tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82702070566852162802024-03-13T23:19:01.126-04:00Daily Enlightenments: Nathalie W. HerrmanFood for the Spirit and the Mind ~:~:~:~
Personal Blog Clarion Award Winner!Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comBlogger2749125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-70686735191216911112021-06-29T22:14:00.002-04:002021-06-29T22:14:58.871-04:00END OF AN ERA<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">OK..., here it is... the final blog on blog spot.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The first one was February 12th, 2011, and almost every weekday since then... </div><div style="text-align: center;">It's been a long time.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And I'm going to let Walt Whitman close it down for me.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I discovered him in college and have always found his writing to be</div><div style="text-align: center;">Lyrical, and also inspiring, and pointing to TRUTH... so...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's Walt:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>"You are asking me questions and I hear you,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>I answer that I cannot answer, you must find out for yourself.</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Sit a while dear son,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Here are biscuits to eat and here is milk to drink,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>But as soon as you sleep and renew yourself in sweet clothes, </i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>I kiss you with a goodbye kiss and open the gate for your egress hence.</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Long enough have you dream'd contemptible dreams,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Now I wash the gum from your eyes,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light and of every moment of your life.</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Long have you timidly waded holding a plank by the shore,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Now I will you to be a bold swimmer,</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>To jump off in the midst of the sea, rise again, nod to me, shout, and</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>Laughingly dash with your hair."</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">That's all, folks!</div><div style="text-align: center;">PEACE OUT.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Sign up <a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE </a>to get the blog in the new way... </span></b></div></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-39678798311926611362021-06-28T23:09:00.000-04:002021-06-28T23:09:23.685-04:00GARDEN PHILOSOPHY<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"My garden is my favorite teacher."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Betsy Canas Garmon ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">I have never lived in a place long enough to see how the gardens I plant</div><div style="text-align: center;">Work out over time...</div><div style="text-align: center;">And now I am leaving a new batch of profuse plantings at our farm in Virginia-</div><div style="text-align: center;">Another leaving-</div><div style="text-align: center;">But so many of them are massive already!</div><div style="text-align: center;">There are Hollyhocks 9 feet tall!</div><div style="text-align: center;">And other plants that were thriving last year are rather smothered out this year</div><div style="text-align: center;">By the aggressive growing of neighbor plants that are on a roll.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Some things thrive in a garden, some get eaten mercilessly by bugs, or deer,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And others die.</div><div style="text-align: center;">But it's a never ending evolution of gracious harmony in the growing and the thriving and the dying</div><div style="text-align: center;">All mixed with God's grace.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Plants experience the journey of life just like we do!</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Google is making changes.</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">If you want to continue to receive this blog in your email box after Wednesday, you need to </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: #2b00fe;">SIGN UP <a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a>!</span></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-63813345327941725792021-06-27T17:17:00.002-04:002021-06-27T17:17:32.238-04:00WHAT KIND OF GOODBYE?<div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>"So long, fare thee well,</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Pip, pip, cheerio..."</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>~ Oliver ~</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Goodbyes come in all shapes and sizes.<br />There's goodbye with relief,<br />Goodbye with despair.<br />Goodbye for now, goodbye forever,<br />And goodbye until we meet again whenever that may be...<br />There are phone goodbyes,<br />In person goodbyes,<br />Quick ones, long ones, <br />Ones with smiles,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Ones with tears...<br />And we are reaching a goodbye here.<br />After ten and a half years, only 2 more days of these blogs in this way.<br />Will it be goodbye forever when it's done?<br />Or see you tomorrow in a new way?<br />You have a choice.<br />To see you tomorrow, meaning after Wednesday, sign up <a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a>. <br />And if it's goodbye forever, then happy trails to you, and glad </div><div style="text-align: center;">We got to stop a while together</div><div style="text-align: center;">On this path called </div><div style="text-align: center;">Life. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b><b><i>I decide how I say goodbye. </i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-33483117734273574172021-06-24T22:05:00.004-04:002021-06-24T22:05:47.510-04:00OPENING WIDE<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Intuition... points the way."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Florence Scovel Shinn ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;">Following flowing energy can satisfy the spirit more</div><div style="text-align: center;">Than checking items off a strategized, prioritized to-do list.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting things done is one thing,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And opening wide to life's curiosities and invitations </div><div style="text-align: center;">Quite another. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I look to see and feel to know.