May 23
“Everything in the universe has a rhythm, everything dances. ”― Maya Angelou
“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”― Maya Angelou
Yield to joy
Make way for delight
Clear a path for laughter
Arrive full of hope
Shining bright
Lilacs are in full bloom
Slowly then suddenly
Senses ablaze
Transformation at work.
“Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.”― Maya Angelou
“encounter the mystery and wonder of unsuspected instants. Let us dip into the marvel of the budding and the blooming” ― Erik Pevernagie
“And the deer–
how beautiful they are,
as though their bodies did not impede them.
Slowly they drift into the open
though bronze panels of sunlight.”
― Louise Glück, The House on Marshland
Sometimes seeking and searching
Sometimes beauty finds you
Too many times, passing by without notice
To be awake
To see delight
In stillness
Wonder strolls in, an invitation
To be found and held
Embrace of mystery, awe, reverence
Partaker of joy
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“Live bold, without fear. This is life amongst the deer.”― Katelyn S. Bolds
“May you always be the one
who notices the little things
that make the light pour
through, and may they always
remind you: There is more to
life and there is more to you.”
― Morgan Harper Nichols
“Living in the moment is learning how to live between the big moments. It is learning how to make the most of the in-betweens and having the audacity to make those moments just as exciting.”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living
Racing ahead
Focused on the “next thing”
Before partaking in the “now thing”
Root in this day
Slow down
Fill up
Look up
Light and beauty abundant in the ordinary
There’s blooming everywhere in and out.
“Even though you have learned the skill of running on empty, now is the time to learn the art of breathing deep all over again,”― Morgan Harper Nichols, All Along You Were Blooming: Thoughts for Boundless Living
“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
“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
“Make friends with the shifting sands deep within you; you are opening, changing. Let the air that needs to be released release when and how it comes. Love these bubbles of grace. Curl the corners of your mouth into a small smile as they leave.”― Sarah Blondin, Heart Minded: How to Hold Yourself and Others in Love
“I know how scary or intimidating it can be to disconnect, to walk in the opposite direction of all that bright, shiny, noisy distraction. I have faced that fear again and again as I have answered my own call to stillness. But no matter the size of aversion or fear, you must trust me when I say that all that will matter, all that will ever amount to anything, is the relationship you have with the world you carry around inside of you.”― Sarah Blondin, Heart Minded: How to Hold Yourself and Others in Love
Call to stillness
Embrace of pause
Grace rising
Quieting, abiding, tending
Peace, flow, exhale.
“You are in charge of how much space a thought takes up in your life. Take the time to carefully consider what you let be a part of your being and your spirit.”― Cleo Wade, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life
“The whole life lies in the verb seeing.”― Teilhard de Chardin
“The world, this palpable world, which we were wont to treat with the boredom and disrespect with which we habitually regard places with no sacred association for us, is in truth a holy place, and we did not know it. Venite, adoremus.”― Teilhard de Chardin
Autopilot off
Trance interrupted
Emergence of presence
New day, new moment
Fresh eyes
Curious mind
Spirit led
Light heart
Holy ground
Sacred space
Discovering fire, again, within, moving out
Energies of love
Cast light, color, joy, beauty, delight, laughter, awe, spring
“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” – Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
“do good, bestow kindness, strive for beauty, seek and find the river that leads to life everlasting, and draw from the fountain that never runs dry.”― Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
“I did not save the world today,
Or change the course of history,
I walked the small and quiet way,
The life that God has given me. I woke up with the morning sun,
I sat awhile to think and pray,
I did my work till the day was done,
But I did not save the world today. I tried to live with gratitude,
To do the good that I could do,
To love the people close to me,
My neighbors and my family,
To share the kindness I’ve been shown,
To trust the Love that is my home,
To celebrate the tiny part I play,
But I did not save the world today. I hear the politicians speak,
Such big ideas and lofty claims,
My life, to theirs, seems small and weak,
But in God’s big hand we weigh the same. The saints and poets seem to know,
The law behind the ocean tide,
The world gets changed and moved along,
By little gestures multiplied. So I try to live with gratitude,
To do the good that I can do,
To love the people close to me,
My neighbors and my family,
To share the kindness I’ve been shown,
To trust the Love that is my home,
To celebrate the tiny part I play,
But I did not save the world today.”
―
Small acts
Seeds planting
Drops to rolling waves
Smile, laughter, delight
Joy out loud
Encouragement, noticing, interest
Slowing to witness, partake, participate
Ordinary days rich with color, nuance, light
In small deliberate acts, love multiples, compounds
Changing the world
Kindness, generosity, enthusiasm
Love well, cast light.
“the best portion of a good person’s life is ‘the little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.”― Allen Levi, Theo of Golden
“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
“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
