Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘Encouragement’

May 5

Shout of Joy!

“Inside everyone is a great shout of joy waiting to be born.”― David Whyte, River Flow: New & Selected Poems

Everything is Waiting for You by David Whyte

“Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.” – David Whyte

Poetry of presence, beginnings, spring bloom
Everything is waiting for you to notice
Coming alive
Bursting with color
Dance with wonder, awe and beauty
Woven through this very day

“Colors are the smiles of nature.” – Leigh Hunt

Apr 16

The Cusp of Spring

“…new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

“To be human is to live by sunlight and moonlight, with anxiety and delight, admitting limits and transcending them, falling down and rising up.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark: Because Sometimes God Shows Up at Night

To beautiful imperfection
To joy in struggle
To falling, shaking it off and popping back up
To fresh air of spring with lingering winter breeze
To the dark where seeds wait, ruminate then break ground to seek and bask in light
To resistance then sweet surrender to change, growth, full bloom
Signs of life in unexpected places, thin spaces and wide-open fields
Rooted in winter, spring is springing, ready to bust at the seams.

“Time will explain” – Jane Austen

Apr 10

Defying Gravity

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“A bird is safe in its nest – but that is not what its wings are made for.”― Amit Ray, World Peace: The Voice of a Mountain Bird

A shift in attitude
An ounce of gratitude
A cup of encouragement
Putting down my way
For what is
Seeking and finding delight, joy and beauty
On ground of now
In the imperfect, unchosen, unexpected
Abundance in mystery, unknowing, wandering
Some days may be long, but the years are short
Use your wings
Defy gravity
Take flight in the sky of this day.

“The days are long, but the years are short.” – Gretchen Rubin

Apr 8

Strength Lined with Tenderness

“The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.”― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

“And on the subject of burning books: I want to congratulate librarians, not famous for their physical strength or their powerful political connections or their great wealth, who, all over this country, have staunchly resisted anti-democratic bullies who have tried to remove certain books from their shelves, and have refused to reveal to thought police the names of persons who have checked out those titles.

So the America I loved still exists, if not in the White House or the Supreme Court or the Senate or the House of Representatives or the media. The America I love still exists at the front desks of our public libraries.”― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Light in the dark.
Resilience for the long cut.
Anchored in hope.
Good trouble.
Strength lined with tenderness.
As Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you do better.”
May that come soon.
In the meantime, kindness, connection, joy, laughter, beauty, spring.
Love, the journey and the destination.
Cast light in your corner of the world today.

“The quality of strength lined with tenderness is an unbeatable combination, as are intelligence and necessity when unblunted by formal education. ”― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Apr 7

One Set of Footprints

“I do not forget any good deed done to me & I do not carry a grudge for a bad one.”― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Footprints in the Sand

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with
the Lord. Scenes from my life flashed across the sky. In
each, I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were
two sets of footprints; other times there was only one.

During the low periods of my life I could see only one set of
footprints, so I said, “You promised me, Lord, that you would
walk with me always. Why, when I have needed you most,
have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The times when you have seen only one set
of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.” – Margaret Fishback Powers

You are loved, belong and matter.
Not for doing, performing, productivity, status.
For being.
Many will walk through life and never hear this or see this in action.
Each of us can carry, encourage, be kind, considerate, compassionate.
There are days when we need to be carried too.
Carry when you can.
Be carried when you need.
One set of footprints.
It was then I carried you.

“We never know the quality of someone else’s life, though we seldom resist the temptation to assume and pass judgement.”― Tami Hoag, Dark Horse

Apr 6

Mud. Lotus. Presence in it All

“The Pain of Becoming For the flower, it is fully open at each step of its blossoming. We do ourselves a great disservice by judging where we are in comparison to some final destination. This is one of the pains of aspiring to become something: the stage of development we are in is always seen against the imagined landscape of what we are striving for. So where we are—though closer all the time—is never quite enough.”― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have

“No mud. No lotus.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

In the unfolding
The waiting
The desert
The in between
The struggle
The breaking
The remaking
The becoming
The ordinary
The daily steps of the journey
A making
A pruning
A reckoning
A shedding
A culling
A discovery
A budding
A transformation
Mud then lotus, then more mud
Allow, invite, open to joy, peace, laughter, kindness, awareness, ease on the journey, which happens to be the destination.

