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Posts tagged ‘growth’

Apr 19

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In the Layers

“When you look back on a lifetime and think of what has been given to the world by your presence, your fugitive presence, inevitably you think of your art, whatever it may be, as the gift you have made to the world in acknowledgment of the gift you have been given, which is the life itself… That work is not an expression of the desire for praise or recognition, or prizes, but the deepest manifestation of your gratitude for the gift of life.”― Stanley Kunitz

The Layers by Stanley Kunitz, The Collected Poems

“I have walked through many lives,
some of them my own,
and I am not who I was,
though some principle of being
abides, from which I struggle
not to stray.
When I look behind,
as I am compelled to look
before I can gather strength
to proceed on my journey,
I see the milestones dwindling
toward the horizon
and the slow fires trailing
from the abandoned camp-sites,
over which scavenger angels
wheel on heavy wings.
Oh, I have made myself a tribe
out of my true affections,
and my tribe is scattered!
How shall the heart be reconciled
to its feast of losses?
In a rising wind
the manic dust of my friends,
those who fell along the way,
bitterly stings my face.
Yet I turn, I turn,
exulting somewhat,
with my will intact to go
wherever I need to go,
and every stone on the road
precious to me.
In my darkest night,
when the moon was covered
and I roamed through wreckage,
a nimbus-clouded voice
directed me:
“Live in the layers,
not on the litter.”
Though I lack the art
to decipher it,
no doubt the next chapter
in my book of transformations
is already written.
I am not done with my changes.”

Word spilling to the next.
Sentence by sentence.
Day to day.
Writing life in ordinary days, the story unfolds.
Not done.
Transformation in drips to waves.
Keep writing your story.
Fresh eyes, open heart, beautiful soul.
Live the layers.

Apr 10

Wing Building

“If you are falling….dive.”― Joseph Campbell

“I take pleasure in my transformations. I look quiet and consistent, but few know how many women there are in me.”― Anais Nin

To be never done.
Yet content.
Unfolding.
Unfurling.
Waiting.
Slow then sudden.
Tipping points.
Becoming.
Thresholds and transitions.
Masterpieces in the making, never finished.
Trust the still small voice.
Doing the next right thing.
The stuff of transformation.
Of wing building.

“When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty, but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she always had been. But she had wings.”― Dean Jackson

Nov 21

Still More to Learn and Apply

“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”― Albert Einstein

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”― Maya Angelou

May we never be done learning. Ever.
Learning new things, not the same lesson over and over.
Unlearning old things.
Seeing the same in a different way.
Changing, unfolding, opening.
Curious, attentive, enthusiastic.
Make a life.
It’s all happening right now in the midst of this day.
Not in the past.
Not “someday when” circumstances change.
Change is our work.
The outcome is growth.
Learn and love well today.
The dance of transformation.

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”― Alan Wilson Watts

Oct 23

Beginner Mindset

“The less theorizing you do about God, the more receptive you are to His inpouring.”― Meister Eckhart

“Write what you know. That should leave you with a lot of free time.”― Howard Nemerov

Keep asking questions.
Learning.
Unlearning.
Relearning.
Exploring.
Questioning assumptions.
Asking and then listening.
Asking again.
For answers that are not easy.
Some that never come, remain a mystery.
Not as simple as we make them for our own comfort and rightness.
Too big for the small boxes we put ourselves, others, the world, and God into.
Complex.
Overflowing.
Vibrant.
Rich with texture and nuance.
The less we know for sure, the more we open up to deepening, expanding and growing.
Permeable.
Teachable.
A beginner, fresh with enthusiasm, curiosity and zeal.
The delight of discovery.
Of seeing the same differently.
Know less so you can wisdom more.
Reborn anew each day.

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

Sep 27

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Grow, Grow

“According to the Talmud, every blade of grass has its own angel bending over it, whispering, “Grow, grow.”― Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

“We forget that every good that is worth possessing must be paid for in strokes of daily effort. We postpone and postpone until those smiling possibilities are dead… By neglecting the necessary concrete labor, by sparing ourselves the little daily tax, we are positively digging the graves of our higher possibilities.”― William James

Daily efforts.
Strokes on a blank canvas.
Rituals.
Practices.
Chopping wood.
Stacking wood.
Doing the dishes.
Repetition to mastery.
Progress in steps married with time.
Finding beauty along the way.
Precisely where it resides, in ordinary days.
Overflowing, in abundance and not complicated.
Before us awaiting for our senses to ignite and notice.
Change. Learn. Transform.
Plant. Nurture. Bloom.
An angel whispering, grow, grow!

