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Posts tagged ‘Dogs’

Sep 19

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No Scarcity of Delight

“Delight is all around us you know, from the food we eat, to the night sky, to the dreams we have. It surrounds us with every moment, you just have to stop and take it in whenever you can.”― Jonathan Maas, Horsemen

The Patience of Ordinary Things
by Pat Schneider

“It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?”

In abundance.
Simple things.
Ordinary days.
New eyes required, attention too..
On the ground of now.
Windows open wide.
Fresh air of joy.
No scarcity of delight.

“So today I’m recalling the utility, the need, of my own essayettes to emerge from such dailiness, and in that way to be a practice of witnessing one’s delight, of being in and with one’s delight, daily, which actually requires vigilance. It also requires faith that delight will be with you daily, that you needn’t hoard it. No scarcity of delight.”― Ross Gay, The Book of Delights: Essays

Jun 5

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The Wonderful Things

“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

“Or maybe it’s about the wonderful things that may happen if you break the ropes that are holding you.”― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs

Summer slow, delight, play.
Come in, sit awhile.
Linger.
Steadfast.
Anchored.
Single-tasking.
Attention, awe, wonder in abundance.
At ease.

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

Dec 26

Joy Before You

“We are never far from wonders.” – John Green

“May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.”— Mary Anne Radmacher

Weave slow into this day.
Wander too.
For reflection, laughter, joy.
In being, not mere doing.
To be present, we deepen time, bloom gratitude.
Remember how to live.

“Practicing presence is remembering how to live.”― Heidi Barr, 12 Tiny Things: Simple Ways to Live a More Intentional Life

Dec 18

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Delight in the Ordinary

“…small bits of our day are profoundly meaningful
because they are the site of our worship. The crucible of our formation is in the monotony of our daily routines.”― Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

“We are standing before the Grand Canyon or the Sistine Chapel and rolling our eyes.”― Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Hum of the ordinary.
Invitation to play.
Nuance of color.
Current of rivers.
Flow of wind.
Dance of trees.
Rhythm of life.
Hidden in plain sight.
Asking our partaking, savoring, pausing.
Small moment, big life.

“The new life into which we are baptized is lived out in days, hours, and minutes. God is forming us into a new people. And the place of that formation is in the small moments of today.”― Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Aug 9

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Wearing the Woods

“Some people talk to animals. Not many listen though. That’s the problem.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

A few minutes off leash in the woods.
Up and down and all around.
Romping up the side of the hill, over branches, through bushes.
Big smile inside and out.
A fresh coat of the woods to brush out.
Worth it.
Put on your big boots, go off leash, do some crazy good things.
Get off trail today.

“She would know a good thing to do without thinking about it.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Jul 20

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Pastures Still

“As you get older, you want less from the world; you just want to experience it. Any barriers to feeling emotions get dismantled. And ordinary things become beautifully poetic.” – Richard Linklater

“All things therefore are charged with love, are charged with God and if we knew how to touch them give off sparks and take fire, yield drops and flow, ring and tell of him.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins to Robert Bridges

May we hone our senses sharp to see the bigness in small moments while we are in them.
To live twice and then some.
In the moment and memory.
From doing, busy, checklist to being, slowness and connection.
A shift in perspective.
Present and awake.
May gratitude pull up a chair next to you today to chat awhile.
Pastures still, filled with music of praise.

“ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.”
― Gerard Manley Hopkins, Poems and Prose

Jul 5

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Make Room for Joy, Plenty of It!

“Remember these two things: play hard and have fun.” – Tony Gwynn

“I want to unfold. Let no place in me hold itself closed, for where I am closed, I am false.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

In each footfall.
On the ground beneath and before.
On the road ahead.
Anticipation, hope, enthusiasm.
Make room for joy.
Every single day.
Plenty, not a mere teaspoon.
Cup overflowing.
Follow the path of children and dogs.
Masters of short memories, rapt awareness of the present moment, believing the best in all, love unconditional.
Open to delight, possibility, fun.
Hot pursuit of now.
Not only a room, but a house full of joy.
Clear space, open the windows and doors.
Joy awaits entry and occupation.

“Believing takes practice.”― Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time: With Related Readings

“Life isn’t about learning how to weather the storm. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.”― Vivian Greene

Jun 18

To Take and Give Delight

“Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.” – Khalil Gibran

“For everything that lives is holy, life delights in life.” – William Blake

Take delight in this day.
Feel the earth beneath you.
Lighten up.
Have fun.
Life is not a job.
It’s a call, a vocation, a gift.
Participate fully in the present.
Someday is today.
In taking delight, we give it away too.
May joy take you be the hand to the playground of wonder.
Holy ground.

“Laughter is carbonated holiness.” – Anne Lamott

Apr 2

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Yeah, It was Fun!

“Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” – Dr. Seuss

“As you proceed through life, following your own path, birds will shit on you. Don’t bother to brush it off.
Getting a comedic view of your situation gives you spiritual distance.
Having a sense of humor saves you.”― Joseph Campbell

Off leash.
Open field.
Two deer in the distance.
Chase ensues.
Deer escape.
Pursuit the point.
Fun had, a face full.
In all of the doing.
The checklists and chores.
Obligations and adulting.
Stop.
Go off trail.
Have fun.
Weave frolic, laughter and joy into each day without fail.
May humor, adventure and awe be the mud you roll in today.

 The Sweetness of Dogs by Mary Oliver

“What do you say, Percy? I am thinking
of sitting out on the sand to watch
the moon rise. It’s full tonight.
So we go

and the moon rises, so beautiful it
makes me shudder, makes me think about
time and space, makes me take
measure of myself: one iota
pondering heaven. Thus we sit, myself

thinking how grateful I am for the moon’s
perfect beauty and also, oh! How rich
it is to love the world. Percy, meanwhile,
leans against me and gazes up into
my face. As though I were just as wonderful
as the perfect moon.”

Mar 3

Dig In, Delight

“The true delight is in the finding out rather than in the knowing.”― Isaac Asimov

“Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it.”― W. Somerset Maugham

Delight. Delight. Delight.
Emphasis. Steadfast. Keen.
Found in play, lightness.
Hidden in the bucket of ordinary days.
In finding out, discovery, unfolding.
Sacred, holy ground of frolic and fun.
Seed. Root. Bloom.

“Happiness isn’t reserved for privileged individuals. It is a state of mind that can neither be bought nor stolen nor traded; it is a liberty available to anyone.”― Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway

“The dog is the god of frolic.” – Henry Ward Beecher

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