“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Mar 26

Wildflower Spinning

“God is not a technician. God is an Artist. This is the God who made you. The same God who lives inside of you. He comes into us, then comes out of us, in a million little ways. That’s why there’s freedom, even in the blah. Hope, even in the dark. Love, even in the fear. Trust, even as we face our critics. And believe in the midst of all that? It feels like strength and depth and wildflower spinning; it feels risky and brave and underdog winning. It feels like redemption. It feels like art.”― Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live

“As we stand at new beginnings and grieve those long goodbyes, teach us what it means to hold on to what we need for the journey and gently let the rest go. Father, you bring new mercies every morning and give us the grace to start over as many times as we might need. Keep pace with us as we learn to keep pace with you. Thank you for not rolling your eyes when we find ourselves here again. Give us the courage to pick what we like and the patience to see how it grows.”― Emily P. Freeman, The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions

A year ago today, I “officially” started my business KP Connections LLC.
Name, legal structure, business model, plan and general direction.
The decision, tipping point, crossing the threshold.
Moving from the hallway between rooms to entering a new room.
Many steps before the decision to leap, one step to leap.
Many steps after and continue to be revealed to this day, tomorrow, the next day too.
It would be months before I announced in July and only a handful of people knew at this point.
Walking beside me through the examination, contemplation, exploration, shaping.
Deeply grateful for those companions, questioners, cheerleaders.
But we ultimately make decisions for our life alone.
Little and big.
Owning that gives us power and responsibility.
To stay, to go, to tolerate, to accept, to reject, to stagnate, to grow, to keep changing, to be changed in the process.
Not deciding is deciding.
We put too much weight on decisions, as if it’s the only step to be made.
Mistakes and missteps guaranteed.
Allowing the path to unfold in the walking out daily is the journey.
It’s the point.
We don’t need everything figured out to start, but we do need to start, taking a step at a time.
To aim, work, go in a direction, follow signs, discern signals, see patterns, pivot when necessary, stay the course, fall, rise, pause, rest, start again and keep moving.
Trusting the process, enjoying the journey.
Work to get to the thresholds before, faith to cross over, more work and trust to walk it out daily with curiosity, enthusiasm, joy.
What we make of it but more importantly what it is making of us.
Many lessons along the way.
What to not do again, what to focus on, what to explore, what to not do at all.
Imperfectly and wonderfully where I belong.
Grateful, awake, unfolding and unfurling.
Still learning, growing, connecting, collaborating, honing, crafting, diversifying, focusing, shaping, creating, making.
Wildflower spinning.

“And so the meaning of our lives is not dependent upon what we make of it but of what he is making of us.”― Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live

Mar 25

Top Heavy Hope, Fierce Kindness

“There is really nothing more to say-except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”― Toni Morrison

“Keep our anger from becoming meanness.
Keep our sorrow from collapsing into self-pity.
Keep our hearts soft enough to keep breaking.
Keep our outrage turned towards justice, not cruelty.
Remind us that all of this, every bit of it, is for love.
Keep us fiercely kind.”― Laura Jean Truman

Soft heart.
Gentle words.
Open arms.
Walking in compassion.
Bending and not breaking.
Choosing love over fear.
Top heavy with hope.
Fiercely kind.

“One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.”― Shannon L. Alder

Mar 16

Invisible Cloak

“Spirituality is about what we do about the fire inside of us, about how we channel our eros.”― Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing

BEANNACHT – Beautifully read by John O’Donohue, one of my favorite poets

“On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The gray window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colors, Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the curragh of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.” – John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

Peace
Be Still
Nourishment, clarity, fluency, protection
An invisible, profound, grounding, freeing, all encompassing, overwhelming place and space
At your feet
A blessing, cup overflowing, love, awe, contentment, ease
Right where you are
Within you awaiting your arrival
Peace
Be Still
Welcome home.

“But within ourselves we can experience a real difference between restlessness and solitude. What is that difference? It is the difference between living in freedom rather than compulsion; restfulness rather than restlessness; patience rather than impatience; inwardness rather than frenzied outwardness; altruism rather than greediness; authentic friendship rather than possessive clinging; and empathy rather than apathy.”― Ronald Rolheiser, The Restless Heart

Mar 15

2 Comments

Lift and Bridge

“Praise the bridge that carried you over.” – George Colman

In seemingly small exchanges this week
A thread, a throughline, a bridge

Calling my health plan to ask questions about coverage
She patiently answered my questions
Kindly giving me guidance and direction
At the end of the call, I thanked her for the answers as well as for being in health care which can’t be easy with little gratitude from the masses who they unselfishly serve every day
She was surprised and I could hear the lift in her voice
A simple, genuine thank you shifted a job call into a calling few could sustain if they really knew the burden
Heroes
Lift

At a follow-up doctor’s appointment yesterday in the waiting room
Heads down
Two women started a conversation about how many shots they had in their eye and if it hurt
Retina war stories shared
One woman said, “you never know what’s going to happen in life and THANK God”
The other woman agreed with a big smile and said she was 99 years old
The other woman said she was 84
The simple exchange lifted down heads into smiling conversation and connection
The tone of the room shifted
Lift

When given news that my injured eye was good and I could start running and regular activity again, I was thrilled
Celebrating with a 4-mile run at the end of the day, passing a park, a family was watching their son fly a kite
Running with delight
Dancing with joy
Lift

Small exchanges, deep meaning, big impact
It doesn’t take much
A kind word, yielding in traffic, a conversation with a stranger, a smile, a thank you
This is the real stuff, day changers
May you be the giver and receiver of lift today
The bridge that invites, welcomes, unites
The instigator of love

“What I do is the opposite of building walls. I build bridges. A bridge is something that connects instead of separating.” – Santiago Calatrava

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »