the path to transformation
“Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view, That stand upon the threshold of the new. – Edmund Waller
“The miracle is not to walk on water but on the earth. —Thich Nhat Hanh”
“Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God: But only he who sees takes off his shoes.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
As summer moves into its third act, stay with it all of the way through to the end rather than lament it’s over.
Take in the late blooming flowers in shapes and colors unseen.
Sunrises and sunsets, and each moment in between.
Fall with harvest bounty will enter on cue, with gifts of its own.
In the meantime, do not dismiss the last act.
Earth is crammed with heaven indeed when you live into new ways of thinking.
Breath and drink it all in.
“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.”― Richard Rohr
“Aaah, summer – that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife with possibility. It’s a time to hunt for insects, master handstands, practice swimming strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and crannies, and make new friends.” – Darell Hammond
“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James
Vibrant colors, sun lingering, soft breeze.
Days when glory shows its face in bloom.
Play, wander, watch.
Somersaults and cartwheels.
Crisp vegetables, sweet fruit.
Soak in these days.
No place to be but here.
In the balm of long summer days.
Do not let them pass you by.
“We might think we are nurturing our garden, but of course it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” – Jenny Uglow
“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams
“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.” – Aldo Leopold
“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” – Al Bernstein
Pause.
Pull over.
Rest awhile.
The beginning of summer.
The season that never goes slow.
So we must slow to steep in it like a tea bag.
Soaking up flavor and essence.
Look around, walk slowly, breathe deeply.
June, the beginning of summer glory.
Be present and awake for all of it.
Overwhelmed by color, held by the sun, in praise of earth coming alive.
Inviting us to do the same.
“What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.” – Gertrude Jekyll
“By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer.” – Helen Hunt Jackson
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”― Albert Camus
As summer completes her third act and fall prepares to enter center stage, be open to seek and see the gifts woven in each season, in transition, in endings and in beginnings. Each day is a gift, open and enjoy the moments you are in.
Gratitude harvests beauty in each season.
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”― Yoko Ono
“To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” – Agnes de Mille
“Magic is seeing wonder in nature’s every little thing, seeing how wonderful the fireflies are and how magical are the dragonflies.”― Ama H.Vanniarachchy
Hover, dance, celebrate, drink in the color, ease and joy of summer. With the dragonfly as your guide, let the unnecessary go, cling to air, balance on a sliver of grass.
“Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and we can reflect light in powerful ways if we choose to do so.”― Robyn Nola
“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” – Khalil Gibran
“When ‘happiness’ eludes us – as, eventually, it always will – we have the invitation to examine our programmed responses and to exercise our power to choose again.” – Richard Rohr
Summer invites rest, play and ease. Accept the invitation and get to the party early. It’s been a long year and the world is slowly opening back up. You can feel the energy, the joy, the freedom. As lockdown unlocks externally, do the same inside. Create a different daily normal fueled by gratitude, savoring, kindness, joy, possibility and delight. Make something of this massive reset and seismic shift.
Feel the earth under your feet as the breeze flows through your hair. Do not resist the urge to run through a sprinkler on a hot day. Let the water permeate, renew and refresh. Allow healing and restoration. Let old rules go and enter each new day with your imagination in search of adventure right where you are now.
“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein
“I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.” – William James
“Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest? But I tell you look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.” – John 4:35
Each season creates a harvest. Sowing, tending and reaping daily we savor the harvest in gratitude, awareness and awe in beauty abound, in seemingly simple things.
New flowers are blooming daily, filling the air with fragrance as summer takes the driver’s seat. Pull over and spend some time in the spring harvest to awaken your senses. Deeply rooted gratitude is the secret to sustaining the winds.
Do not miss the scenery on the road to what’s next, to what’s easy, to someday. William James said, “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” The art of brilliance is seeing the beauty and bounty in each day, in the moment, free from circumstances and expectations.
Never surrender joy in difficult times. Guard it, embrace it, release it. Joy multiplies. The fields are ripe for harvesting today. Life is in the details woven through each day.
“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it – but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
“Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force.” – Irving Berlin
When the sails are release and the boat at the right angle, it captures the wind and creates energy from resistance. The sail can’t control the wind, it can only harness it and enter its flow. No force needed, harnessing the wind and transforming the collision of forces, from mechanics to magic.
Harness the wind, embrace the flow, glide with ease and delight.
“Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” – Henry James
Today is the first day of summer. All seasons have their gifts. Summer beckons us to rest, to play, to witness sunset, to saunter barefoot in the grass, to long walks, to lemonade, to float on water, to breathe in nature.
Happy Birthday summer, may we seize you and dance in the beauty, warmth and celebrate each day with the frivolity and ease that you command.
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
― Yoko Ono
Today is June 20, 2020. 20/20/20 – an extra 20 for even more perfect vision to see the gift in a summer’s day and each day in all seasons. Happy Birthday Summer!
“Everything can be taken from a man or woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl
"Cast Light" is a call to release your inner light, your true self every day. Choose light and cast it to the world.
Featured Quotes
“I travel light. I think the most important thing is to be in a good mood and enjoy life, wherever you are.” – Diane von Furstenberg
“In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.” – Les Brown
“You cannot have a positive life and a negative mind.” – Joyce Meyer
