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Posts tagged ‘Seasons’

Oct 4

Noticing and Abiding

“A flower will always grow in the direction of the sun because beauty recognises beauty.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

Song for Autum by Mary Oliver

“Don’t you imagine the leaves dream now
how comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of the air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees, especially those with
mossy hollows, are beginning to look for

the birds that will come—six, a dozen—to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
stiffens and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its long blue shadows. The wind wags
its many tails. And in the evening
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.”

Take in beauty and light
Fill up, pour out
Overflowing
In each season
Abundance
In the noticing and abiding

“There is an abiding beauty which may be appreciated by those who will see things as they are and who will ask for no reward except to see.” – Vera Brittain

Oct 3

October Blooming

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!” ― Rainbow Rowell , Attachments

“October, baptize me with leaves! Swaddle me in corduroy and nurse me with split pea soup. October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins. O autumn! O teakettle! O grace!”
― Rainbow Rowell , Attachments

October
by Robert Frost

“O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.”

New month
Ushering in a new season
Summer lingers a bit longer
Soon to fall into fall
To begin again and again
Unfolding and unfurling
Mostly slow
Sometimes swift
Always blooming
Oh for eyes and heart to trust, wait, hope
For the gift of ordinary days
Extraordinary grace and joy
October blooming, planting seeds too.

“Real strength never impairs beauty or harmony, but it often bestows it, and in everything imposingly beautiful, strength has much to do with the magic.”― Melville Herman

Sep 5

Bloom in Harvest

“And the sun took a step back, the leaves lulled themselves to sleep and autumn was awakened.”― Raquel Franco

“Autumn that year painted the countryside in vivid shades of scarlet, saffron and russet, and the days were clear and crisp under harvest skies.”― Sharon Kay Penman, Time and Chance

Spring of autumn
Buds of scarlet, saffron, russet
Bloom in the harvest
Trees soon to be ablaze
Cool mornings
Crisp air
Take it in, fully
Awaken in each season
Gifts to open
Transition to transformation.

“…autumn, that season of peculiar and inexhaustible influence on the mind of taste and tenderness…”― Jane Austen, Persuasion

Aug 25

Summer and Fall Jubilee

“And the yellow sunflower by the brook, in autumn beauty stood.”― William Cullen Bryant

“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”― Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

First dance of many
Summer and fall waltz begins
Fall soon to take the lead
Cool mornings
Earlier sunsets
Flowers bright turning to jewel tones
Thresholds
A foot on each side
Cusp of transition, change
Transformation if we choose to forego resistance
The work of seasons
To remain in the season while in it
Finding the gifts in each

“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.”― Oscar Wilde

Aug 20

Summer’s Sunset

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

“Try to imagine what it will be like to go to sleep and never wake up… now try to imagine what it was like to wake up having never gone to sleep.”― Alan Watts

Last weeks of summer.
Soak them in with joy, not lament.
Each season has its gifts and purpose.
Participate and partake in each one with enthusiasm and delight.
Unlearn, plunge in, never going to sleep.
To awe, wonder and beauty woven into each day.
Don’t miss the show.

“A scholar tries to learn something everyday; a student of Buddhism tries to unlearn something daily.”― Alan Watts

Mar 31

4 Comments

Not Done Yet, Soon, Not Yet

“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.”― Mary Oliver

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.” — Mary Oliver

From 70s to 30s
The dance of winter to spring
A few more inches of snow yesterday slowly falling, clinging to trees
Spring hit the snooze button
Not quite ready to wake up yet
Wet and heavy snow
Lingering a bit longer
Soon turning to nurturing water
The ingredients of greening, budding, awakening

When we try to rush seasons
We miss the final steps of the journey
On to the next thing
The snow, a gentle reminder to let winter finish wintering
Spring is getting ready to take the lead, in due time not our time
Remain in the present in observing, asking, listening to final chords of the song of this season

To be where we are right now fully engaged and awake
Our daily work, our daily bread
Finish the sentence before moving to the next chapter
Pay attention, be astonished, singing when not prescribed
Transition to transformation work, not to be rushed.

