To Live Content With Small Means

These thoughts from the early nineteenth century

are potent offerings for today.

Each phrase is a meditation.

"hurry never" is especially noteworthy for me.

kastilwell

 

Love Getting Older

 It was an unexpected surprise 

to find myself nodding as I read this.

"I can see what connects, 

I can weave stories of experience

and apply them."

This names something I've 

been noticing as I ramble

through my days.

Appreciation for what is deepens;

even when difficult.

Being softer with myself

eases the distresses 

of younger years.

"My understanding deepens."

Things I've taken for granted

become astonishing 

with expanded perception.

It's joyful to spiral back

and recognize the riches.

kastilwell

Nothing More Poetic Than Photosynthesis

What strikes me about this conversation

is how much I/we take for granted.

Our life force is given to us by 

the power of photosynthesis.

I'm guessing few of us truly

appreciate this monumental process.

I certainly didn't/don't.

Even though I learned about it long ago.

It didn't really sink into my consciousness.

Covid gave us a new appreciation for breathing.

Photosynthesis has been here all along.

Quietly, elegantly, simply, doing its "thing";

and here's the most exquisite factor...

we're giving it back...

by breathing in and breathing out!

We provide our carbon dioxide

back to the trees and plants

so they can continue giving us life.

Something to concentrate our attention on

when meditating or doing yoga 

or every other thing we do.

kastilwell

 

Before and After Picture

 This thought chokes me up.

Bringing a piece of land back to wellness

is a monumental offering to all life

and a tribute to our humanity.

And its possible!

kastilwell

The Good News Is

 This is from a compelling conversation I listened to

while traveling this past week.

It was one of three conversations

accompanying me on the journey.

The gratitude I feel as they weave together

through my inner landscape,

is difficult to find words for.

Adrienne Maree Brown 

spoke of Biomimicry

in Emergent Strategy.

This conversation took the concept

to a whole new level.  

And left me wanting more.

kastilwell

Tell The Stories Of Our Land

I would add that the whole story is needed.

Not only the pretty ones.  

Our stories need to include

our light and our shadows;

our failures and our triumphs.

And by "our" I mean every single one of us.

kastilwell

 

Remake Our Stories

 There is a plethora of stories across the world

which need revising, rewriting

or abandoning altogether.

We need myths and stories of human dignity,

of mutual respect among all living creatures

and all elements of our world.

Nothing is insignificant.  

Everything matters.

kastilwell

The Alchemy Comes

"the entire mesh of existence

binding us together in ways we perceive only if we listen."

I am listening.  

I LOVE 

"Each of us is a particle of this greater entity.

Each one of us contains it all."

What this means for me is that

each and every person has the potential

to be a good and decent human.

May each and every one of us find 

our own way to the river 

for the good of each other and our planet.

kastilwell

Enchantment Cannot Be Destroyed

Her description is so exquisite,

nothing more needs to be said.

kastilwell  

Enchantment Came Easily

I'm stalking my memory these days

in an attempt to recapture the enchantment of my youth.

Songs of Hans Christen Anderson come to mind

for some unexpected reason. 

My parents rented a large house on a farm

which allowed us the privilege 

of witnessing the natural world.

Although a farm has a different conversation

with nature than one conducted in the wild.

Back then, we were oblivious to the

impact of our behavior on our homeland.

I marvel at how naive we/I were/was.

kastilwell

Small Wonder Magnified Through Meaning

"Those quiet traces of fascination found only when we look for them."

I experience this in the woods when 

encountering a tiny vignette, 

a natural composition that exudes a particular beauty;

each element simply being itself in relationship

to the organisms surrounding it.  

This entire description astonishes me.

It contains reflections for a lifetime.

I welcome this vitamin so I must get digging.

kastilwell

 

There Has Been A Yearning

This book has me spellbound.

Distilling it down into a few excerpts

will be a challenge.

Brace yourself for a taste!

I'm exquisitely envious of her skill

in finding words to describe

 her inner terrain. 

I'm curious to know if her words

strike a chord in others 

as they do in me?

kastilwell

 

At The Edge of Consciousness

 I'm thinking this may not apply

to many of you reading this.

It is my perception that you

are making great strides toward

living your lives in appreciation of

and connection to the world around you.

I find it describes certain aspects

of my experience.

I struggle to be at ease and calm

as the world feels as if its fracturing.

I severely miss the easy way

we used to gather and socialize.

No one worrying about anyone 

catching something deadly. 

I'm not entirely sure I agree

with all she's saying but

it bears thinking about.

kastilwell

PS:  This is the first in a series I hope you will find nourishing and insightful.

Belonging So Fully To Yourself

I find this powerful enough

to revisit regularly

The "untamed, unpredictable place

of solitude and searching,"

is familiar and disconcerting.

I confess I tend to distract

myself with surface baubles

rather than face the

distinct unpredictability.

Its what feels like nothing

that is so unnerving.

I hasten to fill it with 

anything else no matter how

superficial rather than

face this enormous

space of uncertainty

and choice. 

There's a rush to name,

define, enclose, control.

