Art Opens The World

 This quote is well timed for me.

I'm finding this to be true 

and ever so useful when my "ship"

 seems to list toward the doldrums.

I'm thinking it's important to

pay close attention to those things

that feel spacious and expansive.

AND, to pay attention to when you feel 

heavy and dull or 

overwhelmed and closed off.

Because it can sneak up on you.

I recently had to make a lengthy drive.

My usual is to listen to an audiobook

which is familiar and enjoyable.

This day, for some reason,

I opened up spotify; shuffled

my favorite songs and listened to music.

It was such as unexpected treat.

My spirits were lifted.

I'd become so acclimated to resisting

everything "out there" coming at me

too fast and furious and frightening;

I didn't realize how closed down 

I was until the music opened 

windows inside and let in some fresh air.

kastilwell

The Owl

This poem by Mary Oliver

is being shared in honor of an enchanting encounter

I had yesterday morning.

The basswood tree

With four trunks.

One for each direction

North, South, East, West

Or element

Fire, water, air, earth.

In a tiny cove

Forming a vignette-

a serene setting.

My turnaround point

For a three mile walk.

Today I snap a spontaneous shot

to record the vision

The creature appeared 

As if a dream

My breath caught in my throat

A Barred Owl alighted 

On the branch above me.

Wise eyes gazing down.

Awed eyes staring upward.

My body went still 

In wonder and appreciation,

expecting a swift departure.

Mesmerized, I stood transfixed

S/he was not disturbed

When I moved or when I spoke.

S/he even seemed to pose.

Adjusting positions

Seemingly in a mirror

Of my slow movements.

So much so I began to speak

S/he responded in silence.

Finally, I had to go.

A neighbor waiting.

Yet s/he remained

Wise eyes gazing.

I left her there

On my favorite basswood.

In the quiet cove

Now forever marked.

With a presence

And an absence.

 

kastilwell

To Speak To Trees

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/catherine-barnett

This Epistemology piece introduced me to

 inosculate and osculare...

While I don't know much about tying knots,

I do feel familiar with knots in my stomach

and knots in my knitting projects.

I certainly never associated them with 

roots of words, but I like it.

Mostly I love the language of trees.

"They don't use words but they can be said to love."

"To unite by opening"

what a beautiful concept.

kastilwell

Age Is Beauty

 Let this be the beginning of a revolt

against the shallow minded idea 

of who and what is beautiful in our society.

Let this be a revolt against plastic dolls

and plastic looking people.

May we all admire and appreciate the 

intricate beauty of 

maps and stories

written in wrinkles 

on the faces we encounter.

kastilwell

Uncultivate

Isn't this a great description 

of being yourself?

"letting the elastic powers of breath

fill and saturate your lungs

with nothing--

and with everything--

of communing with that within us

and around us 

and us ourselves."

The elastic power of breath...love this!

Happy Friday!  Enjoy communing!

kastilwell

 

A choice

This thought joins the others from Daniel Griffith

that speak to giant change.

Shifting from controlling and dominating

to collaborating and relationship.

From objectifying to engaging with our environment.

I'm thinking this might be easier 

with the land and plants and animals

than with other humans?

It seems like a worthwhile endeavor.

kastilwell

What Relationships Require

This makes for a deeply thoughtful metaphor.

Listening for "the hope they have stored

deep within their ageless marrow" applies

not only to landscapes but to people.

My first instinct was to think in terms of

soul or spirit.  However,

in purely physical terms,

our ageless marrow is actually

the dust of the earth, isn't it?

Its the part of us that transforms

 to join the world around us

as our body decomposes.

It's ironic to me that all those years

of being taught I was "nothing more" than

the dust of the earth, 

with ashes on my forehead to remind me,

was really telling me how astonishing

I am to be returning to this amazing earth.

And, I don't have to wait until I die.

The act of breathing makes my cells

part of the world around me.

So that's where the healing of relationships begins?

Below the upper layers where the conditioning

of human factors galore have made their deep marks upon us,

to that place deep inside us

where the light gets in?

kastilwell

We Are Newcomers

Relationships are easy to fix?

Please say more!

I want to hear how to fix 

broken relationships because 

it seems there are so many.

This is one thought I sincerely

want to take in

and allow to root and grow strong.

"Relationships are easy to fix."

May my neural pathways adjust accordingly!

 (This is the beginning of a series of thoughts.)

PS: If you're receiving these thoughts through Follow It

and would prefer to receive them directly, 

let me know by leaving a comment below

with your preferred address.  

A Sun Warmed Rock in the Middle of the River

 It was encouraging to run across this quote.

The past 2 ½ years have been 

 like the wilderness for me.

