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Posts from the ‘Summer’ Category

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

Sep 6

The Sun Remains

“Let the sun set, let the darkness fall, do not be afraid, as long as the sun does not set in your mind!”― Mehmet Murat ildan

“In a world where everything comes at a price, if you’re choosing to stay kind, if you’re choosing to value your dignity and your integrity, if your choosing to understand and embrace the smile of Solitude, if you’re choosing to employ your faculties to understand the real questions of Life, then you’re alive, much more alive than your human dreams could have made you feel. Because no matter what, when sunset hits the night, and the day comes to a close you know you’ve done your part, you know you have embraced one more day with gratitude and grace, with a formidable zeal for Life and an invincible spirit of human understanding that stands firm pillared with Hope and Faith. And then no matter how many voices shrill your mind, the echo of your soul would pierce through your heart and enlighten every inch of your mind, body and soul, and you would know how proud the Universe must be to see the faithfulness, the strength and resilience in your soul, the very mould that was shaped in the fire of the Stardust that shines upon the sky, sometimes becoming a beacon to others while sometimes lying beautifully hidden but always there, always alive.” ― Debatrayee Banerjee

As summer tumbles into fall slowly but surely.
As seasons change without fail.
The sun remains.
Rising and falling.
Inviting us to find and make meaning in each day.
Beginnings and endings again and again.
The middle, the makings of our life.
Stay kind, gentle, curious, and alive through it all.
A beacon, a light.

“The sun’s descent marks not just the end of another day, but a symbolic passage—a reminder that life, like the sun, moves in cycles, each ending giving birth to a new beginning.”― Ryan Gelpke, Peruvian Day

Sep 1

Propelled to the Present

“to follow God does not often mean traveling with certainty about where God will lead us. Rather, following God propels us to be present to the place where we are, for this is the very place where God shows up.”― Jan L. Richardson

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.”― Rumi

The first day of September.
Labor Day weekend.
The mark of summer coming to a close soon.
Back to school.
Schedules filled with activity.
Keep the slowness of summer woven into the days ahead.
Create spaces, pockets of beauty, ease, joy.
Lessons in each season.
The classroom of life well lived.
Awake, aware, in the present moment, the flow.

“Everybody needs beauty…places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul alike.”― John Muir

Aug 7

August Float

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”― Mary Oliver

“August of another summer, and once again
I am drinking the sun
and the lilies again are spread across the water.
I know now what they want is to touch each other.” – Mary Oliver

Drink in these last days of summer.
Soak in the sun.
Build your wonder muscles.
Strengthen your awe senses.
These days are to be held.
And then released.
To open arms for what is next in due time.
Do not bypass these days.
Looking behind or ahead.
Float here.

“But just now it is summer again
and I am watching the lilies bow to each other,
then slide on the wind and the tug of desire,
close, close to one another,
Soon now, I’ll turn and start for home.
And who knows, maybe I’ll be singing.”― Mary Oliver

Jul 2

Dog Days

“Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.” – C. Day Lewis

“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”― Jack London

Summer.
An invitation daily to delight, play and wonder.
Dive in.
Accept the invitation.
Let these days in.
Live not merely exist.
The proper function of man and dog.
Hear and dance to the song of summer.

“Every day has a story to tell.
Can you hear it?”― Emmanuel Onimisi

“In summer, the song sings itself.” – William Carlos Williams

Jul 1

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Happy Things

“Flowers are happy things.” – P. G. Wodehouse

“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Long cold winter, slow time.
Spring rains, transition time.
Early summer breezes, threshold time.
Lead us to July.
To fruition.
To bloom.
To colors we didn’t know existed.
The middle of summer.
Plenty to still enjoy, do, not do.
Sit, stay, savor and savor while it’s here.
No looking back nor ahead.
In today alone.
Time, patience, effort, new beginnings.
Happy things like flowers.

“A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them.” – Liberty Hyde Bailey

Jun 29

Pastures to Rest

“Even when there are a thousand things to do, cherish these unrushed moments. Make room in your heart for them. There will be many mountains to climb, but always make time to find the pastures where you can rest.”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

“Were we really meant to rush with all abandon toward some earthly hilltop finish line? Or was God telling us something in those whispers to “be still,” that all along, it was necessary, to slow down, trust, and heal.”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living

Give yourself permission and space to rest.
Margins to play, to laugh, to explore.
Unrushed, slow easy time.
Every single day, weave wonder, awe and delight throughout.
Grace to immerse into the beauty and unfolding.
Pastures to rest.
To have joy take hold, to remain.

“And in those moments where the sun is setting and the house is quiet and you are weary from the day, may you know that there is grace for you in that space, and no amount of heaviness or loneliness can take that away. And because of that grace, you are free to slow down. You are free to breathe and rest, no matter the things not sorted out. There might be some mystery here and there might be longing, wondering, and waiting. But there will also be boundless peace that goes beyond any understanding, running wild like a river through everything, no matter how heavy these moments feel. So rest easy, when everything is approaching. Tomorrow is surely coming, but in the hours in between, you are free to rest till then.”― Morgan Harper Nichols

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