KEEPING QUIET

"If I had to do it again, I'd ask more questions and interrupt fewer answers."

~ Robert Brault ~

Opinions are endless, prejudiced, eagerly offered, and generally

Not very helpful.

They reflect a personal,

Limited perspective. 

Sharing personal experience,

On the other hand,

Tends to land more gently,

but even then... 

It's not always appreciated.

Perhaps we might learn to

Keep quiet,

To watch,

To be aware of our inner desire

To know it all,

And fix it,

And puff out our chests and be 

Important....

And simply 

Listen instead. 

Sometimes silence is the most generous offering of all. 

CARE TAKING

"The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play."

~ Arnold Toynbee ~

One of the things that I love about gardens is that they evolve with age-

They mature.

Houses and fences and foundations and paint,

On the other hand,

Deteriorate.

Both, however, suffer over time 

without regular maintenance.

Gardens choke with overgrowth

And structures collapse.

Maintenance is the key to longevity. 

THE MONKEY TRAP

"Don't look where you fall, but where you slipped."

~ African Proverb ~

There's a story about a monkey trap.

The trap is a hollow coconut with a rope tied to one end,

A hole at the other end,

And a banana inside.

The monkey sees the banana and reaches in for it.

His hand slips easily through the hole.

But when he grabs the banana and wants to pull it out,

His fist won't fit,

And he's trapped...

Unless he's smart enough to let go.

I relax my grip on things. 

EMPATHY

"There is one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all of one's life- reciprocity."

~ Confucius ~

Empathy is a skill lacking some in most of us.

We tend to be so consumed with our own sense of righteous indignation

That we are incapable of considering what it might be like for someone else,

And this is a sadness,

Because it makes us miss the exchange journey of the human heart.

I catch myself being consumed with my personal perspective and flip the script. 

LIFTED LIKE A FEATHER

"The truth is simple."

~ Mooji ~

When we stop anxiously trying to control outcomes and give ourselves over to the process at hand, we will be carried- by people, by serendipitous happenings, and by the calling of our own inner knowing. It's uncanny how it works. The minute we let go and relax, rather than crashing in a pile on the ground, we are lifted like a feather into the beautiful journey of the unknown.

I surrender. 

LIFE CHANGES

"My head is bursting with the joy of the unknown."

~ Rumi ~

Life changes.

And life changes us.

I'm living the journey.

NOTHING LEFT TO INVENT

"I admit to having an imagination feverish enough to melt good judgment."

~ Dean R. Koontz ~

It's often easier to start things than to finish them. 

The idea of what could be drives us onward.

When imagination's part has run its course, though,

Interest tends to wane.

The creative part is largely over.

There's nothing left to invent,

And we feel the pull to

Move on. 

The creative urge leads us forever onward. 

SIMPLE SOLUTIONS

"'Go back to bed,' said the omniscient voice, because you don't need to know the final answer right now, at three o'clock in the morning."

~ Elizabeth Gilbert ~

No matter the intensity of the emotional storm within us,

It abates with 

A good meal, 

A good sleep,

and a walk around the block.

I am grateful for simple solutions to seemingly impossible problems.

WIPED OUT

"Maybe I think too much..."

~ Paul Simon ~

So much of what we spend our hours thinking about-

Future problems that we aim to solve in advance-

Never happen.

A different path in a completely alternate direction

Opens up

And all those hours,

All that "productive" thinking,

Is wiped out

in a flash.

I let life come and go in a gentle stream and stop trying to push the river by thinking I know what's ahead.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT

"Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all."

~ JFK ~

Computers serve their purpose, but they can only take us so far.

The human element cannot be duplicated.

Some things we simply have to do in person, live. 

I use my computer for leads, and follow them in the flesh. 

LIFE!

"One day at a time."

~ Bill Wilson ~

Sometimes life is small and unexceptional and mundane.

And sometimes it's so BIG that the only way through it is with

small steady steps and

Deep breathing,

And it still knots the stomach and

clenches the throat.

Life demands to be be lived!

