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Posts from the ‘Transformation’ Category

Aug 25

The Stuff of Butterflies

“How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

“‎”Tell me, sir, what is a butterfly?”

“It’s what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another. Without butterflies, the world would soon have few flowers.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

In the cocoon, on the threshold, butterfly in flight.
The stages of becoming, unfolding, refolding.
From start to finish.
Starts, stops, detours.
No shortcuts.
Do the work.
Let the work be done in you.
Be present where you are, knowing change is certain.
About the only thing that is certain, along with grace and love.
Stuff to make cocoons and butterflies.
Start and keep spinning your own.
On the right track, even if feelings haven’t caught up.
Stick with it.
Be willing to give up being a caterpillar.
The beautiful stuff of butterflies.

“Yellow decided to risk for a butterfly.

For courage she hung right beside the other cocoon and began to spin her own.

‘Imagine, I didn’t even know I could do this. That’s some encouragement that i’mon the right track. If I have the stuff inside me to make cocoons—maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

Aug 1

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Listen and Leap

“Like billowing clouds,
Like the incessant gurgle of the brook,
The longing of the spirit can never be stilled.”― Hildegard von Bingen

“Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap.”― St. Hildegard of Bingen

Not long, but deep.
Shores to boundaries.
Not walk, leap.
Inquire, listen, intuit.
Beneath and beyond the noise.
A knowing in the unknowing.
A calling in the wilderness.
Answer, respond, act.
See and cast your own light.

“We cannot live in a world interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a hope. Part of the terror is to take back our listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”― Hildegard of Bingen

Jul 28

Grounded and Reaching

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

“That we ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”― Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

In struggles and ease.
The blending of both.
In all the in between.
Earth and sky.
Grounded and reaching.
Allow joy in.
Moments of bliss woven through the weight of being.
Rest too.
Imagination a must.
Look up and around.
Out and within.
Expanse and immensity.
Eyes on today, glancing at the road ahead, not behind.
A step at a time.
Breath in and out.
Give and take, give more.
Be present to it all.
Absorb light, cast it back out.

“Blessed are those who give without remembering and take without forgetting.” – Elizabeth Bibesco

Jul 23

Disturb the Universe

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
― T. S. Eliot, Four Quartet

“Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”― T.S. Eliot

Bridges crossed.
Bridges bypassed.
Transition to transformation.
Waiting in between.
Exploration and avoidance.
Lost and found.
Floundering and flourishing.
Slow yet still moving.
Disturb the universe.
In a minute.
In a change of heart and mind.
In an instance.
See the same differently.
Invite new, embrace change.
The visible and invisible light.
Before, around and within

“Light
Light
The visible reminder of Invisible Light.”― T.S. Eliot

Mar 31

Passages and Transformations

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius

“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” – Charles Bukowski

Last day of the week, of the month.
A month that I will carry with me the rest of my life.
In my bones, in my heart, in my journey forward.
Grateful to those who truly walked this month and 7 years with me, quietly.
Mere presence overflowing.
Calls, texts, dinners.
Prayers I’ll never know how many and they mattered, did their work.
No words to describe adequately.
It’s not over, but it’s changing, like life does every day.
Life is never done nor are we ever done.
Unfolding, unfurling, becoming who we already are and forget.
A homecoming.
We need only to pay attention.
To seasons, circles, passages, transformations.
The gift of springs, and winters.
Stay awake in this day and pull back to see the whole story too.
Love is right in front of you and has been there the entire time.

“A doorway is a passage, not a place of residence.”― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Feb 16

The Filter and Field

“holiness is made of dailiness, of living life as it comes to me, not as I insist it be.”― Joan D. Chittister, The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully

“Prayer in Benedictine spirituality is not an interruption of our busy lives nor is it a higher act. Prayer is the filter through which we learn, if we listen hard enough, to see our world aright and anew and without which we live life with souls that are deaf and dumb and blind.”― Joan Chittister

The filter, the lens, the angle.
Broad, narrow, in, out.
Frosted, clear, a wall with no window.
New canvas, fresh day.
Doors, windows, thresholds.
A willingness, an allowing and invitation to keep growing, expanding, changing.
Cast light, brighten the dim places.
Interior and exterior.
The world aright and anew.
Hope, joy, peace and awe to be harvested today.
Sow, tend, harvest.

“Our role in life is to bring the light of our own souls to the dim places around us.”― Joan Chittister

Feb 15

In Conversation

“You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest? … The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.”― David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

“Desire demands only a constant attention to the unknown gravitational field which surrounds us and from which we can recharge ourselves every moment, as if breathing from the atmosphere of possibility itself. A life’s work is not a series of stepping-stones onto which we calmly place our feet, but more like an ocean crossing where there is no path, only a heading, a direction, which, of itself, is in conversation with the elements.”― David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity

Move past the surface of change aversion, the threshold resistance and transition freeze into the depth, dimension, height and width of transformation and transcendence.
Creating meaning, fostering understanding amidst the mystery and unknowing.
In conversation with self and the world.
Opening new doors.
Leaping through thresholds.
Blooming vibrant color.
Shining brilliant light.
Free and alive wholeheartedly.
In the one world which you belong.

“You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
Except the one in which you belong.”― David Whyte

Jan 9

Greatest Treasures

“Stop leaving and you will arrive. Stop searching and you will see. Stop running away and you will be found.”― Lao Tzu

“Simplicity, patience, compassion.
These three are your greatest treasures.
Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.
Patient with both friends and enemies,
you accord with the way things are.
Compassionate toward yourself,
you reconcile all beings in the world.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

January.
The month of strong starts and quick stops.
Returning to familiar old when motivation wanes and drains.
Change it this time.
Not leaps and grand gestures.
A few steps each day repeated to compound, multiply, root.
Repeat, focus, keep going.
Mindfulness. Reflection. Action.
Do the daily work and wait.
Letting go to take hold.
Clearing clutter within and out to create space.
Renewal a moment, an hour, a day at time.
Body, mind, soul.
Simplicity, patience, compassion.
Caterpillar to butterfly.

“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?”― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Dec 5

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A Different Coat

“Snow creates that quality of awe in the face of a power greater than ours. It epitomises the aesthetic notion of the sublime, in which greatness and beauty couple to overcome you—a small, frail human—entirely.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

“I recognized winter. I saw it coming (a mile off, since you ask), and I looked it in the eye. I greeted it and let it in. I had some tricks up my sleeve, you see. I’ve learned them the hard way. When I started feeling the drag of winter, I began to treat myself like a favored child: with kindness and love. I assumed my needs were reasonable and that my feelings were signals of something important. I kept myself well fed and made sure I was getting enough sleep. I took myself for walks in the fresh air and spent time doing things that soothed me. I asked myself: What is this winter all about? I asked myself: What change is coming?” ― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

In slowing, wintering, waiting, a certain and steady unfolding.
In stillness, restoration, clarity, ease.
Crisp air to open, awaken.
Sun dancing with shadows.
Change, transition, transformation.
A new coat in the making.

“That’s the gift of winter: it’s irresistible. Change will happen in its wake, whether we like it or not. We can come out of it wearing a different coat.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

Dec 1

First Day, Last Month

“Beauty is a fragile gift.” – Ovid

“The journey itself is my home.”― Matsuo Basho

Beginnings and endings
Firsts and lasts
Starts and finishes
Before and After
Thresholds to cross
Roads to travel
The in betweens, the middle
In all of it, may you find meaning on your journey
Seeking and finding beauty, joy, light amidst the middles and transitions
Awake to transformation unfolding.

“Come dress yourself in love, let the journey begin.” – Francesca da Rimini

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