Happiness | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “Happiness”

04 Dec 2015

peace places

A sense of place results gradually and unconsciously from inhabiting a landscape over time, becoming familiar with its physical properties, accruing history within its confines.- Kent Rydon

Photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

🌀

I have abandoned the dream kitchens for a low fire

and a prescriptive literature of the spirit;

a storm snores on the desolate sea.

The nearest shop is four miles away—

when I walk there through the shambles

of the morning for tea and firelighters

the mountain paces me in a snow-lit silence.

My days are spent in conversation

with deer and blackbirds;

at night fox and badger gather at my door.

I have stood for hours

watching a salmon doze in the tea-gold dark,

for months listening to the sob story

of a stone in the road, the best,

most monotonous sob story I have ever heard.
I am an expert on frost crystals

and the silence of crickets, a confidant

of the stinking shore, the stars in the mud—

there is an immanence in these things

which drives me, despite my scepticism,

almost to the point of speech,

like sunlight cleaving the lake mist at morning

or when tepid water

runs cold at last from the tap.
I have been working for years

on a four-line poem

about the life of a leaf;

I think it might come out right this winter.

🌀
The Mayo Tao by Derek Mahon
Curator’s note: “Mayo” refers to the County Mayo, in western Ireland.

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, community, connection, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Glory, Happiness, healing, intimacy, Letting Go, mystery, Prayer, quiet, Reflection | Leave a comment

03 Dec 2015

timing be everything…just wait and see

walking while waiting…not holding onto the breath…finding the shallow end of the pool, gliding full body under the water…raising expectations while others wonder , slightly wandering , forgetting to remember is not an option while the day is so bright…finding fashion foolishly delightful, while taking ones shoes off …holy hours become …earth and flesh blown open , .birthing beyond time and space, then settling into the sunroom for hot peach tea and a tiny croissant…such a simple remedy while walking and waiting…
Beauty,

Donna Knutson

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23 Nov 2015

I am so much more than I ever thought I was – Sherri Yerkes (speaking from the heart)

So several weeks ago now, Robin Ok called to connect on the upcoming Creative Collaborative Retreat 2015.

http://www.creativecollaborativeretreats.com

I still remember her words, “I signed you up for some things that you can say ‘no’ to these if you want….

How exciting! My heart already was saying a great, big, fat ‘yes’ – before I even heard the list, which ended with a session on poetry!

Oh joy!!! YES!!! Ideas poured in…

The retreat weekend came – 13-15 of this month and it was everything, and more, than expected!

Beautiful, powerful, connecting, art-full, musical, spiritual, abundant, accepting, empowering – on-and-on I can, and will, go. I was overwhelmed with love and joy on many levels, but my greatest bit of on-going-bursting-out-all-over joy is from my poetry session.

New words were framed, created, brought out of heart-hiding into beings of light, onto old inspiring paper and into the hearts reading and listening. We shared our poems at the end of the hour – no one left with dry hearts or eyes.

Poems (words) are living things. They touch us, heal us, bring us joy and create space inside us as we bring forward what was inside and allow new thoughts to be born, creativity always creates anew inside and outside of ourselves. We give to receive and in receiving we give back again.

This magic has taken root in some great and powerful ways, I am so amazed at the beauty, the power, the courage, the immensity of these poets – new and seasoned veterans – all old souls.

I am so grateful to have been able to share this session, which helped connect these amazing, gifted women with their inner, living, beautiful poetry. I believe poetry lives inside each of us. The need for beauty is essential for us to live, discovering, excavating that beauty is our life-long, ever-changing, most-challenging and surprising gift.

Check out Barbara Endel’s new, amazing poetry blog –

https://poetintrainingblog.wordpress.com

🔥

This poem came to me yesterday…kinda summed it all up:

Our poems

Are like the wart-hogs

In the zoo

It’s hard to say

Why there should be such creatures
But once our life gets into them

As sometimes happens

Our poems

Turn into living things

And there’s no arguing

With living things

They are

The way they are
Our poems

May be rough

Or delicate

Little

Or great
But always

They have inside them

A confluence of cries

And secret languages
And always

They are improvident

And free

They keep

A kind of Sabbath
They play

On sooty fire escapes

And window ledges
They wander in and out

Of jails and gardens

They sparkle

In the deep mines

They sing

In breaking waves

And rock like wooden cradles.

💞

Living Things by Anne Porter

Living in astonished and passionate gratitude for each of you. Thank you for allowing me to inspire you…thank you for inspiring me!

If you do nothing Nothing will be done.

Sounds like we should know this,

right?

