THE FAMILIAR

"Knowledge is fuel, not fire."

~ Walter Moxon ~

What's familiar has a strong pull.

It feels safer than what's new somehow,

Even if it isn't necessarily safer...

And so often, it seems we would rather endure than explore,

And know what to expect, even if we don't particularly like it,

Than have no expectations at all.

I am open to the mystery. 

NEVER BEEN THERE, NEVER DONE THAT

"Suppose, however thickly evils crowd upon you, that your unconquerable subjectivity proves to be their match, and that you find a more wonderful joy than any passive pleasure can bring in trusting ever in the larger whole."

~ William James ~

In familiar places, we slip into old habits like sliding our foot

into a comfortable slipper.

The fit feels natural.

But much as we believe in things being "the same"

There is a constantly shifting inner landscape at play,

And an external world that reflects that inner movement.

We expect the same, and it feels different, so

We find ourselves at a loss.

Perhaps, the habit to cultivate is one of

Ever new seeing-

Committing to fresh sight,

To actively looking for the UNfamiliar

And actively feeling it.

That way, life never gets stale,

And we remain amazed 

at the variety

Of experience out there.

I never think I know it all. 

PERMISSION

"It's ok. It's ok. It's ok."

~ Debi Roemer ~

It's ok to feel sad.

It's ok to feel angry.

It's ok to be afraid,

Worried,

Frustrated,

Overwhelmed.

It's ok to have high hopes

And nightmares both.

It's ok to live big, and

It's ok to live small.

It's ok to like the cold.

It's ok to like the heat.

And it's ok to like them both, or

Not like them both.

It's ok to be busy or 

Still.

It's ok to want things.

It's ok not to want for things.

It's ok to be colorful, neutral, spicy, or

Bland.

It's all part of the living experience, and

If we're not dead, then

We're living.

We're ALIVE!

It's ok. It's ok. It's ok. 

CHAOS

"Beauty is something wonderful and strange that the artist fashions out of the chaos of the world."

~ Somerset Maugham ~

Chaos is not very grounding,

but it's necessary.

It breaks things up-

Shatters them apart-

Creates space and

Fresh ground

For new growth

Like sprouts in the forest after a wildfire:

Green and lush. 

I accept the messiness that comes with the living experience. 

INTO BLISS

"Ad astra per aspera (To the stars through difficulty)."

~ Latin Saying ~

Before we come out in the light

It's as if we need to pass through a kind of birth canal.

We have to give birth to our self.

Labor pains, tears, doubt, fear-

All of these need to be melted somehow-

Dissolved,

As we pass and strain into

No strain,

Into peace,

Into stillness,

Into 

Bliss.

I journey through the passages of my perceptions and conditioning. 

WHAT'S NEEDED

"We must not tamper with the organic motion of the soul."

~ RW Emerson ~

There are times to rally community support,

To include others in our intentions

And hopes,

And dreams.

And then,

There are some things 

We just have to do

Alone. 

The soul's journey is at times a private one. It lets us know. 

NO HELPING IT

"I'm sorry to say so

but, sadly, it's true

that Bang-ups

and Hang-ups

can happen to you."

~ Dr Seuss ~

Sometimes life is just emotionally messy.

There's no helping it.

The good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, the exciting, the overwhelm,

The serenity, the despair...

It's all mixed up and sloshes through the body

Like water on the bottom of a rowboat

Lurching back and forth

In the wake of big waves.

Sometimes, that's just the way it is.