The Delight of Record

It's easy to underestimate the power

of  even the tiniest of delights,

even more so, actually noting them.

Yet they are somewhat magical 

in the way they continue to press into us

for our attention.

They're similar to gratitudes but 

more beguiling due to the

way they are apt to appear

where you wouldn't expect them.

Tiny habits are useful.

They rewire our grid.

I believe tiny delights 

also enliven our chemistry

and alter our inner pathways. 

They add a sense of fun;

a sense of surprise,

pleasure,

enchantment,

playfulness,

contentment...

this list could go on!

May your day be full of delights.

Namaste'

 

Bad French Fries Do Not Negate

It took me more than one reading

for the power of this to take hold.

"I do not think of this as looking on the bright side.

I think of it as looking at everything."

I don't know why it's always such a surprise

when I start stacking up my pleasure coins;

counting my blessings is another way to say it,

or noting all I'm thankful for,

how quickly they add up and start to topple over.

Try it sometime...

start with your breath...

and all the intricate things your body is capable of.

Then move on to the natural world around you...

mundane things like the sky 

and the ground beneath your feet,

and everything growing there...

mostly on its own...

not to mention birds and bees.

Mundane?

See what I mean?

It's a feast of plenty.

Look At Everything.

Namaste'

 

And Still, After All This Time

 I searched for what Earth gives the Sun.

Did not find an adequate answer.

Interesting. 

If the sun operated out of  transactional thinking,

we'd have been incinerated long ago.

Instead we are freely bestowed with

an inhabitable atmosphere...life itself.

Seems like such warmth and generosity

should instill us with similar qualities.

My gratitude litany keeps on getting longer 

the more I pay attention.

Namaste'

We Don't Live In A Terrible World

"every time awful things happen 

the good in humans reveals itself 

in new, surprising, breathtaking ways."

I'm holding this thought tightly to my heart.

Counting on it to be true as we witness

 AWFUL things happening in our world.

Each one of us plays our role in manifesting this good.

Together we turn the tides toward justice and equality.

We overcome the treachery.

We reject wrong doing.  

We continually and consistently, 

step by steady step, 

advance dignity and decency

for every being.

We are a murmuration of grace...

Fierce, unstoppable magnificent grace.

Namaste'

 

The Older I Get

 

Is it my age that gives me a slight cringing at the f word?

Which is ironic given how often I use it myself.

It's saying it in writing and sharing it that gives me pause.

I'm getting past it because the message is pertinent. 

"What they have actually become is knowledgeable and powerful"...

 I am furious at the deception being conducted right before our eyes.

I'm furious at the wickedly clever way its being orchestrated.

I'm heartbroken over those decent people being deceived and misled.

I'm heartbroken over those who have given up paying attention.

I'm frustrated the pushback isn't more vigorous.

I'm frustrated it seems to be all about money and not about spirit and connection.

However

Our recent local elections have given me a thread of hope.

The incredible celebration I witnessed this weekend

at the unveiling of Sowing the Seeds of the Future sculpture

here in our small town added more threads to my tapestry of hope.

I continue to believe in the river of goodness;

flowing quietly and tenaciously.

We will persist...we will pushback...we will speak out.

We will not give up.

Namaste'

This And More

Isn't this a luscious word picture of our world?

"a mosaic of temperature shifts on a python's snout"? 

What a delicious way to put it.

It reminds me of a mosaic I saw at The Bascom yesterday.

Untold Self - Narmeen Asif 

A tiny thread of connection linked by a word.

It is everything about the meaning we compose

from the bountiful and beautiful, tiny details of our life.

Namaste'

 

Finding Pleasure

I had to slow way down to take this in.

I'm still in the process of doing so.

Inviting the part of me who's focusing on

what's currently wrong or

bracing myself for the next bad thing

to stand down and relax into something different.

Reality can involve physical ailments and pains, 

scary diagnoses of loved ones,

 things that have to get done, etc.  

See how skillfully I can list the disagreeable items?

I have to concentrate on changing the lens,

and moving to another spot to make the shift.

Like literally blazing a new trail.

From this unfamiliar place of noticing pleasure,

I recognize how well my fingers are working,

appreciate the reality of existing here, now

where I can exercise all my senses,

rejoicing in the existence of friends and loved ones,

watching night turn into day,

feeling  the comfort of my home,

noticing the sights and sounds of spring...

You get my meaning.

It's an adjustment.

The disagreeable things remain.

They are not gone but they are diluted.

It's kind of like the pleasant things

sit down right next to them,

put their arm around them and whisper,

"we've got this."

You are not alone.