It’s just fascinating to me to see

the result of a decision to create a newsletter dedicated to good news,

then to commit to creating that publication for one full year.

8 full years later,

as I ended that project,

to make way for new projects,

there were over 135 issues

on a website devoted to that good-news thing.

4 years ago I decided to begin a daily poetry and quotes blog,

I now have almost 2000 blog posts.

December 2012, I committed to a poem a day.

11 months later,

I had over 700 poems written.

It’s crazy cool!

And it has been a huge lesson to me,

Dreams and Ideas are great,

but only the commitment, focus

and actually acting on the idea,

will call it forth into the world.

All those words, ideas and poems would still be inside me somewhere,

if I had not said, yes, to DOING it.

Nothing gets done without the work.

Intention and action go together

in order to build the house,

in order to change the world.

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Blog, Choice, connection, courage, create, Encouragement, Faith, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Happiness, inspiration, intimacy | Leave a comment

22 Nov 2015

a graceful feeling

Anything that you learn becomes your wealth, a wealth that cannot be taken away from you; whether you learn it in a building called school or in the school of life. To learn something new is a timeless pleasure and a valuable treasure. And not all things that you learn are taught to you, but many things that you learn you realize you have taught yourself.

― C. JoyBell

I spent my weekend with my amazing friends, Kitt, Mike, Rebecca and Christian Haberman, in Louisville.

I sum this powerful time of connection and sharing with this:

I learned things. Lots of beautiful things. Things I will have with me always. (Happy Sigh) I am so grateful for all of the great people I have in my life.

I stayed in the room below (Lesley Haberman being all grown up and off in college) and got ready with these messages before me, reminding me, filling my heart. Messages written by a beautiful, teenage girl to remind herself….remember…remember..

💞

Thank you, Lesley, thank you Haberman Family. Love is so very good to us!

What a beautiful world…

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Choice, commitment, community, connection, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, Freedom, friendship, grace, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, Happiness, healing, inspiration, Life, Love | Leave a comment

14 Nov 2015

da da da dada

I’m not asking for permission
tho I thank you for your good intentions in the giving

I surrender to

life

voice

purpose

passion

healing

love

music

breath

spirit

joy

peace

you do what you want

with, or without, permission,

I won’t mind

just remember:

I won’t go down without a fight

da da da dada

da da da dada da da da da…

just play your funky music

and keep on dancing

💞

(with a little inspiration from my friends)

Listen to Serenity Fisher sing Rose Red

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, commitment, confidence, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Habits, Happiness, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, music, Passion, Poetry, power | Leave a comment

11 Nov 2015

when you’re ready

Again I resume the long
lesson: how small a thing

can be pleasing, how little

in this hard world it takes

to satisfy the mind

and bring it to its rest.
With the ongoing havoc

the woods this morning is

almost unnaturally still.

Through stalled air, unshadowed

light, a few leaves fall

of their own weight.
The sky

is gray. It begins in mist

almost at the ground

and rises forever. The trees

rise in silence almost

natural, but not quite,

almost eternal, but

not quite.
What more did I

think I wanted? Here is

what has always been.

Here is what will always

be. Even in me,

the Maker of all this

returns in rest, even

to the slightest of His works,

a yellow leaf slowly

falling, and is pleased.

💜

Sabbaths 1999, VII by Wendell Berry

The sky in my rearview

is a huge bowl of rainbow sherbet

the beautiful kind

with raspberry, orange-n-lime

swatches of lemon, indigo and periwinkle

float like barges –

in, out

around.

Framing.

Dancing.

Living.

At one point tangerine fills the top of the hilly crest

and head light stars

blaze brilliant against the backdrop

indigo stretched above framing the masterpiece.

At times I find it hard to keep moving forward

into the matte gray of the sky just ahead.

so much loveliness is going on

right behind me

how can I keep heading away from it?

How can I not be a part of this splendor?

Eventually midnight blue seizes its moment of glory,

then night falls over all

and I am left

aching with the beauty,

the majesty,

the extravagant display,

of this wonderful world.

I go to wondering

if this longing for your kiss

will ever be answered?

if my whole life I will wait

for a moment which has already passed,

never to be again under this piece of sky.

always a whisper.

The magic of love,

a thing with wings

hovering over my heart

for years

echoing on into eternity.

💞

Posted in art, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Change, compassion, confidence, connection, courage, create, determination, find art at pinterest, Growth, Habits, Happiness, healing, laugh, Letting Go, Love, mystery, Passion, Patience, perceptions, Relationships | Leave a comment

07 Nov 2015

just a thought

My life was the size of my life.

Its rooms were room-sized,

its soul was the size of a soul.

