Posted in Change, Life, Time, tagged Choice, common things, Discovery, Living, Thought on May 21, 2013 | 6 Comments »
You might be tempted to avoid the messiness of daily living for the tranquility of stillness and peacefulness. This of course would be an attachment to stillness, and like any strong attachment, it leads to delusion. It arrests development and short-circuits the cultivation of wisdom.” ~ Jon Kabat-Zinn
Posted in Change, Life, Time, tagged common things, Living, Reflection, Thought, Time on May 7, 2013 | 9 Comments »
“In the Middle
of a life that’s as complicated as everyone else’s,
struggling for balance, juggling time.
The mantle clock that was my grandfather’s
has stopped at 9:20; we haven’t had time
to get it repaired. The brass pendulum is still,
the chimes don’t ring. One day you look out the window,
green summer, the next, and the leaves have already fallen,
and a grey sky lowers the horizon. Our children almost grown,
our parents gone, it happened so fast. Each day, we must learn
again how to love, between morning’s quick coffee
and evening’s slow return. Steam from a pot of soup rises,
mixing with the yeasty smell of baking bread. Our bodies
twine, and the big black dog pushes his great head between;
his tail is a metronome, 3/4 time. We’ll never get there,
Time is always ahead of us, running down the beach, urging
us on faster, faster, but sometimes we take off our watches,
sometimes we lie in the hammock, caught between the mesh
of rope and the net of stars, suspended, tangled up
in love, running out of time.”
~ Barbara Crooker
Posted in Abundance, Human Spirit, Life, Time, tagged common things, Imagination, Life, Meaning, Reflection, Thought, Time on May 6, 2013 | 4 Comments »
“The universe does not
revolve around you.
The stars and planets spinning
through the ballroom of space
dance with one another
quite outside of your small life.
You cannot hold gravity
or seasons; even air and water
inevitably evade your grasp.
Why not, then, let go?
You could move through time
like a shark through water,
neither restless or ceasing,
absorbed in and absorbing
the native element.
Why pretend you can do otherwise?
The world comes in at every pore,
mixes in your blood before
breath releases you into
the world again. Did you think
the fragile boundary of your skin
could build a wall?
Listen. Every molecule is humming
its particular pitch.
Of course you are a symphony.
Whose tune do you think
the planets are singing
as they dance?”
~ Lynn Ungar
Posted in Life, Nature, Time, tagged Choice, common things, Hope, Reflection, Smile, Thought, Time on April 23, 2013 | 2 Comments »
“Out of a hundred people
those who always know better
– fifty-two
doubting every step
– nearly all the rest,
glad to lend a hand
if it doesn’t take too long
– as high as forty-nine,
always good
because they can’t be otherwise
– four, well maybe five,
able to admire without envy
– eighteen,
suffering illusions
induced by fleeting youth
– sixty, give or take a few,
not to be taken lightly
– forty and four,
living in constant fear
of someone or something
– seventy-seven,
capable of happiness
– twenty-something tops,
harmless singly, savage in crowds
– half at least,
cruel
when forced by circumstances
– better not to know
even ballpark figures,
wise after the fact
– just a couple more
than wise before it,
taking only things from life
– thirty
(I wish I were wrong),
hunched in pain,
no flashlight in the dark
– eighty-three
sooner or later,
righteous
– thirty-five, which is a lot,
righteous
and understanding
– three,
worthy of compassion
– ninety-nine,
mortal
– a hundred out of a hundred.
Thus far this figure still remains unchanged.”
~ Wislawa Szymborska
Posted in Abundance, Life, Success, Time, tagged Abundance, Being, common things, Living, Meaning, Thought, Time on April 11, 2013 | 4 Comments »
“I would be the most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.” ~ Anna Quindlen
Posted in Abundance, Life, tagged common things, Discovery, Living, Meaning, Reflection, Thought on April 4, 2013 | 2 Comments »
“I don’t know where prayers go,
or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep
half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it
crosses the street?
The sunflower? The old black oak
growing older every year?
I know I can walk through the world,
along the shore or under the trees,
With my mind filled with things
of little importance, in full
self-attendance. A condition I can’t really
call being alive.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.
While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
Just outside my door, with my notebook open,
Which is the way I begin every moning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t why. And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
Or whatever you don’t. That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be
if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.”
~ Mary Oliver
Posted in Human Spirit, Life, Time, tagged common things, Living, Reflection, Solitude, Thought, Time on March 5, 2013 | 5 Comments »
“To move
Cleanly.
Needing to be
Nowhere else.
Wanting nothing
From any store.
To lift something
You already had
And set it down in
A new place.
Awakened eye
Seeing freshly.
What does that do to
The old blood moving through
Its channels?”
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
Posted in Joy, Life, Nature, Time, tagged Beauty, common things, Letting-go, Meaning, Thought, Time on March 1, 2013 | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Abundance, Human Spirit, Life, Nature, Time, tagged Being, common things, Discovery, Hope, Letting-go, Reflection, Thought, Worry on January 23, 2013 | 2 Comments »
“People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.” ~ Meister Eckhart
Posted in Human Spirit, Nature, Time, tagged common things, Dreams, Living, Reflection, Smile, Time on January 11, 2013 | 1 Comment »
“Time will come, time will go
Time shall reap, that time has sown
Time comes slowly, time goes fast
Time will linger, time outlasts
Time sees all, time knows best
Time remembers, time never forgets
Time will hide, time will reveal
Time will open, time will seal
Time brings hope, time brings fear
Time brings distance, time draws near
Time will help, time will hinder
Time will shine, time turns to cinder
We forget about time, yet it’s all we would know
In time, there is everything, and time will show”
~ Nate Hawk
