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Posts tagged ‘awe’

Jun 23

5:40 Arrival

“Art can be defined as beauty able to transcend the circumstances of its making.”― Jane Hirshfield, The Heart of Haiku

“Monday comes too soon… Don’t forget to squeeze several moments of joy into this weekend. Throw in some little pockets of peace and then be sure to sprinkle some good old belly-laughter to get the life-giving mix going. Let go of the safety bars for a moment or two, and throw those hands up in the air. This is life. This is it. Give yourself over, to whatever brings you that light, this world so desperately needs. Monday comes too soon.” – Donna Ashworth, Wild Hope

The sun always remains.
Whether hidden between clouds, rain.
Or in resting, letting the moon take its turn.
At peak, arriving slowing, full view, early morning.
Brilliant, bold, transcendent beauty.
A washing of light.
Give yourself over.
The gift of Sunday, that can spill over into Monday too.
Of our own choosing.

“The desire of monks and mystics is not unlike that of artists: to perceive the extraordinary within the ordinary by changing not the world but the eyes that look… To form the intention of new awareness is already to transform and be transformed.”― Jane Hirshfield, Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World

Feb 15

Calm and Grace

“Words are small shapes in the gorgeous chaos of the world.”― Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of the Senses

Although life is hard in pace
Lose not thy calm and grace.
If thee are not tender
Vow not to surrender
Eternity lies right before thy face.”
― Ana Claudia Antunes, ACross Tic

 Words soft, kind.
Ears open, attune.
Slowing to notice, awake.
Create calm in chaos.
Grace in this place.
Observe. Listen. Wonder.
Awe in thin places, still points.

“Listening is such a simple act. It requires us to be present, and that takes practice, but we don’t have to do anything else. We don’t have to advise, or coach, or sound wise. We just have to be willing to sit there and listen.”― Margaret J. Wheatley

Jan 18

Enchantment

“Enchantment lies in everyday moments if you are observant.”― Amy Leigh Mercree

“In fact I think I prefer a strange tangle of both, an idea with porous boundaries that keeps me guessing. We are not offered any definite conclusions, only the continuing quest. Certainties harden us, and eventually we come to defend them as if the world can’t contain a multiplicity of views. We are better off staying soft. It gives us room to grow and absorb, to make space for all the other glorious notions that will keep coming at us across a lifetime.”― Katherine May, Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age

May you soften, not harden.
Forgive, not carry the weight of resentment.
Praise, not be ungrateful for blessings overflowing that reside next to missing things too.
Wait, not rush into wrong decisions from impatience.
Act, not wait for perfection or the exact path, go off trail, compass rather than precise map.
Be kind, to self and to others, a smile, an embrace.
Empathetic, not judge and assume. Hold a hand with no advice. Be present.
Include, invite and extend belonging, it’s a lonely world. We need each other.
Widen and deepen, center to circumference, it’s a big world awaiting discovery and attention.
May color, beauty, awe, enthusiasm, delight and wonder bloom enchantment in your garden of today.

“Enchantment arises on the threshold between human activity and nature’s presence. It is always a liminal phenomenon, a momentary relationship, made of the right arrangement on stars and planets and elaborate with art by human consciousness.”― Thomas Moore

Dec 13

Kneed the Bread

“Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk’s flight
On the empty sky.
—The Creation of Éa”
― Ursula K. Le Guin

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

Enter this day anew.
Fresh eyes, open heart.
A sense of wonder.
A seeking of delight.
A practice of awe.
Kindness, generosity, enthusiasm.
Love in action.
Kneed the bread.

