Always Remember

"Just the way you are is undeniably beautiful."

In this often cynical world, we must gather and hold this thought close.

Carry it with us everywhere...wear it like we wear our skin.

This seems like a fitting quote to take into the long weekend.

Namaste'

 

Somewhere, Something Beautiful

"Maybe its inside you, in the empty rooms 

you thought you'd given up on, growing anyway."

This line chokes me up.  I've given up on too many things to count.

Because I'm one of those people who wants to try everything.

"The things we're waiting for aren't always far away,

sometimes they're already close, just behind a door 

we haven't had the courage to open yet."

This is how I'm feeling about art making.  

My heart fills with gratitude for the opportunity

to stick with something despite the voices in my head

telling me I'm wasting my time...

to stumble and thrash around and be ok with it.

To make mistakes and let them show me

something different than what I expected.

To get messy, to be stuck, to not know what I'm doing

or where I'm going...and trust what is inside 

rising to the surface.

To shush the critics and ignore the commentary.

"The more gently we meet who we are now,

the more clearly we begin to see what's possible."

For me, this means pausing my automatic judgments,

and unconscious assumptions.

To take a moment; to step back and give space...

to allow room (and time) for curiosity, opposing thoughts

and ungraceful beginnings.  

To recognize that things may not be as they 

appear on the surface from my limited point of view.

Forgiving myself becomes large in this unfolding.

Sometimes I think this is the hardest work of all.

May we all be gentle with who we are now.

Namaste'

 

Live

"It's at the center of your palm, waiting to be [touched]."

(I will confess, I sometimes grow weary of people

offering poetic advice on how to live life.)

That being said, I'm now contemplating the center of my palm.

I reread the line and it says "clutched" not touched!

Hmmmmm.

Frankly, I like the thought of  touching over clutching.

"beginnings start with darkness, not light."

What will we begin today...what is starting in your darkness?

I'm envisioning becoming more cheerful, optimistic, and joyful.

Let her take center stage in my current of life.

Grumpy Gertrude needs to take her last curtain call;

so does Terrified Tina and Dour Doris.

Gaiety is the best way to resist.

Note to self: Tattoo this on my wrist.

Now I will end this as I

commence "creating my own bright morning".

Namaste'

 

 

What If

This is an alternate view of death, isn't it?

Not that any of us want to rush it but, rather,

when it inevitably approaches, or unexpectedly appears

to welcome it without fear?  To see it with different eyes.

One of the most comforting things I've heard recently was

that dying doesn't mean you go away, it means you are now everywhere.

This does not take away the pain of losing cherished beings.

Instead, it gives us another way to see things...something beautiful,

mysterious, and eternal to help us through 

the heartbreak and loneliness of loss.

Namaste'

 

Quiet Friend

"And as you ring, what batters you becomes your strength."

We are being battered, aren't we?  

It's a reassuring thought to have it becoming our strength, isn't it?

Feeling the "intensity of the pain" is the hard part. 

It's possible to distract, keep it at a distance, go numb.

There is a grief of powerlessness I find myself consumed with;

forgetting that is how cruelty and greed survive.

"If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine."

Oh, take a knee for the grace to turn into wine!

To ferment, to ripen, to bloom, to mellow...

to evolve.

We are the seething liquid of the chrysalis...

we are becoming something of tremendous beauty;

delicate, daring, and indomitable...

the apparent fragility of the spider web

with bullet-proof capabilities, 

and the resilience to repair and reweave the web

time after time after time.

"be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses."

Is this crossroads where we find ourselves swaying in and out?

Learning how to transform and transcend the failings and the faults...

beyond the layers of subterfuge, treachery and deceit, 

into a metamorphosis rooted in truth and equality, 

with decency and dignity for all?

May it be so.

Namaste'

 

I Go In And Out

I'm leaning into the ability to sway these days.

It's deeply heartbreaking to witness things as they are.

Many, many, many of us are doing everything

we can to RESIST. 

It feels like an ancient battle that apparently 

has to be waged over and over again.

Those who believe some are better 

while others believe all are equal.

Taking a deep, deep breath.  

Concentrating on my "pulse of survival".

Absorbing the peace of the forest and nature.

Feeling extremely grateful for your presence

in my world of hope for dignity and decency.

Soft rebellion may not be loud but it is mighty.

Goodness matters...it exists everywhere...

sway into it as often as you can. 

Namaste'

 

I Carve My Name

 My immediate reaction reading this for the first time was to cringe in horror

 at the thought of carving anything into a piano bench.

Then I read the rest of the quote and my perspective shifted.

"Cold perfectionism" has got to go.  

Yesterday, as I was gluing layers together, 

the paper didn't cooperate and I ended up with some wrinkles.

"Cold perfectionism" was right there with her scorn.

It was one of those moments when I had to call on all the learning

and all the letting go of the learning to allow the wrinkles to become part of the art.

I love the idea of "showing up soft and loud in spaces of quiet hardness".

I confess, I am the perpetrator of those spaces of "quiet hardness" most of the time.

I'm not big on loud. but I am all in with softness.

Namaste'