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Posts tagged ‘joy’

Feb 20

Beams of Love

“And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love.”― William Blake

“You can either practice being right or practice being kind.”― Anne Lamott

Kindness. Generosity. Hope. Joy. Laughter. Enthusiasm. Grace.
May these be the path I choose.
Daily.
To dare to bear the beams of love.
To be a beam.
Cast light.

“Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.”― Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Feb 19

Quiet State of Wonder

“The world will never starve for want of wonders, but for want of wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton

a blessing for when you want to wake up to joy by Kate Bowler

“Blessed are you for feeling the pull,
that tug back toward a part of yourself
so easily ignored.
Yourself at ease.
Yourself in the flow.
Yourself at play.

Pain or boredom or business has sucked up all the energy.
But wait. Aren’t you more than a crisis firefighter?

Blessed are you when you relax.
When you feel young again
When you LAY THE STRESS DOWN.

Blessed are you when you remember
That you used to be pretty good at guitar
Or piano, or actually you’re a terrible singer but, wait for it, you’re going to bring out the showtunes.

Blessed are you who put the words FUN in the calendar
Even when you have no idea what you might actually do.

You are more than a list of things to do, people to love, problems to survive.

You are a big, loud laugh. Or a quiet, study of wonder.
Extroverted or introverted.
Splashy or contained.
May the joy of fun be poured back in your roots,
And may you watch yourself come back to life.”

If but for a moment, maybe 20.
Put it all down.
Time out.
Take a walk.
Have fun.
Quiet study of wonder.
Joy poured back into your roots work.
Nature, kids, dogs, playground, music, poetry, laughter, dance.
In reach, conduits to delight.
Being not doing.
Allowing not pursuing.
Brought back to life.

Feb 17

Crammed with Heaven

“Earth’s crammed with heaven…
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

“O Life,
How oft we throw it off and think, — ‘Enough,
Enough of life in so much! — here’s a cause
For rupture; — herein we must break with Life,
Or be ourselves unworthy; here we are wronged,
Maimed, spoiled for aspiration: farewell Life!’
— And so, as froward babes, we hide our eyes
And think all ended. — Then, Life calls to us
In some transformed, apocryphal, new voice,
Above us, or below us, or around . .
Perhaps we name it Nature’s voice, or Love’s,
Tricking ourselves, because we are more ashamed
To own our compensations than our griefs:
Still, Life’s voice! — still, we make our peace with Life.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh and Other Poems

Make room, create margin, yield to…
Joy
Beauty
Poetry
Music
Movement
Gratitude
Grace
Light
Astonishment
Awe
Wonder
It’s there
In seemingly small things, places, people
Right in the mess
In the striving
Not to diminish or deny struggles
But to be a companion and friend
Anchor and foundation
Someday when…
False horizon
Find goodness in this day, crammed with heaven
In cracks and crevices
On the ground you stand
Life’s voice calling, heed.

“Light tomorrow with today.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Feb 15

With Elation

“Good science and good art are always about a condition of awe . . . I don’t think there is any other function for the poet or the scientist in the human tribe but the astonishment of the soul.”― Derek Walcott

“The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.”― Derek Walcott

The work of rest, reflection, pause
To sit
To not tend to anything but the moment
To slow
To anchor in presence
To put down doing
To embrace being
With kindness, joy, astonishment, laughter, gratitude, anticipation.
Feast on this day, the place where life is unfolding.
Greet with elation.

“I should like to keep these simple joys inviolate, not because they are innocent, but because they are true”― Derek Walcott, The Antilles

Feb 12

Spell Against Stagnation

“May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden you.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams.” – John O’Donohue

“To begin anything — a new practice, a new project, a new love — is to cast upon yourself a spell against stagnation. Beginnings are notation for the symphony of the possible in us. They ask us to break the pattern of our lives and reconfigure it afresh — something that can only be done with great courage and great tenderness, for no territory of life exposes both our power and our vulnerability more brightly than a beginning.” – Maria Popova

New beginnings.
Small and big.
In between.
A step at a time.
Momentum and fidelity.
To not succumb to bland absences and stagnation.
Leap, jump, dance.
Pour some color on this day.
Cast light.