</i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-35397140515076265432021-06-23T21:53:00.001-04:002021-06-23T21:53:20.984-04:00THE BEAR<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"We only part to meet again."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ John Gay ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">A bear crossed the road in front of me as I came around a corner and</div><div style="text-align: center;">Down a hill, </div><div style="text-align: center;">And, it being a quiet country road with no one behind me,</div><div style="text-align: center;">I stopped, and rolled down the car window to</div><div style="text-align: center;">Check him out: a big bear with lustrous black fur...</div><div style="text-align: center;">And he stopped too,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And turned his head to check <i>me </i>out.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We sat there together </div><div style="text-align: center;">Looking at each other</div><div style="text-align: center;">In this extended </div><div style="text-align: center;">PAUSE... </div><div style="text-align: center;">And then I eased forward in the car, he turned and started moving off into the woods.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the moment was over.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Driving away, I felt shifted by it, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Gifted by it,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And one with </div><div style="text-align: center;">Life. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Our days are a series of magical encounters. </i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-91957316799207821572021-06-22T18:43:00.007-04:002021-06-22T18:53:42.020-04:00MAKING SENSE<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Logic: The art of thinking and reasoning in strict accordance with the limitations and incapacities of the human misunderstanding."</i></b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Ambrose Bierce ~</i></b></div></b><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">When things don't make sense to us, it's natural to want </div><div style="text-align: center;">To find an explanation or a "reason"</div><div style="text-align: center;">That will make them</div><div style="text-align: center;">Make sense....</div><div style="text-align: center;">At least to our brains, if not our hearts. </div><div style="text-align: center;">It's because of this, and that.</div><div style="text-align: center;">"Oh, ok."</div><div style="text-align: center;">It always feels better when things make sense.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And yet, so many things-</div><div style="text-align: center;">And people-</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just</div><div style="text-align: center;">Don't.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>I'd rather admit to not understanding than forcing logic onto something that is intrinsically non-sensical. </i></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span><span><span style="color: #990000;">IF YOU WANT TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THIS BLOG IN YOUR EMAIL INBOX AFTER NEXT WEDNESDAY, SIGN UP</span><span style="color: #2b00fe;"> </span></span><a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" style="color: #2b00fe;" target="_blank">HERE</a><span style="color: #2b00fe;">!</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-15520954547978814422021-06-20T21:44:00.003-04:002021-06-20T21:44:16.608-04:00SHOWING UP<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Silentness is not silence."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Jose Garcia Villa ~ </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">We can be carried along pretty merrily by life,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And be feeling pretty good:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Solid, confident,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And then something comes along to derail us.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It never fails.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the only thing to do then is to</div><div style="text-align: center;">Feel the feelings.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Identify the misperceptions,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Remember who we really are, and</div><div style="text-align: center;">Keep showing up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I watch myself being disturbed, and trust the learning that will come. </i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-25400458501429919282021-06-17T18:34:00.000-04:002021-06-17T18:34:21.370-04:00THE NEW VIEW<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"You beautiful trees! I love every one of you as a friend."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Lucy Maud Montgomery ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">I used to long for expansive mountain views</div><div style="text-align: center;">That stretched on and on and on...</div><div style="text-align: center;">The broad rolling skyline!</div><div style="text-align: center;">And it is exquisite, for sure.</div><div style="text-align: center;">But the view I prefer to live with these days </div><div style="text-align: center;">Is closer in,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Feels secure and lovely in a way the </div><div style="text-align: center;">Big mountain view does not.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Light through leaves and pine needles,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Dappled, luminous, soothing, and</div><div style="text-align: center;">Kind. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Home feels like a hug. </i></b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-67568356418214149232021-06-16T19:14:00.003-04:002021-06-22T19:16:26.330-04:00INTEGRITY<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Hold integrity sacred."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ The Myrtle, January, 1884 ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Doing what we say we will do,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Being on time,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Responding to inquiries from business associates and friends,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Saying please and thank you-</div><div style="text-align: center;">These simple things make all the difference.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Without them, the world stumbles and lurches,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And it becomes irritating and nearly impossible to get things done.