I removed the pronoun

"it" which I am finding 

increasingly problematic.

"It" implies inanimate

which is decidedly

not the case.

Zoetic describes 

the animation

of this wordless space.

kastilwell

Find Out Who You Are

"You are made of oceans."

After several attempts,

today's thought has appeared.

Let's appreciate the

"endless depths below our surface"

without apology or explanation.

Use your name as a verb.

You are _your name  ing.

See how you fits you.

kastilwell

Concentration

My coffee is too strong.

Dilution required.

I don’t want to dilute my life.

I want to concentrate it. . .

full-bodied, 

potent, 

rich, 

robust.

Marinate it...

immerse, 

steep, 

saturate, 

soak, 

drench, 

drown, 

bury.

kastilwell

 

The Journey

This feels like a description 

of the river of goodness

I carry with me.

"waters meeting, 

kindred to travel gathered together

. . .shining or in shadows."

We are making a difference.

What we do from our hearts matters.

Who we are, and who we are becoming matters. 

kastilwell

 

Afterwards

My favorite line is 

"Maybe people have to go in and out of shadows 

till they learn that floating that immensity,

waiting to receive whatever arrives with trust."

(Even though I'm thinking the comma is misplaced?)

My mind is on the river of goodness,

contributing whatever I can 

for it to grow longer and stronger,

wider and higher.

Imagining it as a river of light and shadow

where some of us do wander toward the edge

and even fall for awhile.

I love the idea that we can 

"go back and pick up the pieces."

Perhaps this is what is happening right now.

kastilwell

 

Follow What Stirs You

 This quote captured me with the first line.

It was the second one that gave me pause.

This morning it "clicked". 

(Apparently I'm a little slow 

to "see" the meaning.)

Now that I do, it makes sense.

And, it invites me to visit

any hollow places I might entertain

when my "pure attention"

gets hijacked or wanders away.

There is so much depth and breadth

to being alive and being human.

We are such amazing bundles

of glory and confusion;

magnificence and mayhem.

Aren't we a marvel?

kastilwell

Pure Attention

The longer I live, 

the more I feel this to be true.

My attention is my power.

Especially when partnered with 

nonjudgemental curiosity.

(That nonjudgemental part is HARD.)

It might be helpful to ask myself

what I WANT to turn my attention toward

as I move through each day.

Right now, I am focusing 

on the river of goodness.

And doing my best to do my part

in adding to its strength.

kastilwell

 

It's Temporary

 

quote attributed to Joel Osteen

The more I “think” on it, the more I realize how powerful my thoughts are 

and how vital it is to be attentive to them.  

The challenge for me is to feel the feelings 

while managing the thoughts that go with them (or counter to them).  

They are so tightly entwined, it seems and they feed on each other.  

Personally, I wish my feelings could move as swiftly as my thoughts.  

However, I’ve learned feelings need time to catch up and sync 

with the thoughts that bring growth and groundedness. 

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could wave a magic wand 

and align them simultaneously?  

kastilwell

Attending Now

Attending Now

Instead of writing,

I’m reading poetry penned by others

far more adept than I.

Perhaps my time is better spent 

marveling at their virtuosity

Wishing for a measure of their ingenuity,

a dash of their dexterity.

Listening to the Twohee 

chinging outside the window

as the sun slips silently from night.

Her brushes aren’t loaded with vivid colors

more of a sky blue pastel with an overlay of white.

Or I missed the mural.

I’d like to think this all leads somewhere

Then I remember, somewhere is here.

No other place holds its capacity.

It is real, concrete, tangible, visible, malleable.

The gentle steam rising from the deck

as the sun connects with the dew,

the shimmering light on the branches 

of ancient cornelian cherries lined along the road,

the pileated woodpecker hammering against the eaves, 

the breathing in and the breathing out.

Reverently attending to the essence of being alive.

kastilwell

Hear The River

This seems a fitting Friday post

following words of fly wheels and common sense

from Sharon Blackie and Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Hear the "river of goodness"

"flowing over whatever stands in its path

and turning each obstacle into a song."

May we all be singing as we 

move forward toward our vision of

a truly just world.

kastilwell

Fly Wheels

https://sharonblackie.substack.com/p/doom-loops-and-flywheels

 This brings the "river of goodness" to my mind.

It's what I see happening in many places.

Good people going about their lives 

doing whatever they can to contribute 

to a just world and saving our planet.

They're doing so quietly and diligently.

This gives me hope 

and strengthens my belief

that transformation is occurring.

May it be so!

To echo Sharon Blackie,

Why not?

kastilwell

Humility

These quotes are from an article in the NYT

"You Don't Have To Be Complicit in Our Culture of Destruction

in case you wish to read more.

This thought or theme keeps recurring

in everything I've read recently about indigenous teachings;

(it's a theme in christian teachings as well.)

and I'm guessing every religion.

Equality.  

What a concept.

Sharon Blackie uses the description of a flywheel

to describe how our world could work

in her latest piece Doom-loops and FlyWheels.

It's another great article.

Combine the flywheel with 

the river of goodness

and we're talking revolutionary!

kastilwell