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Posts from the ‘Summer’ Category

Jul 18

Summer’s Work of Presence and Ease

“I drifted into a summer-nap under the hot shade of July, serenaded by a cicada lullaby, to drowsy-warm dreams of distant thunder.”― Terri Guillemets

“The silence in me propels me to fully feel the majesty of nature, to connect to my aliveness in the presence of trees, water, mountains, soft earth.” – John O’Donohue

Summer
A season
A flow
A whisper
A way of being
An ease inviting pause and restoration
Relax and witness the beauty abound
Warm sun
Blue skies
Flowers in bloom
Birds in song
Trees swaying
Soft breeze waltzing
Let summer do its work in you
Majesty and rapt presence
Sweet, slow time

“The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival.” – John O’Donohue

Jun 22

Summer’s Song, Symphony

“I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”― Rumi

Warm Summer Sun
by Mark Twain

Warm summer sun,
Shine kindly here.
Warm southern wind,
Blow softly here.
Green sod above,
Lie light, lie light.
Good night, dear heart,
Good night, good night.

Lute and drum
Silence and song
Summer sun
Soft breeze
Summer, a string of Sundays
Sabbath rest carried through the week
Full bloom
Brilliant color
Slowing, seeing, savoring
Holy sacred ground
Surrender. Yield. Dance.

A day of Silence
Can be a pilgrimage in itself.

A day of Silence
Can help you listen
To the Soul play
Its marvelous lute and drum.

Is not most talking
A crazed defense of a crumbling fort?

I thought we came here
To surrender in Silence,

To yield to Light and Happiness,

To Dance within,
In celebration of Love’s Victory”― Hafez, I Heard God Laughing: Poems of Hope and Joy

Jun 20

Insert Summer, Delight and Savor

“Summertime, and the living is easy.” – Ella Fitzgerald

“In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.” – John Steinbeck

Wild air.
Blue skies.
Long slow days of the sun and delight.
Sit.
Savor.
Summer.
Soak it in.
Joy and fun at work.

“Summer has a flavor like no other. Always fresh and simmered in sunshine.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink in the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jun 5

1 Comment

The Wonderful Things

“We meet wonderful people, but lose them
in our busyness.
We’re, as the saying goes, all over the place.
Steadfastness, it seems,
is more about dogs than about us.
One of the reasons we love them so much.”
― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“Or maybe it’s about the wonderful things that may happen if you break the ropes that are holding you.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs

Summer slow, delight, play.
Come in, sit awhile.
Linger.
Steadfast.
Anchored.
Single-tasking.
Attention, awe, wonder in abundance.
At ease.

“Listen, whatever you see and love-
that’s where you are.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

Jun 1

Days of Pink Lemonade

“Spring being a tough act to follow, God created June.” – Al Bernstein

“In early June the world of leaf and blade and flowers explodes, and every sunset is different.”― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

Colors ablaze.
Flowers exploding.
June enters big and bright.
Take a long pause.
Sit down.
Enjoy the show.
Days of pink lemonade.

“Imagination is the eye of the soul.”― Joseph Joubert

May 23

Summer Being

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…”― susan polis schutz

June by John Updike

“The sun is rich
And gladly pays
In golden hours,
Silver days,

And long green weeks
That never end.
School’s out.
The time Is ours to spend.

There’s Little League,
Hopscotch, the creek,
And, after supper,
Hide-and-seek.

The live-long light
Is like a dream,
and freckles come
Like flies to cream.”

Memorial Day weekend.
Threshold to summer.
Invitation to slow, savor, saunter.
Each season brimming with possibility.
Overflowing with delight.
More being, less doing.
Heed the call.
Join the dance.

“And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

May 15

The Work of Summer

“How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart
And give to this world
All its
Beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light
Against its Being.
Otherwise,
We all remain
Too
Frightened”
― Hafez

“When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes:
To love more,
And be happy.”
― Hafez

Time and timing.
Slow and steady.
Steep and savor.
Summer’s invitation, call, purpose.
The work of summer.
More being, less doing.
The world ablaze with color, fragrance, light.
Rooted on sacred ground.
Reaching for the sky.

“Now that your worry has proved such an unlucrative business,
Why not find a better job?”― Hafez

Aug 1

1 Comment

August Deep Dive

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

“The solution to an overbusy life is not more time. It’s to slow down and simplify our lives around what really matters.”― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

We have equated busy, checklists and productivity to fulfillment.
And the equation doesn’t add up.
Therein lies the dilemma.
And also, the answer and the opportunity.
To take a different path.
To try new things.
To slow and savor.
To look and listen.
To put down our expectations to make space for fresh eyes.
To allow and invite new thoughts by putting down old thoughts.
Leaving them behind to move ahead anew, off trail.
Followed by small steps, shifts, actions, reflection, pause, daily.
First day of the last month of summer.
Do not miss the gifts of this day, this season.
Dive deep into August to feel the weight of beauty, the lift of attention on what really matters.

“Our time is our life, and our attention is the doorway to our hearts.”― John Mark Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Jul 28

2 Comments

Summer’s Invitation

“I have spent many days stringing and unstringing my instrument
while the song I came to sing remains unsung.”― Rabindranath Tagore

“Rest is not for weaklings. Hollowing out space for rest is work. Finding time for rest is the hands and feet of the promises we long to claim. It means saying no. It means having limits with ourselves. It means having limits with others. It takes courage to rest in the midst of an outcome-driven society. It takes strength to walk away from good in the pursuit of better.”― Saundra Dalton-Smith, Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity

Busy work, checklists, transactions, speed, efficiency on hold.
Renewal in the pause.
Space to wander.
Not doing to create capacity for doing better.
Quiet your mind.
Enter rest.
Accept the invitation.
Welcome renewal.
Summer shows the way for all seasons, each day.
Follow her lead.

“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.”― Rabindranath Tagore

May 27

Necessity of Play

“Do anything, but let it produce joy.” – Walt Whitman

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.” – Albert Einstein

Summer kick-off.
Threshold to slowing, savoring.
Weave play into each day.
Skip. Hop. Slide.
Simple joy producing activities to reset and reframe.
To be made new.
Destination imagination.
Fresh paths to be cut.
Enjoy this day.
Eyes of a child, at any age.

“The only thing that ultimately matters is to eat an ice-cream cone, play a slide trombone, plant a small tree, good God, now you’re free.” – Ray Manzarek

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