The truth is, however, that there is nothing very “normal” about nature. Once upon a time there were no flowers at all.
~ Loren Eiseley
Finding grace in the ordinary
Category: Sky
A ramble and a wander
The Way It Is
by William StaffordThere’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
As the sun sets on this year
In alchemy, winter comes first. It is the beginning. The origin. As winter casts its blanket of stillness across the land, we naturally turn inward. The mind and heart settle into Earth’s darkest season. From this place of quiet, a single flame reconnects us to the mystery of our existence and the miracle of the breath. When the Winter card appears, it indicates we’re suspended in Mother Earth’s pause. This is not the time for doing, going or getting. Magic is afoot under the surface. In the glimmering snow and sparkling ice, we see winter’s water in crystalline form, each droplet a prism into the mystic realm. Don’t get caught up in the gloom or isolation of this season. Rather, spin toward the sacred light.
~ Kim Krans, The Wild Unknown Alchemy deck
A Monday meander: Not the last
This is my prayer: May we forgive ourselves and each other when we fall short, and may we all have the courage, faith and resolve to get up again and keep going, to once again ask the deeper questions and dare to touch that vulnerable place inside, to open the heart. May we have the courage to feel the human pain we all share. At the very heart of that pain is a jewel beyond all price. It is the bottomless presence at the heart of everything and the boundless awareness beholding it all, and it is the love that is trying to come forth even in the most broken and unskillful ways. Once we have discovered this jewel, this unconditional love, our work is in opening to it again and again, cultivating a growing faith in it and a faithfulness to it, and forgiving ourselves and others when we fail.
~ Joan Tollifson
Omnivagant
omnivagant: poetic & rare adj. wandering everywhere or anywhere; Spanish vagabunda roaming
inscape: the unique inner nature or essence of a person or thing, esp. as expressed in poetry or other arts; the landscape of an indoor area
~ from “Epic English Words,” by Robin Devoe
Practice and make of yourself a light
Nobody has ever lived your life before and no one can tell you what you should be doing next. You really have to listen to your own heart and be willing to rest in that mystery.
~ Jack Kornfield
A Monday meander on Tuesday: Sometimes it’s a poem
Writing can be medicine for our modern ills. It can be a tool to help us excavate our lives and begin to understand ourselves and others. It can help us grapple with desire, navigate change, cope with stress, celebrate, offer thanks, grieve, heal, and inspire others. Writing can be a means of escape, or a way to arrive fully in this moment, appreciating the miracle of life in the smallest details. And, let’s not forget, it can be a pleasure too. But writing cannot be or do any of these things if fear gets in the way and the writer does not write.
~ Beth Kempton, The Way of the Fearless Writer (a book I’ve had on my to-read shelf for far too long and maybe it’s time to actually read it)
Continue reading “A Monday meander on Tuesday: Sometimes it’s a poem”
breezes at dawn 