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Posts tagged ‘Beauty’

May 17

Sow Love, Bloom Peace

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.” – Francis of Assisi

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.” – Dalai Lama

Peace
Woven in pause, stillness, reflection, putting down, beauty, grace, generosity
A jolt out of complacency
Paddles to jumpstart your heart
To get out of your head
The figuring, counting, comparing, complaining, blaming, othering, assumptions
An inside job
Daily practice, consistency and commitment
A shift
In thoughts, words, actions
Kindness, thankfulness, gratitude, goodness, praise
Awe, wonder, love, reverence
Sow, tend, bloom
Cast light.

“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” – Henry David Thoreau

May 16

Hints of Gladness

“And see the peaceful trees extend
their myriad leaves in leisured dance—
they bear the weight of sky and cloud
upon the fountain of their veins.”― Kathleen Raine

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out,
“Stay awhile.”The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”

Hints of gladness
Slivers of light
Slices of awe
Enter the narrow gate
Threshold to peace
Crossover
Walk slow, deliberately
Look up and around
Dance with beauty
Stay awhile
Bow often.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”― John Lubbock, The Use Of Life

May 12

Unhurried, Joy Resides

“His decision to live small made him larger than life.”― Allen Levi, Theo of Golden

“Joy is unhurried.”― Cleo Wade, Remember Love: Words for Tender Times

Space and margin
Deep breath, in and out, repeat
Rest to restoration
Slow to delight
In moments, density
Open the gifts scattered generously through this day
Joy, unhurried, overflowing, abundant
Still small voice, listen
Small things, large life.

“The only way we can make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments. Today, wherever you are, decide to stay. We can know the gifts that lie in the present only if we stay in it long enough to receive them.”― Cleo Wade, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life

May 8

Found World

“Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.”― John Muir, The Wilderness World of John Muir

“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’” – Robin Williams

Flowers peaking, trees bursting, blue skies lingering
Spring trifecta
Fireworks of color, fragrance, freshness
Rebirth, creation, transformation
Accept the invitation
Join the party in delight, awe, wonder.

“Put on the mind of morning
To feel the rush of light
Spread slowly inside
The colour and stillness
Of a found world.” – John O’Donohue

May 7

Microscope, Telescope, Kaleidoscope

“Life is like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope – a slight change, and all patterns alter.”― Sharon Salzberg

“Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance.”― Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment – Living in the Breath

Unhurrying
Undoing
Unwinding
Untangling
Untying
Unification
Resuscitation
Refreshment
Reimaging
Restoration
Recreating
Resurrection
In the stops and starts
Thresholds and bridges
Giving and receiving
Unknowing and knowing
Transitions to transformations
And the beautiful winding path inbetween, detours and delays
Life beating
Join the rhythm, dance and flow
Partake, witness, cherish the ride
Awake, anew, aware

“Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.”― Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation

May 6

2 Comments

Breathing in Beauty of Presence, Rapt Attention

“What would it be like if I could accept life–accept this moment–exactly as it is?”― Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance

“Perhaps the biggest tragedy of our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns…We may want to love other people without holding back, to feel authentic, to breathe in the beauty around us, to dance and sing. Yet each day we listen to inner voices that keep our life small.”― Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance

Slow entrance
Autopilot disengaged
To do list put aside
Looking up, in, around
Soaking in fullness, depth, dimension of surroundings
Places, people, self
Foregoing rearview mirror replays
Not rushing ahead, arriving before getting there
Feet planted on the ground of this day
Open door for gratitude to enter
Reflection, inquiry, attention
Take the long cut
Wander, fritter, abide
Joy, beauty, peace in anchored presence
Receive and cast light.

“Clearly recognizing what is happening inside us, and regarding what we see with an open, kind and loving heart, is what I call Radical Acceptance. If we are holding back from any part of our experience, if our heart shuts out any part of who we are and what we feel, we are fueling the fears and feelings of separation that sustain the trance of unworthiness. Radical Acceptance directly dismantles the very foundations of this trance.”― Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance

May 5

Woven Beauty

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”― Anais Nin

“To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never to forget.” – Arundhati Roy

Layers
Nuance
Depth
Complexity
Simplicity
Unseen
Opposites
Sames
Ordinary
Extraordinary
A mix of contradictions
At the same time
Bridges
Beauty overflowing
Imagination
Inquiry
Joy
Curiosity
Patterns
Mystery
Light
So much light
Life in this day
Be present
Love well
Cast light.

“Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together. ”― Anais Nin

May 4

Dancing with Daffodils

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” – William Wordsworth

May

May, and among the miles of leafing,
blossoms storm out of the darkness—
windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees
dive into them and I too, to gather
their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs
is the deepest certainty that this existence too—
this sense of well-being, the flourishing
of the physical body—rides
near the hub of the miracle that everything
is a part of, is as good
as a poem or a prayer, can also make
luminous any dark place on earth. – Mary Oliver

Vibrancy
Light
Unfolding and unfurling
Rhythm of spring
Unfolding and unfurling
Breathing in flowers
Pay attention
Enter the delight and bloom bursting
Dance with daffodils, spiritual honey.
Nectar of awe, wonder, grace, gratitude.

“Keep everything open and live from openness to openness.”― Francis Lucille, The Perfume of Silence

May 1

Light and Lightly, Sail

“Light, be it particle or wave, has force: you rig a giant sail and go. The secret of seeing is to sail on solar wind. Hone and spread your spirit till you yourself are a sail, whetted, translucent, broadside to the merest puff.” – Annie Dillard

“I don’t want to live a small life. Open your eyes,
open your hands. I have just come
from the berry fields, the sun

kissing me with its golden mouth all the way
(open your hands) and the wind-winged clouds
following along thinking perhaps I might

feed them, but no I carry these heart-shapes
only to you. Look how many how small
but so sweet and maybe the last gift

I will ever bring to anyone in this
world of hope and risk, so do.
Look at me. Open your life, open your hands.”

— Mary Oliver, from Red Bird

The path of today
Full presence, fresh eyes, new hope
Look again, once more, longer
Poetry of attention
Prose of wonder
Song of delight
Open your hands
Open your life
Walking lightly in the light.

“To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter… to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring — these are some of the rewards of the simple life.”― John Burroughs, Leaf and Tendril

Apr 30

Spirit of Infancy and Awe

“In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows. Nature says, — he is my creature, and maugre all his impertinent griefs, he shall be glad with me”― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

“The lover of nature is he whose inward and outward senses are still truly adjusted to each other; who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

Radiance of the world.
Power of nature.
To transform, transmit, transcend.
Winter melting to spring.
Wild delights, simple pleasures.
Slow down, pull over, look around.
Let peace enter and beauty flow.

“The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

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