FACING DIFFICULT TRUTHS

"Who pays the piper calls the tune."

~ English Phrase ~

Facing difficult truths we have skillfully learned to sidestep and work around isn't easy, but there comes a time, when it's just what we have to do. 

I answer when the piper calls. 

THE WAY IT IS

"Que sera, sera."

~ Jay Livingston and Ray Evans ~

Maybe,

or

Maybe not.

Who knows?

It will be what it will be.

HEAD OUT THE WINDOW

"I may not overcome the inevitable, but O, it is mine 

to see that the inevitable does not overcome me."

~ Muriel Strode ~

I can't control the wind or the rain;

Can't control other people's moods,

Opinions,

Life lessons;

Can't control traffic,

The stock market,

Politics,

Accidents,

Or even, sometimes

My own thoughts.

The older I get, 

the more I realize,

Life is not about what I can control,

It's about what I can experience,

And underneath the surface noise,

Who I really am. 

I let go of control and enjoy the ride!

ON AND ON WE GO

"From here to eternity."

~ James Jones ~

Each action, each RE-action,

Each decision, 

Each move,

Leads us through a door

And opens a space

For the next move,

And the next decision.

And on and on we go forever.

I am patient with the process of life.

TALKING WITH TEXT

"Once upon a time we were just plain people."

~ Ellen Goodman ~

Sometimes we send our messages into a cyber vacuum.

There's no response and we wonder why-

Gives opportunity to the story making mind... 

And then, often,

Responses to everything we've sent out all come at once in a rush,

And we find ourselves hustling to juggle the information.

It's the rhythm of life, I guess-

Sporadic and choppy

And percussive

And smooth. 

I accept the ebb and flow of what sometimes are, and sometimes are not instantaneous communications. 

LIGHT AND EASY

"The little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter, 
which irritated me very much. 

I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously."

~ Antoine De Saint Exupery ~

We can go through the day with a "put upon" kind of feeling,

That spreads all over everything and everyone we encounter like melting butter,

And be triggered to go "off" like a cocked gun,

Or not.

It's more enjoyable 

When we stop taking ourselves and our lives so seriously

And remember that it's all a kind of play

And that no matter what we're doing,

We can be light and easy and relaxed

And laugh.

I create the reality in which I live. 

HINT OF FALL

"There was... jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning."

~ Wallace Stegner ~

Just when summer heat starts to wear a little thin-

Another day of sweating-

Here it comes-

The tiniest hint of a fall feeling,

And I rejoice in that!

I love the fall. 

Change happens right on time. 

SURROUND SOUND LOUD

"True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes."

~ Edward Frederick Halifax ~

The ego finds plenty to complain about

And all kinds of ways to compare

And feel scared.

The ego trips us up

And creates stories

And worry.

The ego is surround sound loud

And hard to pin down

And full of frowning misery. 

It rules the day

Until we say

ENOUGH!

And become quiet,

And breathe,

And remember who we really are.

Surface noise is just that. 

CERTAINTY

"Judge not lest ye be judged."

~ Jesus ~

Certainty does not equal correctness.

We can be 100% certain about something-

Feel SURE, 

totally sure, 

that we're SPOT ON,

And be completely wrong.

It happens.

Frequently.

So perhaps, 

a bit of tenderness

Towards ourselves and others,

And this whole sea of opinions in which we live

Might be

Helpful,

And compassionate,

and

  Kind. 

I honor and appreciate all the world's perspectives.

STILLNESS

"Cultivate quietness."

~ Elbert Hubbard ~

Action, hard work, movement, ambition,

All of these have their place,

their time- 

their use.

And so does

Silence, and 

so does

Stillness, and

so does

inner peace.

Every so often, I retreat. 

THE STATE OF CORONA

"To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else."

~Emily Dickinson ~

Whether we are living in a state of Corona Virus or not,

Life is still life-

Cycling ups and downs,

Sorrows and pleasures,

Fear and trust,

Confusion and certainty,

Anger and calm.

It's the way of the living experience.

This is just what's happening now.