“There is only one question:
how to love this world.”― Mary Oliver, House of Light

Nov 30

Foothold

“Take time to see the quiet miracles that
seek no attention.”― John O’Donohue

“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.”
― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

In the slowing
The pause
Of thoughts
Of motion
Of season
Of time
To rest
Empty out
Fill up
Create space
Heal and bind up
Wintering
Hibernation
Cocoon
Clearing the clutter
A respite from the noise
A freshness
A restoration
Not to stay but to prepare
Seed time
Before the threshold of bloom
Readiness to cross thresholds
To feel the earth anew
To find your feet again
To get up and move
In a different yet familiar place of becoming
Blushed with beginning
Fresh with possibility
Ready to dance with rigor
Sing a new song
Woven, bound and anchored in wonderment
Moving with ease and flow

“May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.”― John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong

Nov 16

Walk in Peace

“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves.”― Corrie Ten Boom

Pause and pursuit.
Quiet and clarity.
Slow and motion.
Space and place.
Look around on the path you walk today.
Seek beauty, color, delight.
Inside and out.
Focus attention, intention, direction.
Plant seeds along the way.
Joy, awe, kindness.
Walk in peace.

“waste time wisely, my friend. Time spent in rest, joy, company and kindness is never wasted. As for everything else, just do it. You won’t regret the things you tried and failed at. But you will regret a life spent waiting. Those who wait, wait. You have a life to live.”― Donna Ashworth, I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit

Nov 14

In the Present Moment

“Life is available only in the present moment.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions

“May you live every day of your life.”― Jonathan Swift

Drop anchor.
Pause.
Hover.
Look longer.
Color, nuance, hue.
Breathe deeply.
In and out, repeat.
In the slowing, witness beauty.
Partake in quiet.
Put down the unnecessary.
Tune out to tune in.

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

Aug 17

The Weight of Beauty

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.”― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

“The sunlight claps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea: what are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me?”― Percy Bysshe Shelley

Flowers in bloom swaying in the breeze.
Top-heavy and bursting.
Bending the branch, but not breaking it.
Waving to get my attention.
To break the trance of habit and autopilot.
Simple and filled with wonder.
Show stopper.
A prayer of gratitude for beauty that is cast carelessly and abundantly at our feet daily.
To awaken our senses.
Capture our attention.
Softening our grip on the unnecessary.
To put it down long enough to carry the weight of beauty.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”― Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Aug 3

Tremble

“The sacred is discovered in what moves and touches us, in what makes us tremble.”― Sam Keen

“Life leads us into its spaces slowly. We’re not sure what awaits us next. We set out to explore it, moving circumspectly, with a sense of anticipation then suddenly it opens up and teases us with its transparency.”― Bhuwan Thapaliya

Slowly then suddenly.
Then back to slow, steady, delay, detour.
Leave room for surprises.
For serendipity.
For communion.
Sacred sky opening up.
Holy ground we walk.
Explore and tremble.

“Soul grows in communion. Word by word, story by story, for better or worse, we build our world. From true conversation – speaking and listening – communication deepens into compassion and creates community.”― Sam Keen, Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening The Spirit In Everyday Life

Aug 2

Ground of Wonder

“What if wonder was the ground of our gathering?”― Ross Gay, Inciting Joy: Essays

“Because in trying to articulate what, perhaps, joy is, it has occurred to me that among other things—the trees and the mushrooms have shown me this—joy is the mostly invisible, the underground union between us, you and me, which is, among other things, the great fact of our life and the lives of everyone and thing we love going away. If we sink a spoon into that fact, into the duff between us, we will find it teeming. It will look like all the books ever written. It will look like all the nerves in a body. We might call it sorrow, but we might call it a union, one that, once we notice it, once we bring it into the light, might become flower and food. Might be joy.”― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays

To look through the eyes of love.
To stand on the ground of wonder.
To pay attention and see new in the same.
To teem, steep and overflow with gratitude.
To find joy woven into each day.
And delight waiting to dance.
Look longer.
Notice.
It just might be joy sitting next to you.

“The point is that in almost every instance of our lives, our social lives, we are, if we pay attention, in the midst of an almost constant, if subtle, caretaking.”― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays

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