“Sometimes the greatest challenge is to actually begin; there is something deep in us that conspires with what wants to remain within safe boundaries and stay the same… Sometimes a period of preparation is necessary, where the idea of the beginning can gestate and refine itself; yet quite often we unnecessarily postpone and equivocate when we should simply take the risk and leap into a new beginning.” – John O’Donohue

Feb 8

Planting Peace

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

“There is peace even in the storm.”— Vincent van Gogh

Drops to waves
Seeds to bloom
Calm to peace
Kindness, generosity, encouragement, a smile
Transform the world
One small act at a time
Compound interest
Cast light.

“Calming, Smiling. Present moment, Wonderful moment”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace

Feb 4

Opened to Air, Carrying Love

“Likewise, every disturbance, whether resolved or not, is making space for an inner engagement. As a shovel digs up and displaces earth, in a way that must seem violent to the earth, an interior space is revealed for the digging. In just this way, when experience opens us, it often feels violent and the urge, quite naturally, is to refill that opening, to make it the way it was. But every experience excavates a depth, which reveals its wisdom once opened to air.”― Mark Nepo, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What Is Sacred

“Hope is the hardest love we carry.”― Jane Hirshfield, The Lives of the Heart

Beneath the surface
Above the noise
Beyond the chaos
Quiet and calm
Soft whisper
Invitation
Pause, abide, engage
Breaking ground
Open to air
Carrying hope, light, love.

“I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.”― Thomas Paine

Feb 3

In Such a Moment

“When your world moves too fast
and you lose yourself in the chaos
introduce yourself to each color of the sunset,
reacquaint yourself with the earth beneath your feet,
thank the air that surrounds you
with every breath you take
find yourself in the appreciation of life.”– Christy Ann Martine

“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read – in such a moment, anything can happen.”― Jane Hirshfield, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry

Abiding in gratitude
Perfection not required
Steeping in grace
Unearned and generous
Dancing with joy
In the middle of winter
Waiting with anticipation
Spring in the making

“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read – in such a moment, anything can happen.”― Jane Hirshfield, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry

Feb 2

Ask, Listen, Pay Attention

“Zen pretty much comes down to three things — everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.”― Jane Hirshfield

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” – Zora Neale Hurston

Living the answers with grace and gratitude
Allowing more questions without knowing the answers
In thin spaces, quiet places, gentle throughways
Releasing the grip of control and knowing
Inviting and allowing
Sacred, holy ground of
Curiosity, inquiry, nuance, noticing, imagination, connection, laughter, gratitude, joy
Rooted in trust, fidelity, love
Different seasons
Each with its own gifts to bear
Opening the gifts
Of presence, awe, wonder, planting, abiding, slowing, savoring
No rushing to get to the other side, in a hurry or to be first
Alignment, attunement, rooting, rising
The work of eternal blooming.

“The most sublime act is to set another before you.”― William Blake, Proverbs of Hell

Feb 1

2 Comments

Fresh Coat, New Day

“He who kisses joy as it flies by will live in eternity’s sunrise.”― William Blake

APACHE Blessing

“May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries,
May the breeze blow new strength into your being,
May you walk gently through the world and know its beauty all the days of your life.

Scratch the surface of her joy,
And you will find a well of sorrow.
Dive into the well,
And discover her spring of hope.
Follow that spring to the river of her strength,
Compassion, and faith . . .
And you will have touched her soul.” – Terri St Cloud

Fresh coat of snow this morning
Brightening and refreshing the landscape
New day, new month, new start
Brilliant white, bold colors
Wakeup call
Invitation to seeing the same in different ways
Beneath the surface
Into a wellspring
Make space for joy today.

“And we are put on this earth a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love.”― William Blake

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