Namaste'

 

The Stuff of Stars

This sent me on a mission to learn what is out there about "dark energy".

I also received an introduction to another unknown entity referred to as "dark matter" 

It's being studied by scientists with sophisticated methods and expensive equipment.

A great deal of time, money and human effort is going into the research.

Isn't it glorious the answer is still "we don't know?

Isn't it glorious the more we learn the more there is to learn?

Isn't it glorious this study has drawn scientists together 

from different disciplines to join forces in their quest?

I rather like the idea that the universe, beyond our close-in spot in it, 

is becoming more spacious; moving more rapidly.  

Could we call that evolving?

Makes me wonder.

Namaste'

 

Soft

I am drawn to this due to the reference to fingers 

after my foray into examining the intricate process 

that goes into how they move so easily across the keyboard.

Feeling: another word overflowing with layers of meaning.

Feeling was strong in my heart yesterday when I wrote these words.

"I want the power of love to paralyze the perpetrators generating suffering and injustice." 

The thoughts I was having at the time were not soft.

I was not "betting on understanding over brutality".

Thank goodness for poets who remind me.

Namaste'

 

Technically Speaking

What I would call a hint or a splash or a dose of irony 

is what appeals to me about this.

How practiced I am at missing 

how complex and intricate and multidimensional 

the things of this world can be and usually are.

Coincidentally, this was brought home to me

as I attempted to write out how words

appear on my screen as the start of a poem.  

The physical act of typing them out

was complex and intricate enough.

I was having trouble pronouncing 

the unfamiliar terms for my very familiar fingers.

Then there was the question 

of where and how the words come from in the first place.

So I turned to Jarod Anderson's in the meantime.

May our day be filled with the wonder of complexity

within the ordinary encounters.

That's what happened to me when I caught sight of 

this season's first dandelion bloom.

Namaste'

I Am Not Okay Today

I believe many/most of us are not okay these days,

even though we may tell each other we are.

So much is out of balance.

That's why I like his suggestions for alternatives.

Each of them is a litany, an invocation.

Each of them a proposition to adjust our perspective

and see the possibilities in the midst of madness.

It could be what will save our Mother Earth,

 and us.

Namaste'

 

It Is A Mistake

This thought intrigues me.

It has me reflecting on "experiences often not even noticed."

Back to the invitation to pay closer attention.

Makes me realize how adept I am at taking things for granted;

like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as an example.

How fortunate to conduct such a pursuit.

This is opening my eyes (and my ears) for

the "brand-new light with the brand-new melody"

making its way silently into my days.

That pulsing silence operating below the surface,

connecting disparate elements via invisible filaments;

 sparking imagination and innovation; 

creating something tangible from apparent emptiness,

forming evolutionary pathways,

in both our inner and outer worlds.

What a delight.

Namaste'

 

We Are Active Participants

"there is so much more going on than meets the eye or ear or hand"

I've having to remind myself of this often.

It can be uncomfortable and unsettling to open up

to things outside my current understanding.

It's so much easier to choose to stay in the 

smaller realm where things are clear and certain and often scary,

rather than to remain in the murky larger space of possibility

where anything can happen.

To participate in the unfolding of the future

from each present moment 

by applying optimism and imagination 

to something as yet not fully visible. 

To trust in my/our ability to

collaborate with the forces of goodness

in birthing a world where all entities can thrive.

Namaste'

PS:  I ran across something yesterday that brings me hope.

It started here: Using wheat grass roots to create fabric and building material!

Following the links at the bottom of the page led me to more innovative 

and exciting possibilities for mimicking the genius of Mother Nature

in helping us rectify mistakes of the past.

 

The Space Between

"the space between despair and fake optimism."

This is an interesting way to say this.

My thoughts on this matter:

I'm wondering if REAL optimism is

"the beauty of the present moment"?

Even when the present moment is fraught with 

discomfort, fear and pain?

I recently read an essay about how

 its the "grit" that produces the pearl.

It suggested viewing these "hardship" moments

as the grit in the process of forming us into a pearl.

I liked that idea a great deal as well as the fact that

the pearl is the only gemstone created by a living creature.

One of the countless wonders and mysteries 

of our enchanted world.

Namaste'

 

Life Is Not The Way

This lays a finger on something for me...

something that's been lurking right outside my sphere of attention.

This is the power of words.

Yes, they are simply marks on a page or screen or sounds off a tongue

yet they are like mycelial threads reaching out to connect

with a life form deep within my/our body where they

connect and spark something indescribable...

paradoxical as in, my higher self IS my deeper self.

