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Posts tagged ‘joy’

May 22

Riches of Wonder

“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 17

Sow Love, Bloom Peace

“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

May 15

Three-Ball Day

“Dogs have the power to transform our lives, nurturing trust, ease, and new perspectives. They invite us to reconsider our ways of living and connecting with the world, offering a respite from the complexities of human social life.”― Erik Pevernagie

“Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun.” — Randy Pausch

Recess. Play. Fun.
Space. Margin. Blank Canvas.
Daily practice, commitment.
Power of frolic, ease, joy.
Lightness of spirit.
Make it a three-ball day.

“Being content is perhaps no less easy than playing the violin well: and requires no less practice.”― Alain de Botton

May 13

Altars Blooming

“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

May 12

Unhurried, Joy Resides

“His decision to live small made him larger than life.”― Allen Levi, Theo of Golden

“Joy is unhurried.”― Cleo Wade, Remember Love: Words for Tender Times

Space and margin
Deep breath, in and out, repeat
Rest to restoration
Slow to delight
In moments, density
Open the gifts scattered generously through this day
Joy, unhurried, overflowing, abundant
Still small voice, listen
Small things, large life.

“The only way we can make the most of our lives is to make the most of our moments. Today, wherever you are, decide to stay. We can know the gifts that lie in the present only if we stay in it long enough to receive them.”― Cleo Wade, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life

May 8

Found World

“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

May 7

Microscope, Telescope, Kaleidoscope

“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

May 4

Dancing with Daffodils

“I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” – William Wordsworth

May

May, and among the miles of leafing,
blossoms storm out of the darkness—
windflowers and moccasin flowers. The bees
dive into them and I too, to gather
their spiritual honey. Mute and meek, yet theirs
is the deepest certainty that this existence too—
this sense of well-being, the flourishing
of the physical body—rides
near the hub of the miracle that everything
is a part of, is as good
as a poem or a prayer, can also make
luminous any dark place on earth. – Mary Oliver

Vibrancy
Light
Unfolding and unfurling
Rhythm of spring
Unfolding and unfurling
Breathing in flowers
Pay attention
Enter the delight and bloom bursting
Dance with daffodils, spiritual honey.
Nectar of awe, wonder, grace, gratitude.

“Keep everything open and live from openness to openness.”― Francis Lucille, The Perfume of Silence

May 3

What a Ride!

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body. The goal is to skid in broadside; tires smoking, body all dented, leaking fluids, and your fuel gauge on empty; thoroughly used up and worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Holy shit, what a ride!”― Steve Leder, The Beauty of What Remains: How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift

“the single most important thing in life is showing up.”― Steve Leder, More Beautiful Than Before: How Suffering Transforms Us

Show up.
To this day.
To others.
To self.
To the world beneath your feet.
Holy, sacred ground.
Of today, presence in it, full participation.
Give and receive.
Embrace and let go.
Wonder and believe.
Imagine and delight.
Imperfect, messy, detours and delays.
All of it.
This is it.
What a ride.
Do your part to make it an amazing one.
One beautiful day at a time.

“And this is it. This is the life we get here on earth. We get to give away what we receive. We get to believe in each other. We get to forgive and be forgiven. We get to love imperfectly. And we never know what effect it will have for years to come. And all of  it…all of  it is completely worth it.”― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People

May 2

Till Soil, Root in Love

“I am in love with this world… I have tilled its soil, I have gathered its harvest, I have waited upon its seasons, and always have I reaped what I have sown. I have climbed its mountains, roamed its forests, sailed its waters, crossed its deserts, felt the sting of its frosts, the oppression of its heats, the drench of its rains, the fury of its winds, and always have beauty and joy waited upon my goings and comings.”― John Burroughs, The Summit of the Years

“Love is a great thing, yea, a great and thorough good.
By itself it makes that which is heavy light;
and it bears evenly all that is uneven.
It carries a burden which is no burden;
it will not be kept back by anything low and mean;
It desires to be free from all wordly affections,
and not to be entangled by any outward prosperity,
or by any adversity subdued.
Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble,
attempts what is above its strength,
pleads no excuse of impossibility.
It is therefore able to undertake all things,
and it completes many things and warrants them to take effect,
where he who does not love would faint and lie down.
Though weary, it is not tired;
though pressed it is not straightened;
though alarmed, it is not confounded;
but as a living flame it forces itself upwards and securely passes through all.
Love is active and sincere, courageous, patient, faithful, prudent, and manly.”
― Thomas A Kempis

Love
Not the fluffy, surface, fleeting kind
Thoughts, words, actions
Weary yet not tired
Pressed yet not straightened
Alarmed yet not confounded
Gritty, tough, resilient
On the ground beneath your feet
Till soil
Root in love
Gather the harvest
Peace, kindness, love
Cast light.

“The lesson which life constantly repeats is to ‘look under your feet.’
You are always nearer to the divine and the true sources of your power than you think.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
Do not despise your own place and hour.
Every place is under the stars.
Every place is the center of the world.”― John Burroughs, Studies in Nature and Literature

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