A Word Grows To A Thought

 With chagrin, I noticed I'd used the same quote twice in one week.

I'm feeling like a very "sluggish traveler" as a result.

This is added motivation to preserve memories

so I can revisit them again for the first time later on?

Another way of saying, 

it's a good idea to remain humble.

No matter how smart we think we are,

we still don't know everything there is to know.

A call for awe.

kastilwell

Nature Resides in All Her Dignity

 Quaint language invoking cringe worthy images

yet the message is more relevant than ever.

"Presume to intimacy when we've been granted only tolerance."

That is a line for our times.

Climate change is showing us the consequences of that.

May we keep focused on our lands, our home.

May we treat our mother with the dignity she deserves.

kastilwell

Human The Pretender

 Though the vocabulary is somewhat dated,

I'm dedicating this week's quotes to

Beryl Markham and "West with the Night".

I'm dazzled by her life and her writing ability.

It strikes me how relevant and wise her thoughts are

 decades later.  (It was first published in 1942)

I have discovered a new Shero!! 

kastilwell

Something Is Here For You Now

This comforted me. 

I often find myself feeling like

I'm missing something

or not doing things quite right.

Impatience for "perfection".

One of those twisted words

stinking with manipulation

from forces outside myself.

Yes, its getting later.

Yes, it feels time is slipping away.

Yet I feel stronger in appreciation

for what is here right now.

And I see "perfection"

is mine and only mine to define.

"Thank you" is often on my lips.

kastilwell

 

The Gifts We Do Not Notice

The title of this quote got my attention.

It led me to thinking about all I do not notice

as I live out my days.

It's the very essence of gratitude, I believe.

Seeing what is taken for granted 

and appreciating it with enthusiasm.

Another thought stumbling around

has to do with being grateful

for the unpleasant and even truly awful things.

How many times have they turned into 

sideways or backwards gifts 

helping me grow?

On this Thanksgiving Day, 

I'm sending my gratitude and appreciation

for each one of you.

May you dwell in the land of plenty.

kastilwell

 

Objectifying

https://www.facebook.com/rebecca.solnit/posts/10159974860610552

 

This is heavy thinking for the day before Thanksgiving;

but I'm sharing it because its linked to something 

I've been observing within myself for awhile now.

While reading The Enchanted Life, by Sharon Blackie,

I was made aware of my own tendency to objectify the world around me.  

I did not see the trees and plants in the woods as having any essence of their own,

I saw them as lifeless objects. 

It was an uncomfortable realization.

It was then I noticed how often I view myself 

through the eyes of others. (Objectifying myself?)

"What will "they" think?"

This thought follows me relentlessly,

unconsciously and unintentionally.

Now it is becoming conscious.

Which leads to welcome change.

For which I am endlessly grateful.

kastilwell

Steeped In Meaning

 I've gone back and forth with this quote.

It finally dawned on me why.

It's the word random.

To me, a bolt of lightening

hitting and harming a tree is random.  

A word meaning

without forethought or intention. 

The lightening does not choose 

to strike the tree. 

It is not "out to get" it.

I do however believe that

everything is steeped in meaning

in the woods and across the universe.

It sure would be interesting to

discuss this with RWK herself.

I'd welcome your thoughts on the matter.

kastilwell

Balance Is Not Passive

As much as I like this quote, 

I'm having an issue with the word "work".

It conjures up a sense of drudgery.

I prefer awareness and intention. 

They are not passive either.

"The raking out

and the putting in"

Like the tides,

or our breathing.

Activity is involved

but in a more gentle fashion.

Like weaving.

kastilwell

 

Build This Day

Recently, I discovered the metaphor

of seeing your mind like a large room,

and making it as comfortable and welcoming as possible;

with a "beauty drawer" where you keep

mementoes of your loves and triumphs. . .

images and such that bring you joy.

(My room has a beauty wall.)

This quote builds on that idea

although, in my opinion,

it carries strong masculine energy

which could benefit from some softening.

Dialing down the drive a bit.

It could use some circular adjustments

within it's linear momentum.

That being said, I like the idea

of, let's say, orchestrating the day

into something you've wanted all your life.

One you've been 

"envisioning and are 'now' creating".

I especially resonate with

"no matter how old you are"!

kastilwell

 

Let Solitude Welcome You

This quote caused a revelation for me.

I am fortunate to have plenty of solitude.

But here's the thing, and I feel it's important,

your solitude must be kind...

It must be a refuge where you find

the approval you need

and the reassurance you matter 

from within your own body of resources.

Where you become the trustworthy friend 

who sits with you through suffering.

A place where you can ugly cry when necessary.

Where you can face your mistakes and

endure their consequences without undue torment.

 A place where celebration is also a regular occurrence.

Where you can preen and savor every tiny moment of growth.

Where you can rest in quiet confidence that whatever is happening,

whether it feels delicious or delirious or devastating

is fertilizer for strength and resilience.

kastilwell

 

Reading and Writing

This quote elicited a burst of instant recognition in me.

I never equated reading with meditation and why not?

Many voices provide inspiration and solace in silence

as I read and resonate with the words.

There is a chorus of them in my mind

accompanying me on my way.

The word 'miracle' is not one I would use,

but with respect to Vonnegut, I include it.

The key, for me, is the chorus. 