In its background, mitochondria hummed,

above it sun, clouds, snow,

the transit of stars and planets.

It rode elevators, bullet trains,

various airplanes, a donkey.

It wore socks, shirts, its own ears and nose.

It ate, it slept, it opened

and closed its hands, its windows.

Others, I know, had lives larger.

Others, I know, had lives shorter.

The depth of lives, too, is different.

There were times my life and I made jokes together.

There were times we made bread.

Once, I grew moody and distant.

I told my life I would like some time,

I would like to try seeing others.

In a week, my empty suitcase and I returned.

I was hungry, then, and my life,

my life, too, was hungry, we could not keep

our hands off our clothes on

our tongues from

💃🏻

My Life Was the Size of My Life by Jane Hirshfield

… and if what I desperately think I want doesn’t happen…God, and life, are still good…
😘

Posted in attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, courage, grace, Gratitude, Happiness, healing, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, Passion | Leave a comment

31 Oct 2015

tricky

So, I’ve been thinking about discipline- you know, the thing we think we need to find if we are going to do the things we know are good for us (like eating well, exercise, daily meditation etc.) I can clamp down with my will and pick up those aspirations daily- but at times it just feels like endless work, and sooner or later I run out of steam.
So lately, I’ve been trying something different. Instead of berating myself and insisting that today (or tomorrow) I will dig deep and find the necessary discipline, I’ve been thinking about giving myself gifts.
As in- today, I’m giving myself the gift of taking a walk in the autumn leaves, of taking my time in prayer and meditation, of making a wonderful stew for dinner. If I can keep my attitude in the range of doing something kind for myself (as opposed to doing something I think I “should” do) not only is it easier to create good self-care, it becomes about receiving that care with gratitude.
And that’s just a more enjoyable way to receive the gift of this day.

~Oriah

Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Go beg for it.’ I didn’t know what to do! I’d knock on people’s doors and go, ‘Trick or treat.’ ‘No thank you.’

– Rita Rudner

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, be, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, grace, Growth, Habits, Happiness, Happy Holiday!, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, nature, power, Relationships | Leave a comment

26 Oct 2015

so glad to see you

When it’s time for souls to meet, there’s nothing on earth that can prevent them from meeting, no matter where each may be located. When two hearts are meant for each other, no distance is too far, no time is too long, and no other love can break them apart.

– Jaime Lichauco

Then came a moment of renaissance,

I looked up – you again are there,

A fleeting vision, the quintessence

Of all that`s beautiful and rare.

– Alexander Pushkin

Don’t be afraid to be fully seen,

for you are God’s Beloved.

Seek to truly see others as God’s Beloved.

It is the light that re-creates us.

__________________

 Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Sōetsu Yanagi, founder of Japan’s modern craft movement, defines beauty as that which gives unlimited scope to the imagination; beauty is a source of imagination, he says, that never dries up. A thing so attractive and absorbing may not be pretty or pleasant. It could be ugly, in fact, and yet seize the soul as beautiful in a special sense…luring the heart into profound and endless imagination.
– Thomas Moore (edited)

May morning be astir with the harvest of night;
Your mind quickening to the eros of a new question,

Your eyes seduced by some unintended glimpse

That cut right through the surface to a source.
May this be a morning of innocent beginning,

When the gift within you slips clear

Of the sticky web of the personal

With its hurt and its hauntings,

And fixed fortress corners,
A Morning when you become a pure vessel

For what wants to ascend from silence,
May your imagination know

The grace of perfect danger,
To reach beyond imitation,

And the wheel of repetition,
Deep into the call of all

The unfinished and unsolved
Until the veil of the unknown yields

And something original begins

To stir toward your senses

And grow stronger in your heart
In order to come to birth

In a clean line of form,

That claims from time

A rhythm not yet heard,

That calls space to

A different shape.
May it be its own force field

And dwell uniquely

Between the heart and the light
To surprise the hungry eye

By how deftly it fits

About its secret loss.
💞
For the Artist at the Start of Day by John O’Donohue

Yes, SI, this is for you…

💞

Listen to Joe Cocker sing You Are So Beautiful

photos found at http://www.pinterest.com 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Happiness, healing, intimacy, Joy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, Passion, Relationships | Leave a comment

24 Sep 2015

becoming one

The sojourning spirit is deep within each of us, if we’d listen, but it is not fundamentally about finding ‘the job’ or ‘the voice’ or ‘the degree’ or ‘the position’. The journey, at least as I know it, is a journey to union. It is a journey from fragmentation to wholeness, a journey from exile to home, a journey from attachment to union, a journey from hiding to “being hidden” in Christ, a journey from neurosis to theosis. – Chuck deGroat