For The Children

I loved this adage until I thought about it some more.

"Stay together...learn the flowers...go light."

Going light feels wrong for these times...

especially when "staying together" means

ALL of us...no matter our skin color.

White supremacy does not move lightly...

it's heavy footed and cruel...

Yes, learn the flowers. Yes, stay together; and

yes to going light if light means shining it on

dark corners where injustice is occurring 

and people are NOT staying together.

 

Illusion's House

Though not easy to read, this seems especially pertinent

and worthwhile to be reminded of in these times.

" It is the ending of a story that was never true."

I've been doing a lot of pondering on truth these days...

truth about what I'm hearing in the news and social media...

truth in what is written in history books...

truth in what is displayed on monuments.

It's been sobering to realize what I learned

growing up was incomplete and/or distorted.  

I'm concerned about how future generations 

will be told about these times we're living through.

I'd like to believe it is the end of a story that was never true...

and that what endures will be the honest truth 

and not a white-washed version.  

 

Patriot of Place

This had me at the first sentence.

"I pledge allegiance to this river at my feet,

and to the tributaries from which it flows,

one watershed under the sky."

". . .every citizen tree in my republic."

". . .every creature seen or unseen."

". . .the stones...the bones...earth underfoot"

". . .together declare our sovreign residence."

". . .and by water's revolutions find tranquility."

And every one coming after it.

Wouldn't it be marvelous if this were 

the pledge made and lived up to by the entire world?

Why not???

Rivers, trees, creatures, stones, bones,  earth underfoot...

they're showing us the way.

May we listen and follow no matter the cost.

 

The Cure For It All

"Go gently, don't hurry or think about the next thing."

This is something to whisper to yourself often.  

It may sound simple but in a world of plans, calendars,

and activities with others, it's no small feat.

"Walk with the quiet trees."

I think of the countless times I walk among them,

and miss their magnificence. 

Yet, they stand present to me whether I notice or not.

"Forgive yourself for not meeting your unreasonable expectations."

And forgive yourself for having these unreasonable expectations.

"Allow the river of it all to pulse through eyelashes...

fingertips...bare toes."

These are all smart suggestions although, 

in my world, some things do need to be different.

It's a conundrum I cannot escape. 

It's reminders like these that provide balance

and sanity amidst the turmoil.  

It's reminders like these that will lead

to a better world for all inhabitants.

 

Instead of Lamenting

How does it feel to shift your thinking from aging to transformation? 

I feel like it's going to take some getting used to.

When I notice the incredible diversity and exquisite, raw beauty 

of decaying logs and stumps, it becomes somewhat easier...

especially when there is new life growing from decaying wood.

Aging calls for its own kind of grace.

A seesaw between accepting the creaks and groans and relinquishing to them;

and refusing to let them rule your days...moving anyway, staying young hearted.

Not giving in to the age old (no pun intended) story

that we diminish as we age.  Rather, making our story 

one of transformation into something vibrant, fertile and lively.

 

 

I Hope You Make The Time

 Let the "soft wind knock you over and destroy

all the partts of you that you never really needed anyway."

Considering the parts of me I never really needed anyway

is a fertile place for contemplation.

I don't know about you but my focus is getting things right,

doing the best I can, lamenting my forgetfulness, and wishing my body

would cooperate with all the physical things that need doing...

not to mention practicing the inner qualities I desire, 

such as patience, kindness, generosity, and good will toward all.

I dare say, the longer the length of your stay on earth

the more likely circumstances knock you over and destroy parts

you may not need, making this message pertinent and comforting.

"It's okay to not be strong sometimes."

May we give ourselves and each other the grace

to release the requirement to 

cover every base and scale every mountain...

to ugly weep in public without embarrassment...

to express sorrow without being labeled "debbie downer"...

to rage at injustice...

to laugh when things are somber...

to be flawed to perfection.

PS: I struggled with adding, to respect those who disagree with us...

I  wrote it several different ways and erased it each time.

I don't have the strength in this moment to say it with conviction.

This makes me sad from the inside out.

That being said, I still think its something worth pursuing...

even if it means scaling a very steep mountain to get there.

After Grief

 "having sensed the barest hint of sun still buried

like a bulb beneath the horizon, and decided

that's all the proof it needs to say its own

small yes to life in this new season."

This...these words describe how it 

feels to be alive in this vast universe...

yes, minuscule as we may feel,

we can sense the barest hint of sun

and murmur our own small yes to life...

Each one of us is doing this in our own unique manner.

Eeking our way through our days with

everything in us as fuel toward the sun of goodness...

We know who we are and who we wish to become.

We will not be deterred from our goal.

We're in this together.

We are not alone.

Like the crocus,

in our reach toward the sun...

we find ourselves in a field of blooming.