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Posts tagged ‘Home’

Jul 10

Roots and Sky

“Maybe it’s impossible
for poets to hide
the abundance of moons inside
when their heart is carved
from the clouds of a sunrise.”― Carolyn Riker, My Dear, Love Hasn’t Forgotten You

“As humans, we roam the entire world. We even venture beyond it not space. The whole planet is ours, but the whole planet is not our home. Instead, home is the ground we measure with our own two feet. And home is the place that measures us. Home is the place that names us and the place we, in turn, name. It feeds us, body and soul, and if we are living well, we feed it too. Home is the place we cultivate with our love.”― Christie Purifoy, Roots and Sky: A Journey Home in Four Seasons

Beneath your feet.
Where you stand now.
In this very moment.
Life resides.
Awaiting your full participation and rapt attention.
Not in some far off land.
Not yesterday or tomorrow.
Today in this present moment.
If we can’t recognize it here, we certainly won’t recognize it in the fictional land of “someday when.”
You are home.
Let yourself in.
May you cultivate love, joy, delight this day.
Roots and sky.
Welcome home.

“To be loved and to love, takes courage. To be fully seen is incredibly rare and breathtaking. We lower our masks and see a celestial inner being. It is our full self — the supernova as well as the black holes. Our fears and doubts. Our anger and joy…This is love.”― Carolyn Riker, Blue Clouds: A Collection of Soul’s Creative Intelligence

Mar 13

Home Going

“There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy, Wizard of Oz

“I pray that you will have the blessing of being consoled… May you know in your soul that there is no need to be afraid. When your time comes, may you be given every blessing and shelter that you need. May there be a beautiful welcome for you in the home that you are going to.” – Irish Blessing

Home starts as structure.
Wood, windows, roof, yard.
We soon realize that home is the heart and the people who reside there, both present and gone.
Mom goes home tomorrow and Wednesday.
She’s already there waiting for us to say our hellos and goodbyes.
Welcome home Mom.

“Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away to the next room.
I am I and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other, That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used.
Put no difference into your tone.
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes, we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effect.
Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same that it ever was.
There is absolute unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you.
For an interval.
Somewhere. Very near.
Just around the corner.
All is well.

Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before only better, infinitely happier and forever we will all be one together with Christ.” – Irish prayer for the departed

“Where thou art, that is home.” – Emily Dickinson

Nov 13

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Seeds and Roots

“Nourish beginnings, let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blest, but the seeds of all things are blest. The blessing is in the seed.” – Muriel Rukeyser

A beautiful Sunday drive brought Mom and me through the “old” neighborhood. First past her home on Sixth Street, then to Dad’s house on Earl Street where his parents landed after they immigrated from Poland. We finished the “tour” by the still white house on Ivy where they came together to raise our family. All three are within a few miles or so of each other. Families back then didn’t land too far from home. It was both familiar and distant.

“We come to beginnings only at the end.” – William Throsby Bridges

“We come to beginnings only at the end.” – William Throsby Bridges

Many good memories with neighbors who remain friends still. Beginnings anchored in hard work, struggle, laughter and faith. By today’s standards, the houses are small and yet somehow we made it through with one bathroom, sharing a room with my sister and a small kitchen with no dishwasher. Those were the days with alleys where the neighborhood kids gathered to play boot hockey, ride bike and make forts from piles of snow.

“The journey is my home.” – Muriel Rukeyser

“The journey is my home.” – Muriel Rukeyser

Every now and then, we need to go back to our beginnings to see how far we have come as well as be reminded where we need to return to. Seeds and roots.

“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.” – William Gibson

“Time moves in one direction, memory in another.” – William Gibson

Feb 13

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Home Coming

“I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” – Maya Angelou

I come home to these smiling faces everyday, with the same level of excitement of going to a family reunion. Home is so much more than a building. It’s that undeniable feeling of comfort and acceptance that you have when you see family and friends (I include dogs in the family/friend category). I come home when I visit my parents, with family just hanging out. I come home when I see or talk with friends I haven’t seen in years, picking up the conversation and connection like it was 10 minutes ago. What a gift we can be if we become “home” for others.

She's home!