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Integrity is the force that </div><div style="text-align: center;">Makes things </div><div style="text-align: center;">Happen with ease. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>You can count on me. </i></b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-78412630866163110832021-06-15T22:36:00.000-04:002021-06-15T22:36:05.035-04:00RIGHT SIZED<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Something it swings on more than the earth I swing on..."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Walt Whitman ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">The thing with arrogance in any form is that </div><div style="text-align: center;">We give ourselves credit for things that are actually</div><div style="text-align: center;">Beyond our personal control.</div><div style="text-align: center;">As such, the boom must fall,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And leave us humbled,</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Re-positioned, and </div><div style="text-align: center;">Right sized,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Admitting that we </div><div style="text-align: center;">Went too far. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I am both more and less influential than I can possibly understand. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-27037870305643090932021-06-14T23:12:00.000-04:002021-06-14T23:12:25.099-04:00ENOUGH<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Infinitely will I trust nature's instincts and promptings."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Muriel Strode ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Sweet.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bitter.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Smooth.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Rough.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hungry.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Angry.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tender.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tough.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Loving.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Laughing.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Crying.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Stuffed.</div><div style="text-align: center;">However we are,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Is perfectly</div><div style="text-align: center;">Enough.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I accept the way life moves through me.</i></b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-71590555783535426002021-06-13T22:18:00.001-04:002021-06-14T10:40:58.771-04:00HAPPENINGS<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"The why and wherefore passeth human understanding. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>That's just the way the Lord's got it arranged."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Cid Ricketts Summer</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Days, meals, meetings, phone calls, crises...</div><div style="text-align: center;">They all just happen the way they happen.</div><div style="text-align: center;">No amount of wanting guarantees any particular kind of outcome.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I accept the unfolding adventure of life.</i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-69722862100933930102021-06-10T22:40:00.002-04:002021-06-10T22:49:20.399-04:00CUSTOMER SERVICE<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Humor is the good natured side of a truth."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Mark Twain ~ </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">A while ago, I booked a flight to Los Angeles to see my son, Nick,</div><div style="text-align: center;">On an airline I have found to be pleasant and reliable.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Last week, I received an email from them telling me that my return flight has been changed</div><div style="text-align: center;">And now,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Instead of getting in at 4pm I will be getting in at midnight,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Which is not the end of the world, but not exactly convenient,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And I still have a fair bit of time before the trip so I called today to talk to someone.</div><div style="text-align: center;">When I asked the computer voice if I could please speak to an agent,</div><div style="text-align: center;">I was transferred to another computer voice that let me know I was in the cue,</div><div style="text-align: center;">and very pleasantly mentioned that the wait time would be approximately</div><div style="text-align: center;">Six hours and eight minutes.</div><div style="text-align: center;">I hung up the phone and burst out laughing.</div><div style="text-align: center;">What else is there to do at that point?</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>When life is preposterous, which it often is, I can be amused by it.</i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i>I don't have to let it twist me into knots. </i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;">*NOTE*</div><div style="text-align: center;">If you want to receive this blog in your email box after July 1st</div><div style="text-align: center;">You need to sign up</div><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a></div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-55616607379272272322021-06-09T21:58:00.001-04:002021-06-09T22:04:19.608-04:00THE WAY IT IS<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"> <b><i>"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid."</i></b></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Frederick Buechner ~</i></b></div></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">The quote above is TRUE in that</div><div style="text-align: center;">Beautiful and terrible things DO happen,</div><div style="text-align: center;">All the time, to each of us...</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sometimes both in the same day.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And somehow, all of it plays out.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Always.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">So, in hindsight, no need for fear.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We survive. We evolve. We pick ourselves up</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">And become useful to others who </div><div style="text-align: center;">Come along behind.