It begins to explain the twitchy feeling I get when 

the busy surface of things scrambles the connection.

The more I grow, 

the more I realize how trustworthy this is.

I'm thinking of the sound of the sonar screen

in the submarine movies I've watched.

It's something like that...a tiny pulse

letting me know what feels like nothing

is an amazing something.

Namaste'

 

Don't Waste Your Time

I LOVE that he asks the question, 

"what can that mean: worthwhile?"

He lays out some possibilities which are his personal choices.

Giving us an invitation to choose our own.

I'm going to spend some time making a list.

The last two are the jewels for me. 

What are the ways we "miss out on ourselves"?

And

What contributes to making me more genuine?

How can I move closer to myself?  

Delightfully promising questions, don't you think?

Well worth spending some time reflecting on.

If you feel so inclined, let me hear your thoughts.

Namaste'

 

A World Without Cathedrals

Change the word "cathedrals" to forests

and this quote is spot on for me.

(Nothing against cathedrals.)

How many of us consider the woods to be our cathedral?

The "rustling of the organ" the rustling of the creatures.

The "deluge of ethereal notes" the birds singing their hearts out.

We certainly have more than our share of "witless bellowing."

May you spend time in your "cathedral".

Namaste'

 

There Really Aren't Hard-and-Fast Answers

According to this thought, we're all living wildness

since we are decidedly encountering the unknown.

I say this as I'm sitting in my "known" inside place,

listening to a vigorous rain pouring outside my window.

This wild unknown is why I tend to lean toward 

what is familiar and routine, I'm thinking.

At the same time, I relish and require plentiful access to the natural world outside.

Isn't it interesting that as things have become more disorderly in the human world,

so many have turned to and embraced the wild places in and of nature?

Our natural wild places are the haven where we find solace and comfort

from the increasingly uncivilized, manmade domain.

Talk about "no hard-and-fast answers".

I'm thinking there may a silver lining in the turbulence?

More and more humans wake up to the wealth

more valuable than any coin

existing in the ground beneath our feet,

and the air surrounding us...

not to mention things like water, trees, plants

and wild creatures. 

I know you know what I'm talking about.

Namaste'

 

When Others Make Us Angry

Recently, when J. Drew Lanham asked 

"what inside of you needs to get out?", 

I discovered on first round that it was rage.  

This quote reflects how it operates very well, doesn't it?

The question this raises in me is

does this rage want to be out so it's gone,

or does it want out because it needs to be expressed and heard?

Or is the getting out about revealing something 

so its no longer in the shadows of denial?

(Who wants to hear someone else's rage?) 

Don't we have more than enough of that around?

It doesn't sound like a good idea to add more into the atmosphere, does it?

I'm remembering a StarTrek episode where they

discovered the way to overcome discord was to laugh together.  

I'm going to view this recognition and naming of the rage

to be a lesson for me...a discovery and an invitation to listen.

As I contemplate it being "out", I think about the cycle of things.  

How what I throw into the compost pile changes into nourishment

for the soil, the plants and trees and creatures living on and in earth.

Then there are the things I throw "out"  that go somewhere else 

to remain intact for a very long time. 

I don't want these feelings of rage to become 

like plastic containers polluting our waterways and oceans.

As I think on this, it feels like anger and revenge and hatred

can be similar to the trash that contaminates things indefinitely

until someone comes up with a way to transform them

into something that doesn't cause harm.

It's professed that love and compassion and understanding can do so.

I believe this to be true with every fiber of my being.

Namaste'

Night Is Never

 A provocative statement.

It presses me to ask myself 

where I might be leaving my lantern off.

What is asking to be seen?

What hidden corner of discovery awaits

the shine of my attention?

Namaste'

To Help Others Understand Nature

The quote below remarks that each of our cells contains a minuscule sea.

And here we are each cells in a breathing giant.  

It's a dizzying reality, isn't it?

It's so dizzying and marvelous, I guess its not surprising

I reduce my field of attention so as not to be 

permanently in a state of drop-jawed, wordless amazement?

I don't seem to have the capacity to manage the wonderment.

I admire those with the energy to recognize and revel in it.

Perhaps this is because its easier to gird against everything

than it is to face the complexity containing 

the scary as well as the sacred,

the horrible as well as the holy?

Even now, I'm unable to focus solely on what is flawless and life-giving.

The ancient neural pathways are carved deep.

I wish there was a medicine or a refraction or an adjustment

 that would cure this bias toward what's 

not quite as I'd like it to be...what's a smidge off.

Meanwhile, I continue the exercises to undo the habit.

Practice, practice, practice and repeat.

To be continued.

Namaste'