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Posts tagged ‘Gratitude’

Jul 8

Emergence in the Pause

“There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep. ”
― Elizabeth Bishop

“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

In the pause, stillness
Gaze
Abide
Release
Reset
Slow
Mindfulness spilling into grace, gratitude
Anchoring
Patterns reshape
New stories emerge
Narrative wanders off path
Peace, delight, anticipation
In the paragraph on the blank page of this day.

“In our frantic search for something to quench our thirst, we overlook the water all around us and drive ourselves into exile from our own lives. ”― Sharon Salzberg

Jul 6

Carried by Surprise

“I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding.”― John O’Donohue

“That the soft overcomes the hard, and the yielding overcomes the resistant, is a fact known by all, but practiced by few.”― Lao Tse

Softening
Yielding
Pause
Grounding
Flowing
Slowing
Response rather than reaction
Unfolding
Unhindered
At attention
Witnessing and participating
No rearview mirror
No crystal ball
Anchored
In this day alone.

“May today bring us simple things in simple packages. Easy-to-use things. Things we can tuck into our hearts and don’t require instructions or batteries. Simple things like love and peace, like comfort and joy.”― Mary Davis, Every Day Spirit: A Daybook of Wisdom, Joy and Peace

Jul 4

We the People…

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” – Preamble to the Constitution

“In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – full Declaration of Independence

July 2, 2026
250 years young today.
Still learning, relearning, tripping, becoming, transforming.
Principles, history, future.
Work in progress.
Hope, grit, resilience.
Bigger than one person, one party.
United States of America.
We the people…
Happy Birthday!

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” – Abigail Adams

Jul 3

Bound by Beauty

“Let us live like flowers—wild and beautiful and drenched in sun.” — Ellen Everett

“Ten times a day something happens to me like this – some strengthening throb of amazement – some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.”― Mary Oliver

Drenched in sun.
Bursting with colors.
Overflowing with amazement.
One with the world.
Bound by beauty.
Woven in simple.
Hidden in ordinary.
Attentiveness the path.
Grounded in gratitude.
Transformation, one bud at a time.
Cast light.

“The spirit of a time is an incredibly subtle, yet hugely powerful force. And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit of all individuals together. Therefore, the way you look at things is not simply a private matter. Your outlook actually and concretely affects what goes on. When you give in to helplessness, you collude with despair and add to it. When you take back your power and choose to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of renewal and encouragement in the world. In this way, even in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent of transformation in a broken, darkened world. There is a huge force field that opens when intention focuses and directs itself toward transformation.” John O’Donohue, Benedictus, To Bless the Space Between Us

Jun 30

Gaze and Stance

“May today bring us simple things in simple packages. Easy-to-use things. Things we can tuck into our hearts and don’t require instructions or batteries. Simple things like love and peace, like comfort and joy.”― Mary Davis, Every Day Spirit: A Daybook of Wisdom, Joy and Peace

“Resistance comes in many guises, the most common symptoms being worry, fear and the need to maintain control.”― Mary Davis, Every Day Spirit: A Daybook of Wisdom, Joy and Peace

Yield
Gaze longer
Stance of peace
Catch and release
Fluidity, ease of water
Through, over, around rocks
Simple ways, daily practices
Delight and bliss
Emergence, slow and steady
Peace, light, joy
Rising within, spilling into the world.

“May we be at peace in our hearts. May we be at peace in our homes. May we be at peace with each other. May we imagine peace in our world.”― Mary Davis, Every Day Spirit: A Daybook of Wisdom, Joy and Peace

Jun 29

The Blessedness of Things

“Nature is an infinite sphere whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere.”― Blaise Pascal

“Now I will do nothing but listen.” – Walt Whitman

Summer calls us again and again.
Pause.
Sit.
Look. Listen. Linger.
Longer. Often. Rigorously.
There is a blessedness woven through each day.
To partake requires attention, reverence, yielding.

“the blessedness lying at the heart of things.” – Aldous Huxley

Jun 19

2 Comments

Soft Centered Arrival

“Presence doesn’t need a grand arrival — only a willingness to begin again.” – Amit Ray

“Equanimity is not a path around. It is the courage to remain in the center until the center opens.” – G. Scott Graham, The Tao of Equanimity

The noise will get louder
The chaos ensue
Demands multiply

The invitation
To this moment
To walk the path

Of presence

No shortcuts
Already here
In the quiet
The noticing

Attention and admiration
Reverence and wonder
Peace in the pause, in the receiving.

“The chase feels like movement — but it leaves you farther from the moment.”― G. Scott Graham, The Tao of Equanimity

Jun 17

True Harvest

“The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”― Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods

“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”― Henry David Thoreau

Summer sun, rain
Blooming bountiful
Shades of green
Kaleidoscope of brilliant colors
Be made newDaily harvest of fresh thoughts, words, actions.

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees”― Henry David Thoreau

Jun 14

Narrow Path, Beauty Abundant

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

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”― David Attenborough

Wandering
Wondering
Exploration
Beauty
Fresh air
Relaxation
Reflection
Reset
Realignment
Renewal
Compound interest
Economy of Delight, Pause, Praise
Refill your tank
Daily

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”― John Muir

Jun 12

Poetry of Ordinary Moments

“To walk quietly until the miracle in everything speaks is poetry, whether we write it down or not.”― Mark Nepo

“Mysteriously, as elusive as it is, this moment–where the eye is what it sees, where the heart is what it feels–this moment shows us that what is real is sacred”― Mark Nepo

The mysteries
To live
Not to solve
Unfolding and unfurling
In ordinary beautiful days
For fresh eyes to see
Open heart to allow
Wide arms to embrace
Sacred ground to walk with reverence.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

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