Sometimes we hear a message
countless times, over decades
from many fair lips
before it opens
and we become a home for it
now
beauty abounds
within and all around
you carry light wherever you go
beauty abounds
friendships
friendships born
out of playing together
again and again we delight
in the same activities
and in the process
become buoyant with mirth
our souls chiming
in trust and tenderness
cloud watching
traveling with in
i watch mind clouds
drift by swift and fabulous
a revolving cast of characters
on the horizon
we keep company
and the rascals tell me of
greener pastures in far away lands
the land of play
last night i met the queen of the land of play
to visit my shores, she said
begin with a dash of stillness, bordering on boredom,
and a feeling of uncertainty,
Now, that’s a good start!
from there your filaments
stretch
making up songs, telling stories
drawing from the infinite well
the river comes alive
the clouds have meaning
trees and stones talk to you
and anything and everything is possible
chaos shapes into order
and dissolves again
you play with ancient, ancient forces
dreaming myths into being
shaping worlds out of the flux
in parting she asks:
how would you like to feel now?
imagine - you are already there . . .
teatime with gratitude
as a stray thought
a sudden well-being
a coincidental meeting
i come to you
like a whisper in the fog
you sense my approach
and soften
i see you
as we commune like old friends
and i glow in your company
i hold your beauty
as your sentiments stream into the world
and grow
in my wild dreams i imagine us
whirling through each others worlds
joyous and free
sweet catastrophe
"the thaw"
in a world that easily can make us into enemies
learn to love
love
well
boundless and deep
gentle and enduring
even when it is difficult - love
actively
even the times of folly and fall
love them all
selflessly
love the whole sweet catastrophe
"the ways of water"
finding our way home
This week I found myself considering ceremonies, a subject close to my heart.
For decades I have been interested in how we celebrate across the globe. What, as a culture,
we pause for, remember and reinvigorate. It seems that ceremonies and gratitude are intimately linked.
"the spirit of the land"
walking the ground
witnessing the natural rhythms
i celebrate the spirit native to this land
connected through time
i feel the long, living thread of the ancestors
who also celebrated the procession of the seasons
our ceremonies acknowledge a sacred reciprocity
between the land and its people
in the spirit of gratitude
flora, fauna, mineral - ecologies of all ilk
become animate, by the simple prayer of:
I see you! I thank you! I wish you well!
we connect to the weave that sustains all,
to origin and continuity, into the Great Mystery
"reinvigorated by ceremonies"
storytellers
"wave upon wave"
words
that need to be told
to each generation,
a truth that never grows old
the message - so simple,
takes long to learn:
you, it says,
are the storyteller of your own story
"free to choose"
before you a table of plenty,
a sweeping rainbow of attitudes to choose
from the thousands of hues what will you pick?
will your tale be bitter, sweet, bittersweet . . . ?
what roles will you decide to play?
will you be jester, judge, living ghost . . . ?
ponder the power and privilege
of the storyteller
"the hue of gratitude"
black and white, rainbow hues, colorless
on the canvas of this life
i choose
gratitude
canvas
"peace"
life,
which for us remains a Great Mystery,
seems a fine time
to find out
and live
what we value
peace plays itself out
on the canvas of my life
soft on the outside, firm on the inside
it does not demand from another,
but makes demand of my conduct
requiring restraint and infinite tenderness
so, i counsel myself
to grow peaceful
in thought
and tongue
pausing
walking the woods
i pause
and the moment becomes vibrant
in its stillness
i see, i am surrounded by beauty
and beauty becomes the gate for peace to enter me
moving slower
with a softer gaze
i witness worlds within worlds
an interlaced, woven unity
and awe becomes the gate for peace to enter me
on spiraling paths through the woods
as the rains begin to fall
a gentle quiet fills me
and stillness becomes the gate for peace to enter me
the storm
Today’s Musing is a ponder on holding the note of peace
through the storm of anger.
"the storm within"
When anger comes to visit
it intoxicates the senses and all too soon i forget
about peace and all that i hold dear
governed by anger
my mind turns fierce, fast, myopic
my heart cold and hard
for the duration of the intoxication
anger is alluringly self-righteous
"forbearance"
it takes awareness to catch the first signs of anger
and courage to practice restraint
it takes patience to sit with the painful feelings of the storm
and skill to release my grip
"to love peace"
remember, remember, remember
I tell myself
breathe, stay soft, sit with it
know the storm will pass
this is the work of awareness
the gentle stance of try and try again
to love peace more than self righteousness
peace
This year the Musings will explore twelve essential essence qualities that seem to make life more wonderful.
In January the focus is on Peace.
"it begins"
the path of peace
begins with me
"blue surge"
it ripples outward
in a thousand moments
of calm, open hearted listening
"floods"
learning and practicing the language of peace,
peace becomes a gift
i can give to myself and the world
flavors
"What a great theater each one of us is!"
The images that accompany today’s musing are of a small netsuke statue that has been with me for well over 20 years. It is designed to reveal two different facial expressions.
To me it stands as a reminder of the immense spectrum of mental and emotional states that are available to us humans.
"variable"
Any given situation can trigger such a variety of responses.
It boggles my mind to consider how many flavors I experience in a single day.
How many thoughts and emotions come to visit, like clouds floating in a vast blue sky?
Do I choose to become their messenger and give expression to them?
"colorless"
While playing with the netsuke I have found that it is possible (even so it was most likely unintended by the designers) to adjust the “face” so that it is blank.
This has become my favorite position, a symbol that says:
This moment is still neutral, colorless, full of endless possibilities . . . what will I give rise to now? . . . now . . . now . . . . .
light
"spark"
the muse and i we played
yet the message was delayed
encountering my foggy brain
preoccupied by matters quite mundane
trying to squeeze and wriggle through
my untamed habits, to give a clue
it prompted:
residing within each and all
we have a spark to find companions in the dark
"companioned"
cheers to the fools
"the gap"
the gap between what is
and what we wish life to be
can be a long, hard slog
or the joyful journey of a fool
. . . gobs of egos are just rather repelled by the idea of seeming foolish
"certainty"
preferring well worn grooves of certainty,
unquestioned traditions and their set of opinions
to asking:
“what can make life more wonderful for you and me?”
which makes for a fine start towards happiness and freedom
cheers to the fools that try!
favorite ponder
"between dawn"
"and dusk"
between dawn and dusk
we fill the day with our stories
depending on personal style
we tell stories of comedy and tragedy, drama and fantasy
flavoring our internal and external landscape
language is our superpower
we create worlds of heroes and villains,
soulmates, sidekicks and extras
including and omitting
focusing and highlighting details
adding weight in the retelling
no matter how genuine the narrative
the angle is never wide enough to encompass the whole story
my current favorite ponder:
What would you be without your story?
What remains?
once again
"illusions"
there is an excitement in the air
that thrills and titillates
it shimmers
beautiful, sly, persistent, with
hooks, crafted to catch the attention
promising much
once again, i am
intoxicated
a dreaming fool
having bitten the hook of another fantasy
once again i dance
with a grand teacher
rapport
"pausing at the meadow"
and they sat in companionable silence
watching and listening
each in their world
united in friendship
the spirit of now
"continuity"
each moment, however common it may seem
is unique, in the fullness of itself
for us it seems billions of years in the making
connected to the beginning of time
living in continuity - into infinity
The Spirit of Now
permeating all
"the spirit of now"
loved
a slow, timelessness
boundless knowing
accepted by the universe
welcomed by nature
the air, the water, the earth beneath my feet
all give of themselves generously
included
sustained
loved
what is the language of love
that requites in kind?
each answers uniquely
in the living of life