As much as I crave solitude,

I also welcome engagement and conversation

with other human beings.

There may have been moments when I felt

"the power of life being lived within and around me,"

but, they were brief and made me nervous

since I didn't recognize what I was feeling.

This is why we need each other 

and why sharing your journey is important.

This writer's words give me the courage

to become like the 

"sun warmed rock in the center of the stream",

(although my stream is a river).

It gives me a new way to see solitude.

kastilwell

Still Growing

Such encouragement in these words.

The untangling of habitual thought patterns

and the potential for inner growth

are still possible at any age.

Not to say it isn't a challenging journey.

Keeping your focus alone 

takes herculean discipline.

So go easy and have mercy.

We're all together;

 each in our own orbit.

kastilwell

 

Locate Source of Guidance Within

 This becomes clearer and clearer 

as my time on earth progresses.

And, may I say, it's no easy matter.

She is spot on  when she says our

"relationship with the external world

is such a deeply ingrained habit

that we barely know another way to live."

I don't know about you, but I sure

didn't have anyone teaching me how

to listen to my own guidance growing up.  

Rather, I received immersion training

in how to please others and court approval.

When we know better, we do better.

It's never too late (or too soon) to begin.

And the practice never ends.

One goes deeper as one discovers and learns from

"the source of guidance within."

kastilwell

Greeting With Mercy

 I'm getting better at showing this kind of mercy

except when it comes to large flies inside,

mosquitos on my skin, yellow jackets too close, 

and mice chewing on the walls.

Then my tyrant comes out.

We humans, especially here in this society

surely have been programmed

to believe we're better than other beings

sharing this planet. 

I recognize it more as time passes.

It does not make me proud.

That being said, I would appreciate

being greeted with the mercy I show other creatures,

like moths and spiders

who are respectfully escorted outside.

kastilwell

Sharper Senses

With all due respect to W. B. Yeats,

dare I suggest astonishing 

is a better word than magic?

I recently heard someone on a podcast

use the term "coming to our senses"

as a way to improve their living experience 

and in turn their writing.

It's helping me pay more attention

to my own senses 

as I navigate my days.

It's a helpful way to avoid

going into a trance

and taking life for granted.

Remembering to do so is key!

kastilwell

Collaboration in the Purest Sense

 Talk about expanding my ways of seeing and thinking!

This is not easy to absorb given my attachment

to my own personal life and my resistance to dying.

Yet, I know death is a stark fact of life, and essential to regeneration.

Since I encountered Wild Like Flowers

when a friend mentioned Mainspring's Virtual Book Club pick,

I've been captivated. 

So much of what I'm reading is beyond my imagination,

yet, it makes sense down deep in my bones.

I see it as an example of Emergent Strategy in action;

a la Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass;

with a touch of David Whyte's poetic style blended in.

I'm becoming ever more appreciative

of the voices I'm encountering.

People from the river of goodness

living their lives and sharing their bounty 

through actions and words.

It rejuvenates my faith and hope

in my fellow human beings.

kastilwell

What Now?

 Edith Eger survived a Nazi death camp

so I can't begin to know a thing

about her experience, however,

her words got my attention today

and I am grateful for her insight.

They helped me begin to catch where I find myself

looking for a scapegoat to blame

or a savior to rescue me from

whatever troubles I find myself encountering.

There is a part of me which curses

the way I was taught 

to look outward for solutions.  

To rely on some supreme being

 to manage everything  in my life.

I am undoing that programming.

It is no longer remotely useful.

kastilwell

When the Smell of the Earth Meets the Smell of the Trees

 This is something I would not have thought

until I encountered these words.

Now that I have encountered them,

I am beguiled by what they spark in me.

I will be bringing this wolf along 

when I walk in "my" forest.

I will take note of the smell of the earth

and the smell of the trees.

It's lovely when someone gives you

a new view of your everyday world.

kastilwell

Bravest Love and Fiercest Hope

 Thanks to my sister for sending

this thought to me yesterday.

While Knost is focused on parenting,

I believe this applies to each of our

personal journey toward wholeness.

(I love the imagery of textiles.)

The idea of wielding our looms;

or pens or brushes or instruments; 

with the bravest love

and fiercest hope 

is exhilarating.

kastilwell

Shoreless Seeds and Stardust.

 There is a measure of relief in recognizing

how little control I have.

To simply experience the ride.

To recognize I choose the lens

from which to witness the unfolding.

And I can switch from macro to wide angle,

 close in or zoomed out,

still life or video.

And I can witness from outside the frame

or experience the adventure

in real time, live the action

from inside out.

A wide range of options

available for my choosing.

Mary Oliver says it best.

"You only have to let the soft animal of your body. 

love what it loves."

kastilwell