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Thursday, April 29, 2021

PLAY

"There's enough fun in the world for everybody to have some."
~ The Saturday Evening Post ~

Allowing ourselves to play is important medicine
For optimal well being.
And that means sober play- getting drunk comes with it's own kind of stress.
Play for play's sake- being silly,
Or creative- building something with no reason other than because we want to-
Laughing with people,
Dancing lightly or pounding our feet like Flamenco.
And not having time is a poor excuse.
Be playful for a minute or less here and there as you travel through life,
Or suffer the consequences
Of taking yourself too darn seriously.

I allow myself to be child like.

Wednesday, April 28, 2021

GOODBYES

"Every shut-eye ain't sleep and every good-bye ain't gone."
~ African American Proverb ~

Goodbyes come in varying degrees.
Some are sudden and unexpected.
Some are lingering and sad.
Some are sharp,
Some easy,
Some necessary,
And some absolute. 
But the one thing all goodbyes have in common is the gateway feature,
That opens to whatever comes next.

I understand that goodbye here is hello there and that all of life is a continuum.


Tuesday, April 27, 2021

A QUIET PRESENCE

"I exist as I AM."
~ Walt Whitman ~

Perhaps God is at much there when we are desperate
As when we are filled with joy:
A quiet presence,
Serenely present.
How though, in all people at every moment?
Perhaps, the secret is too simple to grasp.
Could it be that God is on the inside,
And not up there in the sky at all?

Understanding who I really am feels juicy, and delicious. 


Thursday, April 22, 2021

NICE VS SMART

"Says the rude child: 'No, I won't do it.' Says the courteous grown-up: 'Yes, I won't do it.'"
~ Mignon McLaughlin ~

In an effort to be "nice"
We sometimes undermine our power
And compromise beyond what's necessary
Or smart.

It's intelligent and sound to set boundaries.

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

OUT OF NOWHERE

"Life eludes logic, and everything that logic alone constructs remains artificial and forced."
~ Andre Gide ~

Imaginative thinking can be playful, and fun,
As long as we don't let it hook us
By becoming too heavily invested in any specific idea
About the way we want things to turn out.
What makes life enjoyable is the way unexpected delights come
Out of nowhere,
And they can't come
If we are holding the reins on our thoughts and our energy
Too tight.

I stop wanting anything too specific, and open to surprises instead. 

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

BE SURE

 "If it 'aint broke, don't fix it."
~ American Saying ~

When companies make changes to their packaging,
I'm sure the idea behind the change seems like just the thing
In the corporate meeting room,
But at the receiving end, it can be jarring and disruptive.
More often than not, when a brand I like makes such a change,
I change too,
And pick a different brand. 

In the arena of change, casualties occur. 

Monday, April 19, 2021

PARADOXICAL LOOPS

"Only when we are sick of our sickness shall we cease to be sick."
~ Tao Te Ching ~

Are we grounded by the earth?
By water?
By eating a meal with complex carbohydrates?
By talking to a friend, getting a hug, or having a good cry?
By all of the above, or something other than the above?
In the same way that grounding is not one thing only,
Life is vast,
And even nothing is something. 

What makes the most sense often doesn't make any sense at all. 

Sunday, April 18, 2021

CALM ABIDING

"It is only the long and patient road that leads to anywhere."
~ Muriel Strode ~

Calm abiding is a satisfying strategy for living.
'Standing back within ourselves and watching,
And looking to see,
Rather than charging forth with our words
and ideas,
Makes for easy interactions,
And interior quiet,
and 
Space. 

I am curious about life these days, more than intentional.

Thursday, April 15, 2021

THIS

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."
~ RW Emerson ~

In a world with a tremendous variety of options,
It can be challenging to be decisive,
And seems much easier
Much of the time
To wish and wash and not take a stand for any one position.
We make allowances instead, and excuses.
We waffle this way and that...
We figure well... maybe... 
And wonder why we feel so ungrounded
And insecure.
Clear decision is freedom and relief.
Open the door to your cage
And decide.

I claim the power I have to say yes and no.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

THE SONG THAT SINGS US

"Wake up, sleepyhead!"
~ Schooner Fare ~

Sometimes we are urged to "heal"
From the generic challenges of life
Which don't, in fact, harm us,
But actually grow us.
Instead.
Why all this stress on healing as if we are constantly breaking
And being damaged?
When, more often than not,
We are just being played 
Like a violin
By Life...