Some voices can be compelling in the moment 

and fade with time.

Others remain constant and true

across the eon's.

kastilwell

Move With the Water

 This quote rattled be a good bit.

Which is why I have to pay attention.

It was like a wake up call from a good friend.

I'm not even sure what it is I'm not ready for;

even so, my intent is to "move with the water",

which is pouring out of the sky right now,

creating tiny rivers on the way to

joining larger rivers, and even larger ones,

on and on to the mighty river of goodness.

kastilwell

Dancing In the River

 I'm sharing this again in celebration

after the news from Nevada.

Let's savor this.

May the power of the river continue

growing stronger and expanding.

kastilwell

Wounded World Feeds Us

I'm thinking this is a great quote to end this week with.

May we heal this wounded world

so she may go on feeding us

and giving us moments of

wonder and joy.

I'm feeling hopeful 

and enormously grateful

to know the river of goodness

is flowing and growing.

kastilwell

 

Acts of Restoration

I'm thinking everyone in this circle 

knows this and practices it.  

I'm thinking how each one of you model this for me.

I marvel when I reflect on the change

I've experienced in my lifetime.

May we continue with "acts of restoration".

May this trajectory toward 

"restoring honor to the way we live"

gain momentum and power.

May we be able to walk 

with humble dignity 

with all earth's creatures.

kastilwell

Passing Gifts Along

A thought occurred to me as I contemplated this quote.

If we view everything as a gift...

even the uncomfortable, painful, and heart breaking;

I hesitate on abusive...yet, if it is used as compost

to grow and expand and transform,

I guess even that could go on the list.

I'm thinking it's not what happens, but

what we do with it that matters.

Whew, what a challenge!

I'm seeing the awful happenings

in a slightly different light.

Although, this doesn't mean

for one hot minute

that I want something dreadful to happen.

No matter what, we've got this!

kastilwell

 

Stand In The River

 May we stand together IN the river ...

in our finest attire,

throwing back our heads

and singing from our bones,

in our loudest voices

 to the power of goodness

true justice, 

actual equality, 

enduring truth,

fairness and 

civility for all creatures

no matter their shape or station.

kastilwell

The Power of Unity

I'm thinking this may be a RWK week.

There is so much wisdom and hope 

in what she has to say.

May the power of our unity

stand strong in the face of the forces

 of separation and division.

May we stand strong as the many

to overcome the efforts for the few.

May we all feast together.

kastilwell

 

Nature Teaches Nothing Is Lost

It makes me happy when I find the quote that "clicks."

This one took some time but I feel its worth it.

"Nothing is lost...it's transmuted."

This line makes me think of all I've previously called "loss".

Seeing them as "transmutations" 

shifts the conversation considerably.

Losing my dad, for example,

becomes "how has he been transmuted?"

rather than a series of bittersweet memories.

Thinking of him as part of the leaves

covering the ground right now

feeding the soil for next year's seeds

brings me a distinct sense of joy.

And I know he'd like it, too.

Seeing him transmuted into the saplings

growing in the forest

makes me even more joyful as

it connects to the memory

of him planting and then watering

the saplings on the property

where we lived in earlier days.

PS: He wasn't watering with a hose,

he was watering with buckets

as the hose didn't reach that far out! 

I didn't mean for this to get so long.

I didn't get to "shame and sorrow

returning composted."

That's another "fertile" thought I'll carry with me

and leave you with.

kastilwell

 

Everything Is Flourishing

 Man oh man, this quote was what I needed this morning;

As well as reading the president's address on Heather's email.

There is much strong friction in the universe.

The power of fear is pervasive.

It's taking every breath of focus

to keep a vision of a flourishing world in sight.

Now to feel it in my bones.

That is where I'm placing my attention.

When I slip into the muck, I will move back to center.

Remember the river of goodness. 

Imagine it gaining momentum...

carrying us toward justice and true peace...

for all.

kastilwell

Room for Not Knowing

"The word “stanza” means “room.” "

(Edward Hirsch: “Each stanza in a poem is like a room in a house, 

a lyric dwelling place.”) 

"This means that every poem, and every book of poems, is a sort of house tour. 

The poet leads you, room by room, through the various chambers of his or her world. Different poets, of course, are very different hosts. 

T.S. Eliot cracks the front door solemnly, 

greets you with a formal nod and recedes into his velvety labyrinth; 

Wallace Stevens throws confetti in your face while shouting spelling-bee words; 

Emily Dickinson stares silently down from an upstairs window, blinking in Morse code."

-- Sam Anderson, “Sex, Death, Family: Sharon Olds is still Shockingly Intimate,” 10/17/22

Encountering Pema's quote brought this to mind.

How does one live in a house of not knowing?

What type of host would answer that door?

David Whyte comes to mind.

He's in to conversations...and horizons, and edges.

How does one converse with not knowing?

I guess one asks many questions?

Or do we sit silently and simply absorb the presence of each other?

Content in the duet of breathing?

kastilwell

 

You Make A Difference

 Here's a thought to carry through my days.

There are many moments when it would be

serving humanity better for me to act accordingly.

Too often, my thoughts and behavior 

have a less than ideal impact on me and the world.

Everything single thing makes a ripple.

May my ripples be nourishing and uplifting.

kastilwell