“Instructions for living a life.
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.” – Mary Oliver

Feb 4

Plentitude of Color

“Now shall I walk or shall I ride?
‘Ride,’ Pleasure said;
‘Walk,’ Joy replied.”
― W.H. Davies

“Within the grip of winter, it is almost impossible to imagine the spring.
The gray perished landscape is shorn of color.
Only bleakness meets the eye; everything seems severe and edged.
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 bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.” – John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

Notes forming, taking shape to melody, spilling into symphony
Quiet to distant echoes of birds chorus
Bulbs shifting, preparing to bud
Chrysalis to butterfly
Beauty on every path
Walk softly, slowly with joyful intent
Colors asleep with imagination of brilliance to come
Winter well
Spring awaits our rested and renewed attention and awe
Symphony of renewal no longer reversible when seasons kiss.

“But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.”― George Eliot, Middlemarch

Dec 28

Firing Up the Landscape

“Prayer is a small fire lit to keep cold hands warm. Prayer is a practice that flourishes both with faith and doubt. Prayer is asking, and prayer is sitting. Prayer is the breath. Prayer is not an answer, always, because not all questions can be answered.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community

Red Bird by Mary Oliver

“Red bird came all winter
Firing up the landscape
As nothing else could.
Of course I love the sparrows,
Those dun-colored darlings,
So hungry and so many.
I am a God-fearing feeder of birds,
I know he has many children,
Not all of them bold in spirit.
Still, for whatever reason-
Perhaps because the winter is so long
And the sky so black-blue,
Or perhaps because the heart narrows
As often as it opens-
I am grateful
That red bird comes all winter
Firing up the landscape
As nothing else can do.”

On the way but not arrived
Space between ending and beginning
Hallway between rooms
In this quiet space between the end of the year and the beginning of the new
Holiday hurrying to winter slowing
Reflect and frame
Slow and discard
Plan and allow
Gratitude and grace
Color brighter on the backdrop of the season
Red birds pause
Firing up the landscape
Look around.

“The only place to begin is where I am, and whether by desire or disaster, I am here. My being here is not dependent on my recognition of the fact. I am here anyway. But it might help if I could learn to look around.”― Pádraig Ó Tuama, In the Shelter: Finding a Home in the World

Dec 21

Inflection Point

“I need rituals that encourage me to embrace what is repetitive, ancient, and quiet. But what I crave is novelty and stimulation.”― Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” – Gary Zukav

Longest day of darkness.
Tipping point.
The start of light returning slowly.
Wintering to prepare for spring.
Do not bypass, resist, reject the gift of winter.
To pause, to slow, to rest.
Depth of time.
Gravity of presence.
Seasons, cycles, circles.
Cocoon to butterfly.
Seed to bloom.
Sun rise, sun set.
Inflection point.
The word solstice comes from the Latin words sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).
Stand still, new life unfolding.

“Both the Winter and the Summer Solstices are expressions of love. They show us the opposition of light and dark, expansion and contraction, that characterize our experiences in the Earth school so that we can recognize our options as we move through our lives.” – Gary Zukav

Dec 2

Season of Light

“There is a quiet light that shines in every heart. It draws no attention to itself though it is always secretly there. It is what illuminates our minds to see beauty, our desire to seek possibility and our hearts to love life.” – John O’Donohue

“That luminous part of you that exists beyond personality–your soul, if you will–is as bright and shining as any that has ever been….Clear away everything that keeps you separate from this secret luminous place. Believe it exists, come to know it better, nurture it, share its fruits tirelessly.”― George Saunders

Luminous.
Light.
Energy.
Thin spaces.
Quiet, steady light within.
Shine.
Christmas unfolding slowly.
Enter the season of light.

“During Advent, we occupy our greatest longings.”– Ruth Haley Barton

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