The changing notes of emotional experience make the music I dance to and share. 

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

ALL INCLUSIVE

"I am not the poet of goodness only."
~ Walt Whitman ~

The creative urge of life itself
Is as much a part of sadness
As of joy.
It has no limits.
No bounds.
It is all inclusive,
As much with the dying
As the being born,
And the sorrowful wail of grief
As the giggle.

All living experience is contained within the Creative Source.

Monday, April 12, 2021

LOVING LIFE

"Happiness followed me everywhere.. it was all within myself..."
~ Rousseau ~

I love to be inspired.
I love to see the underdog overcome hardship.
I love people being good to people.
I love divine artistic gifts.
And I love the endless wonders of Nature,
And compassion,
And movement in my muscles,
And a good night's sleep.

In spite of whatever the negative story in my head might be, life is good. 

Sunday, April 11, 2021

THE POWER OF LANGUAGE

"Words are slippery and tricky creatures, whether they drop from the tip of the tongue or of the pen, and when used in important matters, cannot be too carefully watched or too strongly manacled."
~ Leila J. Robinson ~

The word "should" limits our lives.
It puts a collar around our throats,
And shuts down spontaneity and flow. 
In the past it's a waste.
In the future it's a ball and chain.
Why bother with it at all when there are so many 
Positive and life expanding 
Alternative possibilities?

I change the "shoulds" in my life to "coulds," and that changes everything. 

Thursday, April 8, 2021

ATMOSPHERIC CHANGE

"Peace must be more than the absence of armed conflict. It must be just, creative, and cooperative."
~ Elizabeth Tipton Derieux ~

Making peace-
Coming to terms-
What do we mean by these?
That we stop fighting?
Or perhaps... that we start honoring what we have been opposed to,
And acknowledging it for the good,
For the growth,
For the lessons learned...
Peace is more than just not fighting,
It's a whole atmospheric change.
We become ok-
Truly OK,
With what we once couldn't tolerate,
Or accept,
Or trust.

I let go of opposition and fill with love. 

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

LIFE AT PLAY

"Not to spoil the ending, but it's going to be ok in the end."
~ Saying on a Mug ~

Sometimes we have a thought that occurs to us as a knowing
And it seems like our intuition.
We think, "Ah HA! I'm spot on!"
And it turns out that we're 
Not even close.
And sometimes our intuition does show up as a thought,
And we are meant to follow it,
Or to understand what it wants us to know.
How to tell the difference?
Life is playful. 
That's a knowing too.

Sometimes I know what I think I know, and sometimes I don't, and either way, it's ok.

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

SUBTLE ENERGIES

"You possess the ability to tap a bottomless well of physical and psychic energy..."
~ LV Carnie ~

Whether we honor and acknowledge them or not,
All kinds of subtle energies are at play in our lives...
They propel us,
They hold us back,
They bring confusion and clarity and hopelessness and great joy.
We are life itself
In the company of humanity
And God. 

I am a field of possibility.

Monday, April 5, 2021

CONONDRUM

"Let go, and let God."
~ Popular Saying ~

Truly trusting requires letting go of the reins,
No matter the situation.
And how many of us can do that?

Why is it so hard to let go?
Because we don't fundamentally trust.
And how do we learn to trust?
By letting go...
It's a conundrum like the chicken and the egg.
Which comes first?

I am WILLING to let go and trust.


Sunday, April 4, 2021

THE BIG PICTURE

"If you do not raise your eyes you will think that you are the highest point."
~ Antonio Porchia ~

Sitting on the hillside and looking down at the gardens I created
Puts them in perspective.
They are tiny, de minimis... 
Nothing in the scope of the broader landscape.
And they have kept me awake at night worrying over them.

I am both more, and less, than is immediately apparent. 



Thursday, April 1, 2021

SPRING

"The air is vivid with spring light."
~ Byron Caldwell ~

Spring is about renewal-
Things coming back...
But not the same as before:
NEW buds.
And there is friction in the arrival of this new growth-
A chick squeezing and stretching its little cramped body
To break open the shell and be born-
Bulbs pushing up through dirt,
And death comes too,
Beside the fresh life, and nourishes it-
Dead leaves,
Sprouts that cannot survive in the shadow of their 
Counterparts-
The END of frost and the cold.

As always, it's all mixed up,
And the cycle goes around.
The end is the beginning,
And the beginning is 
The end. 

I'm just here.