</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are resilient, and our pain makes us beautiful,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And grows us in compassion,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And throughout it all,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Known to us, or</div><div style="text-align: center;">Unbeknownst,</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are carried</div><div style="text-align: center;">And filled</div><div style="text-align: center;">With the Grace of</div><div style="text-align: center;">God. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Living is life, and life is up and down and all around. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*NOTE*</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you want to continue to receive this blog in your email box after July 1st, </div><div style="text-align: center;">you need to sign up </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.</div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-18815630831438138602021-06-08T18:36:00.000-04:002021-06-08T18:36:30.366-04:00BAGGAGE<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"History is filled with the sound of silken slippers going downstairs and wooden shoes coming up."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Voltaire ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">We come at life so FULL of our history:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Trusting or suspicious,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Dragging or lightly,</div><div style="text-align: center;">With happiness or dread.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It makes for challenging interactions-</div><div style="text-align: center;">Very few of them </div><div style="text-align: center;">Completely clean or</div><div style="text-align: center;">Clear. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I accept the potentially convoluted history of new people I encounter.</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>*NOTE*</b></div><div style="text-align: center;">If you want to continue to receive this blog in your email box after July 1st, </div><div style="text-align: center;">you need to sign up </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-57389983629815258782021-06-07T21:34:00.003-04:002021-06-07T21:38:31.286-04:00FLOWERING CHANGE<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Chinese Proverb ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Would you miss this blog if you no longer received it?</div><div style="text-align: center;">July 1st, Google Blogspot is disabling the email sending feature,</div><div style="text-align: center;">So to keep getting it, you need to sign up <a href="https://dailyenlightenments.com/">here. </a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I considered stopping writing it,</div><div style="text-align: center;">I considered all kinds of options,</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">And decided on this one. </div><div style="text-align: center;">It's where the energy led me- </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I believe there's value here- and if you do too,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Become a Daily Enlightenment's "Member."</div><div style="text-align: center;">And in the new format, you will get an image every day </div><div style="text-align: center;">To accompany the words... </div><div style="text-align: center;">There will be a couple weeks of blogs posted in both places</div><div style="text-align: center;">And then,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Just there. </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><b><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I gracefully accept the inevitable process of change. </i></b></div></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-81158844590736818192021-06-06T21:54:00.003-04:002021-06-06T21:54:26.005-04:00PARTY INVITATION<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>"I am the sunlight to the soil of my own soul."</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>~ Muriel Strode ~</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">We are so good at fooling ourselves.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's a game we love to play-</div><div style="text-align: center;">We invite energy we don't want and then wonder why it's showing up,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Like announcing a party and then</div><div style="text-align: center;">Being mad and bewildered when the guests</div><div style="text-align: center;">Arrive.</div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i><b>I take responsibility for what I attract. </b></i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-65717057953551276622021-06-03T20:17:00.003-04:002021-06-03T20:24:10.827-04:00HOT OR COLD?<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Cussing the weather is mighty poor farming."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ African American Proverb ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">A butterfly bush that grows 10 feet tall in Santa Fe, New Mexico</div><div style="text-align: center;">Grows 5 feet tall in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania:</div><div style="text-align: center;">Shorter growing season- less sun. </div><div style="text-align: center;">But in the Pocono Mountains, because of so much delicious rain, </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">A pine tree grows 100 feet tall,</div><div style="text-align: center;">While in Santa Fe, it's a shrubby bush.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And we are like that.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Some of us are more vital in the heat, and some in the cold,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Some in the mountains, and some by the beach.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Are we a tumbleweed, or dune grass?</div><div style="text-align: center;">The knowing is inside each one.</div><div style="text-align: center;">It's up to us to answer the invitation.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I don't pretend to be something other than I am. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-88387960957503258602021-06-02T22:05:00.005-04:002021-06-02T22:05:47.118-04:00RISING FROM THE ASHES<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Fire is love and water sorrow."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Proverb ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">When we are burned out,</div><div style="text-align: center;">We are like a forest fire, quenched.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And from this black singed earth grow the </div><div style="text-align: center;">Most impossibly fresh green sprouts.</div><div style="text-align: center;">They are exquisite,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And beautiful,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And new. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Life renews us as it must. </i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-356567269189833542021-06-01T20:58:00.000-04:002021-06-01T20:58:28.253-04:00THE UNKNOWN<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">We claim not to like the unknown,</div><div style="text-align: center;">But if we're honest with ourselves and consider it truly,</div><div style="text-align: center;">I think we will find it's actually quite enjoyable.</div><div style="text-align: center;">If we don't know how something will play out,</div><div style="text-align: center;">We can imagine it going any way we desire,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Any way that pleases us to imagine.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Once it's done, once it's known, there's no more imagining,</div><div style="text-align: center;">There's only the dealing with whatever has happened,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And even if it's rough, or tough, or tragic, there's still fun possible</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the unknown of that.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The game then becomes, what are we going to do now?</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Mystery is a delightful form of play. </i></b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-54568802694162110512021-05-31T18:33:00.002-04:002021-05-31T18:33:49.506-04:00THE RIDDLING QUESTION<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?"</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Rumi ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">We may not be who we think we are.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Our thoughts can be deceiving.</div><div style="text-align: center;">So who <i>are </i>we then?</div><div style="text-align: center;">Why the riddling feeling question?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">It's not graspable by the quantitative mind.<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Become still, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Get quiet,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Drop all the stories and the worries and the stressful fretting.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Drop your attachments.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Drop your history.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Drop your future hopes and dreams. </div><div style="text-align: center;">What remains?</div><div style="text-align: center;">What is it that cannot be dropped?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>It is us. We are it. We are... </i>that. </b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-51732003931953592432021-05-30T15:55:00.000-04:002021-05-30T15:55:07.418-04:00MEMORIAL DAY<div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>"We come to praise our soldiers."</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>~ Francis a Walker ~</b></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Honoring courage today.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Honoring valor.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Honoring the bravery it takes to take a stand.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Honoring honor,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And</div><div style="text-align: center;">Because it's the root and the spirit of all of these things,</div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Though paradoxically,</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Nonetheless empirically,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Honoring </div><div style="text-align: center;">Love. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>Thanks to the ones who stand up. </b></i></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-37250430109554162902021-05-27T18:58:00.000-04:002021-05-27T18:58:22.469-04:00PLANT LIFE <div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"I have found, after a good deal of consideration, that the best place to seek God is in a garden."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Bernard Shaw~ </i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">Sugar Magnolia, Sweet Woodruff, Sweet William, Sweet Annie-</div><div style="text-align: center;">Honeysuckle, Rose.</div><div style="text-align: center;">Tiger Lily, Dogwood, Cattail, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Butterfly Weed. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Trailing, hanging, standing, </div><div style="text-align: center;">Tender, Hardy,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Blazing,</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bulb. </div></div><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Being "garden variety" means we are absolutely unique!</i></b></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-61419480353001294672021-05-26T21:14:00.005-04:002021-05-26T21:14:56.867-04:00THE MIX MASH<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Sorrow like rain makes roses and mud."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Austin O'Malley ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">I am grateful that my mother is ok,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And exhausted for all the emotional trauma that being in the hospital has stirred up in me.</div><div style="text-align: center;">And inspired by her positive attitude,</div><div style="text-align: center;">And sad for her departed lung. </div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>I feel it all.</i></b></div>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8270207056685216280.post-52353826089369369802021-05-25T20:24:00.004-04:002021-05-25T20:34:29.475-04:00THE STRENGTH OF THIS WOMAN<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>"Fall seven times. Stand up eight."</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>~ Japanese Proverb ~</i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;">My Mom is having the lower left lobe of her lung removed </div><div style="text-align: center;">Along with some lymph nodes</div><div style="text-align: center;">Because of cancer cells present.</div><div style="text-align: center;">A week later, after testing the extracted lymph nodes,</div><div style="text-align: center;">We will know what "stage" her cancer falls into.</div><div style="text-align: center;">In the meantime, she is focused on the possibility</div><div style="text-align: center;">Of breaking the record for most post operative laps</div><div style="text-align: center;">Walked around the recovery unit.</div><div style="text-align: center;">The number to beat is 237.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><br /></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>My Mother is one-of-a-kind.</i></b></div><p><br /></p>Nathalie W. Herrmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11096108688255903799noreply@blogger.com