“Everyone wants a revolution. No one wants to do the dishes.”― Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

Today marks 1000 posts in a row on Cast Light. A decision I made to post every day, to publish imperfectly, to commit to practice, to the gift of ritual. Thank you to those who take the time to read this, who hopefully find encouragement, commonality, community and some beams of light. May we all continue to grow and cast light.

Aug 25

The Stuff of Butterflies

“How does one become a butterfly? They have to want to learn to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

“‎”Tell me, sir, what is a butterfly?”

“It’s what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another. Without butterflies, the world would soon have few flowers.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

In the cocoon, on the threshold, butterfly in flight.
The stages of becoming, unfolding, refolding.
From start to finish.
Starts, stops, detours.
No shortcuts.
Do the work.
Let the work be done in you.
Be present where you are, knowing change is certain.
About the only thing that is certain, along with grace and love.
Stuff to make cocoons and butterflies.
Start and keep spinning your own.
On the right track, even if feelings haven’t caught up.
Stick with it.
Be willing to give up being a caterpillar.
The beautiful stuff of butterflies.

“Yellow decided to risk for a butterfly.

For courage she hung right beside the other cocoon and began to spin her own.

‘Imagine, I didn’t even know I could do this. That’s some encouragement that i’mon the right track. If I have the stuff inside me to make cocoons—maybe the stuff of butterflies is there too.”― Trina Paulus, Hope for the Flowers

Aug 10

Flowers Bloom, When Ready

“Regardless of when the flower blooms, the flower blooms… and completes its cycle. Enjoy every inch of your ride when you begin.”― Adaora O., Waves Aligning

“So called ‘late-bloomers’ get a bad rap. Sometimes the people with the greatest potential often take the longest to find their path because their sensitivity is a double edged sword- it lives at the heart of their brilliance, but it also makes them more susceptible to life’s pains. Good thing we aren’t being penalized for handing in our purpose late. The soul doesn’t know a thing about deadlines.”― Jeff Brown, Love It Forward

Bloom, whether May or August.
Do not be concerned whether early or late.
Just bloom.
Yearning, the whisper of the call.
The ache of stasis.
Change, transformation, blooming.
This is the journey and circle of life.
Do not settle.
Keep growing.
Soul work.
Keep blooming.

“The most beautiful thing is that despite the shallow life we sometimes succumb to – the soul has no timeline and it knows what it wants and will yearn within until it seeks the journey.”― Malebo Sephodi

Jul 25

Aperture

“You are an aperture through which the universe is looking at and exploring itself.” – Alan Watts

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts

Wide lens to microscope.
Details to whole.
In and out.
Focus then blur.
Clarity and questioning.
In the waiting, the middle.
Slow then fast, mostly slow.
Bud to bloom.
Cocoon to butterfly.
Plunge into the waiting and the change it births.
In due time.
Join the dance.
Invite joy into the chaos and boredom.
Relax and float.
No place to be but here.
Being finished in moments, slivers and slices.
The gift of grace, growth, transformation.

“To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” – Alan Watts

Jul 23

Disturb the Universe

“We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.”
― T. S. Eliot, Four Quartet

“Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”― T.S. Eliot

Bridges crossed.
Bridges bypassed.
Transition to transformation.
Waiting in between.
Exploration and avoidance.
Lost and found.
Floundering and flourishing.
Slow yet still moving.
Disturb the universe.
In a minute.
In a change of heart and mind.
In an instance.
See the same differently.
Invite new, embrace change.
The visible and invisible light.
Before, around and within

“Light
Light
The visible reminder of Invisible Light.”― T.S. Eliot

Jul 21

Sacred Intent

“The imagination should be allowed a certain amount of time to browse around.”― Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions

“That’s the sacred intent of life, of God–to move us continuously toward growth, toward recovering all that is lost and orphaned within us and restoring the divine image imprinted on our soul.”― Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions

The path often unclear.
Revealed in the taking of steps.
Into the fog, the brush, the unknowing.
Going off path to wander.
Into the wilderness to find clarity.
Waiting and moving, the dance.
Sacred ground.
Browse, linger, look, listen.

“O God, is there anything you’ve made that can’t pour life and healing into me? When I think of the simplicity and extravagance of creation, I want to bend down and write the word yes across the earth so that you can see it.”― Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions

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