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Posts tagged ‘Dogs’

Mar 30

Pup Cups and Other Simple Things

“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Sometimes, we have to stand on the commitment and hard work of others. Yet, there are other passages in life that each of us has to journey through alone. We can call the first process, progress, and the second, incarnation.” – Mark Nepo, Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity

So much resides and lives in the simple things.
Time with family and friends.
Making new friends, connecting with a stranger, if but for a moment.
Laughter, a walk in the woods, trips to dog parks to chase balls and other dogs, and the newly discovered “pup cup” filled with whipped cream.
Find your path into the clearing.
We’ll see each other on the way.
Walking along side, sharing the road.
Paying attention to the simple things.
Tripping on joy and grace.
Incarnation, vastness, doing for others, seeing for self.

“Like everyone before us, we each must find our own path into the clearing, where we can build a home near the vastness of life. And we each must pass on what we can, so that those who follow will have the chance to awaken their own lives, which no one but they can live. Like everyone who will follow us, we are each called to reveal and enliven the twin ethics of doing for others and seeing for ourselves.” – Mark Nepo, Surviving Storms: Finding the Strength to Meet Adversity

Mar 24

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Too Full to Put into Words

“May I create plain fields by collecting clouds and bedeck them with arching rainbows.”― Suman Pokhrel

“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.”― Fulton J. Sheen

When I let go of their leashes, the girls running full speed into the open, unbound and free.
Not too far out, they stop, turning back to see where I am at.
Never out of sight but out of reach.
Waiting for me to catch up to join them in frolic and play, ball throwing, field pouncing.
Moving on ahead when I catch up, but not too far again.
Just enough and still close.
Wide open fields.
Big horizons.
Deep blue sky.
Waiting, wandering, joy-seeking and finding.
All available to us each day.
I’ll meet you in the field.
And wait.

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing
and rightdoing there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass
the world is too full to talk about.”― Rumi

Mar 18

Steadfastness

“Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.”
― 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

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

It was Sasha’s 6th birthday on Tuesday, March 14th, the day of Mom’s wake. So this birthday post is late, appropriately so. Kids, dogs, Mom. Sasha loves the kids, Abby and Mom, and other dogs too. Abby and Sasha have been sticking close to me the past few days. Our pack got smaller this week. Love remains. At some point, we carry on. We shift, adjust, and keep moving. And we never forget. A chair is empty and our hearts our full.

“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

“Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

“You’re like a little wild thing
that was never sent to school.”
― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

Feb 23

Break Out

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”― John Muir

“Humor can get in under the door while seriousness is still fumbling at the handle.”― G.K. Chesterton

Under the door.
Through the cracks and crevices.
Out through the slit window.
When the doors are locked.
When staring at the same walls.
When stuck in sameness and habitual reaction.
May I stop fumbling at the handle.
Pause to see the same for the first time, anew.
Breaking out into expanse, joy, laughter, beauty, abundance in all seasons, each day.
A playground, the forest, a maze, a wide open field of grace and wonder.
Losing mind, finding soul.
I’ll meet you there.

“The things we see every day are the things we never see at all.”― G.K. Chesterton

Feb 10

Joy Production

“Do anything, but let it produce joy.”― Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

“…You should stay alive
As often as possible and keep yourself open
to anything out of place and everything
with nowhere else to go, to carry what’s left
of your voice out and beyond, into, over,
and under, past, within, outside, between,
among, across, along, and up and around
and to be beside yourself when the spirit moves you…”
― David Wagoner, After the Point of No Return

Wide open field.
Unbound and ablaze.
Space to wander and explore.
Dancing the dance.
Singing the song.
Present in the present.
May you be efficient, effective in your production of joy, pursuit of awe.
Pay close attention, instilled and alive with curiosity, a capacity for delight.

“Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”― Susan Sontag

Jan 23

Like Never Before or Ever Again

“Animals praise a good day, a good hunt. They praise rain if they’re thirsty. That’s prayer. They don’t live an unconscious life, they simply have no language to talk about these things. But they are grateful for the good things that come along.” – Mary Oliver

“Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.” – Dale Carnegie

I take the girls to the dog park almost every day.
A few blocks out, Abby starts groaning with anticipation.
If no one is around, I let them off leash at the top of the hill and they barrel down the wooded path as if arriving somewhere new for the first time ever.
Every single time, enthusiasm overflowing, fresh and new joy.
We can make the ordinary daily activities extraordinary by entering them through doors of wonder and windows of awe.
Seeing the same from a different angle.
Like we’ve never been here before and that we won’t ever be in this day again.
One is in our control and the other is not.
Time is moving swiftly.
We slow it down when we savor and celebrate it while we are in it.
No where to be but here and now.
Like never before or ever again.
Praise this good day.
Hunt well.
Plenty to be found.

Jan 20

Blazes of Gladness

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”― Aeschylus

“Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness.” – Maurice Maeterlinck

May the door to delight and awe be unlocked and open.
Letting play and fun do their work in you.
Lightening the load.
Creating space.
Putting down the unnecessary.
Making room for the breath of life.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Smile, laugh, let your guard down.
Rejoice and be glad in this day.
Cultivate, create, and share gladness to spark and kindle joy for others.
Be contagious with zest, enthusiasm and encouragement.
Unexpected sparks, brightest blazes.
Make it a “I got three balls in my mouth” kind of day.

“Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.”― Samuel Johnson, The Idler

Jan 2

Great Triumphant Joy

“Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.”― Aeschylus

“What was love but a lifetime of conversations. And silences. Knowing when to be silent. Above all, knowing when to laugh.”― Bernard MacLaverty, Midwinter Break

May you partake in laughter often
Opt in to lighten up
Frolic and dance in silliness
Take life serious enough to not be so serious.
Gratitude. Grace. Joy.
Life, to the fullest extent.
In simple delights.

“It is the experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent in which real meaning is found. God it’s great to be alive! Thank you. Thank you.”― Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild

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

Dec 10

Under Our Feet

“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” — Henry David Thoreau

“When it comes to the beauty of nature, time stops, the space becomes silent and the soul falls asleep while awake!”― Mehmet Murat ildan

After an off-leash romp in the woods, Abby returned wearing the woods.
And a big grin.
Sasha came up behind with the same delight.
Coats of joy.
Evidence of frolic.
A big mess to brush out.
Worth every stroke.
A release of energy and enthusiasm to generate even more.
Go off leash every day.
Untie from tasks, rushing, shoulds, have-tos, busy work, transactional.
Unbound, untethered, free-falling into felicity.
Nature invites all to the playground of expanse and exploration.
Breathe. Drink. Taste.

“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

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” —Mahatma Gandhi

Nov 11

Invite Gratitude In

“Does not the gratitude of the dog put to shame any man who is ungrateful to his benefactors?” – Saint Basil

“Gratitude, warm, sincere, intense, when it takes possession of the bosom, fills the soul to overflowing and scarce leaves room for any other sentiment or thought.” – John Quincy Adams

When scarcity enters the room, invite gratitude in.
When comparison fills the page, invite gratitude in.
When running on empty, invite gratitude in.
Gratitude, optimism and hope shift the narrative, change the story.
A act, a practice, an intention, an effort each day.
Invite gratitude in.
Be held in joy and delight.
Sing a new song.

“Fill the earth with your songs of gratitude.” – Charles Spurgeon

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