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Posts tagged ‘growth’

Nov 28

Roots and Shoots

“There lives the dearest freshness deep down things.”― Gerard Manley Hopkins

“Every morning has a unique story. There are always some seeds of possibilities waiting to sprout.”― Amit Ray, Peace Bliss Beauty and Truth

Deep rising to the surface
Time and timing
Breaking through
Roots and shoots
Small sprouts, big promise
Keep planting, tending, reaching.

“As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Sep 29

“No Mud. No Lotus”-Buddha

“Practice several minutes of centering prayer. Remember that meditation is a not-doing. It is just letting go of small mind and merging with the stream of Divine Mind.”― Joan Borysenko, Pocketful of Miracles

“To learn to see- to accustom the eye to calmness, to patience, and to allow things to come up to it; to defer judgment, and to acquire the habit of approaching and grasping an individual case from all sides. This is the first preparatory schooling of intellectuality. One must not respond immediately to a stimulus; one must acquire a command of the obstructing and isolating instincts.”― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

Stimulus and response
Creating space between, a gap, a pause
To contribute something meaningful rather than adding to the noise
Peace, grace, awe in this space
Cast light, kindness, joy
Narrow path, worth the trip.

“As the lotus rises on its stalk unsoiled by the mud and water, so the wise one speaks of peace and is unstained by the opinions of the world.” – Buddha

Sep 10

Just Bloom

“You do not just wake up and become the butterfly
Growth is a process.”― Rupi Kaur, The Sun and Her Flowers

“bloom beautifully
dangerously
loudly
bloom softly
however you need
just bloom”
― Rupi Kaur, Milk and honey

Unfold
Unfurl
Unravel
Break ground
Start again, repeat
Imperfectly
Brilliantly
Authentically
Blooming in all seasons
Joy in the little things, ordinary days
Catching and casting light
Just bloom, right where you are planted.

“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

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

Nov 23

1 Comment

Spring Under Construction

“Snow creates that quality of awe in the face of a power greater than ours. It epitomises the aesthetic notion of the sublime, in which greatness and beauty couple to overcome you—a small, frail human—entirely.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

“Winter is the oldest season; it has some quality of the absolute. Yet beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bug opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.

The beauty of nature insists on taking its time. Everything is prepared. Nothing is rushed. The rhythm of emergence is a gradual slow beat always inching its way forward; change remains faithful to itself until the new unfolds in the full confidence of true arrival. Because nothing is abrupt, the beginning of spring nearly always catches us unawares. It is there before we see it; and then we can look nowhere without seeing it.”― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

To enter winter.
Without resistance.
A welcoming.
Curiosity.
Quieting and preparation.
Softening and slowing.
The place, space, foothold of transformation.
Time and timing.
Spring under construction.

“Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”― Katherine May, Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times

Nov 19

The Work of Blooming

“Flowers don’t open and close according to who is walking by. They open and show their beauty regardless.”― Rebecca Campbell, Light is the New Black

“Balance is not a passive resting place—it takes work, balancing the giving and the taking, the raking out and the putting in.”― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

Our yes or no.
Action or inaction.
Response or reaction.
Daily choosing.
To listen.
To ask questions.
To go deeper.
Than assumptions, judgments, easy answers.
At ease in the knowing and unknowing.
Trusting time and timing.
Slowing and savoring.
Paying attention.
Giving and receiving.
Opening and softening.
The work of becoming, of blooming.

“Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world, receiving the gifts with open eyes and open heart.”― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

Nov 7

1 Comment

Supple Heart

“Suffering breaks our hearts, but the heart can break in two different ways. There’s the brittle heart that breaks into shards, shattering the one who suffers as it explodes, and sometimes taking others down when it’s thrown like a grenade at the ostensible source of its pain.
Then there’s the supple heart, the one that breaks open, not apart, the one that can grow into greater capacity for the many forms of love. Only the supple heart can hold suffering in a way that opens to new life.”― Parker J. Palmer, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old

“I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference.”― Ellen Goodman

To remain soft in a hard world
To be kind without expectation of return
To walk beside another
To do your part to make a difference
To grow, bloom, break open
Supple heart, porous and strong.

“To grow in love and service, you must value ignorance as much as knowledge and failure as much as success.”― Parker J. Palmer, On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old

Oct 12

Caterpillar Journey

“There is no greater journey than the one that you must take to discover all of the mysteries that lie within you.” – Michelle Sandlin

“Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.”― Meister Eckhart

In unknowing.
In mystery.
In seeking.
In trying.
In paying attention.
In observation.
In inquiry.
In exploration.
In one step followed by the next.
Begin again and again.
Unfolding and unfurling.
Delight, surprise, discovery.
Transformation under construction.
Caterpillar to butterfly journey.

“Paths are made by walking.”― Franz Kafka

Sep 1

1 Comment

Listen Closely

“Every flower blooms at a different pace.” – Suzy Kassem

“Why should I be unhappy? Every parcel of my being is in full bloom.” – Rumi

Expand, narrow.
Inhale, exhale.
Ebb, flow.
Expansion, contraction.
Rhythm, flow.
Ever blooming, slowly, suddenly, on time.
Seasons, cycles, circles.
Seed, root, bloom.
Divergence, convergence, emergence.
The song of a blooming flower.
Listen closely.

“If I listen closely, I can feel and hear the song of a blooming flower.” – Debasish Mridha

Aug 24

Blushed with Beginning

“A life of ease is a difficult pursuit.” – William Cowper

“This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.”
― John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

Good soil.
Scatter seeds.
Till.
Nurture.
Wait.
Lie low to be slow.
Tilling the soil too much does not allow the seeds to take root.
Let them be.
Time and timing.
Beginnings, middles, ends.
The blush of fresh beginnings just beneath the surface.
Rooting to bloom.

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