Life | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “Life”

05 May 2016

spring slowly but surely

The trees here are still mostly bare,

their infinite fingers of resolute patience.

They are in no hurry. What will come,

will.
South of here it’s different, and farther north.

But this is here.
On some twigs the tenderest green

emerges, a different green, and fragile

as new things are.
Without yet the singing, buzzing and sweetness

they gather life in near-freezing wind, bare,

or nearly so.
Sap runs. You can’t see it.

Small things underground shift,

and something larger than all this.

Tomorrow is more open than the western sky,

moving.

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

photos above by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

🌾

If you have become ash,

Then wait you become a rose again.

And do not remember how often you have become ash

But how often you were reborn in ashes to a new rose.

🌹

~ Rumi

I’ve been paying attention this spring

my current obsession is

the dogwoods birthing

it’s been a patient process

over the past couple of weeks

it all started with tiny beads on the end of bare branches

every day they appear a bit more

they’re almost fully blooming now

my favorite tree is early in my walk

it’s mainly white with pink centers

but three large branches are pink with white centers

it’s simply beautiful

the magnolias came

and went quickly this year

the weeping cherries

are currently bawling their pink tears

falling in puddles on the ground

I find them on my shoulders

in my hair

This slow spring is reminding me

not to rush

just allow

beauty in all she is

knows herself

everything we love

is always

right on time

🌳

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, Change, confidence, Glory, Growth, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Passion, Patience, soul and spirit, strength, transformation, Trust | Leave a comment

04 May 2016

suddenly

simple

yet so very complex

the layers of this human experience

energy

emotional

baggage

layers

fears

behavior

we struggle with virtues

our humanity

our ego

our need to be accepted

with family dynamics

childhood evils

haunt us

like fairytales

we create stories

we sabotage our own living

trying to heal

to find acceptance

to be loved

to figure out our path

to untangle our pain

our bad choices

the choices of others

our destructive relationships

suddenly after an eternity

a lightening bolt hits

clarity comes

we see why

we let go

we forgive

as fall into a deep pool

of peace

where we begin again

from this place

to build new stories

and make new dreams

this will be our new platform of learning

until it happens again

and again

and so our story unfolds

always leading us towards our best selves

if we will just be open

and do the hard work

of surrender

of resilience

of continuing

of allowing ourselves

of becoming ourselves

knowing we are

strong

and we are each

beloved

❤️

our happiness

was when the

lights were

out

the whole city

in darkness

& we drove north

to our friend’s

yellow apt.

where she had

power & we

could work

later we stayed

in the darkened  apt.

you sick

in bed & me

writing ambitiously

by candle light

in thin blue  books

your neighbor had

a generator &

after a while

we had a little

bit of light

I walked the

dog & you

were still

a little bit  sick

we sat on a stoop

one day

in the  late afternoon

we had very little  money.

enough for

a strong cappuccino

which we shared

sitting there

&  suddenly

the  city was lit.
🌃

our happiness by Eileen Myles

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beliefs, beloved, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, moment, mystery | Leave a comment

03 May 2016

smiling’s my favorite…

Days the weather sits

in the endless sky,

the clouds drifting by.
The winter’s snow,

summer’s heat,

same street.
Nothing changes

but the faces, the people,

all the things they do
‘spite of heaven and hell

or city hall—

Nothing’s wiser than a moment.
No one’s chance

is simply changed by wishing,

right or wrong.
What you do is how you get along.

What you did is all it ever means.

😂

Place to Be by Robert Creeley

My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. – Maya Angelou

😘
Oh yes, this is my motto!!

These four things for the rest of my life:

Passion

Compassion

Humor

Style

Maya is my friend

She knows me well

We are soul connected in so many ways

Thank you, my sister

For your words

Your journey

Your passion

Your choices

I am ever grateful for your teaching

I will do my best to live

the same way you did

within the space I have been given

So my song

will be transformed from

breaking free from my cages

and I will sing my personal song

of freedom

🎼

Don’t leave home without your sense of humor. Don’t come home without it either.

– Robert Moss

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, connection, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, fun, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, music, mystery, Passion, Poetry, Reality | Leave a comment

02 May 2016

1 Comment

blowing in the wind

And you have only just now

accepted the grace!

These fragments of your life,

the broken lines,

the missing phrases,

endings that don’t quite

rhyme, beginnings

that die in non sequitur,

stillborn ellipses

of awkward syntax

silently holding hands

as you disappear

around corners together

alone again, until

suddenly it falls

into place

as a single poem

needing no interpretation

because the mystery

of your beauty fills

all its empty spaces…

☺️

Fred LaMotte

Good poetry begins with

the lightest touch,

a breeze arriving from nowhere,

a whispered healing arrival,

a word in your ear,

a settling into things,

then like a hand in the dark

it arrests the whole body,

steeling you for revelation.
In the silence that follows

a great line

you can feel Lazarus

deep inside

even the laziest, most deathly afraid

part of you,

lift up his hands and walk toward the light.
☄

The Lightest Touch by David Whyte

Posted in awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, Poetry, transformation, Trust, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com

01 May 2016

what if?

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 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…

💞

John O’Donohue
Excerpt from, ‘For the Artist at the Start of Day’

BENEDICTUS (Europe) / TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US (US)

…quietly just now, just one word:

Believe.

Believe the best.

Believe the hard is being worked out for good.

Believe the best is still to come.

Believe in the One who is Best.

Believe. [Mark9:23]

💞

Ann Voskamp @ aholyexperience.com

Posted in Adventure, art, attitude, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beliefs, beloved, Blessing, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, create, Faith, find art at pinterest, Imagine, inspiration, Life, Love, mystery, Poetry | Leave a comment

30 Apr 2016

graceful surrender

Start close in,

don’t take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.
Start with

the ground

you know,

the pale ground

beneath your feet,

your own

way to begin

the conversation.
Start with your own

question,

give up on other

people’s questions,

don’t let them

smother something

simple.
To hear

another’s voice,

your own voice,

wait until

that voice

becomes an

intimate

private ear

that can

then

really listen

to another.
Start right now

take a small step

you can call your own

don’t follow

someone else’s

heroics, be humble

and focused,

start close in,

don’t mistake

that other

for your own.
Start close in,

don’t take

the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.
…

START CLOSE IN by David Whyte

Days of wine and focus

of hanging on

of staying strong

of keeping faith

of sitting still

of being silent

of standing in my own shoes

of letting go

of allowing the mystery

of hearing the call

of accepting what is

of not crossing borders or boundaries

of opening and opening

of trusting the journey

of seeing the face of God

of surrender into something bigger than I can know

of making the daily commitment

of acknowledging the grace

of thanking for everything

of looking for the miracles

of talking to trees

of taking time to prepare

of expressing my thanks

of helping in time of need

of following my own path

of obedience rather than sacrifice

of love and love and love

of all things love

💞

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, confidence, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, healing, intimacy, Joy, Life, Love, soul and spirit, strength, transformation, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

29 Apr 2016

sometimes

Sometimes the wind that strips everything

is the strong breathing of a yes.
The river of life wears away your little island

and bears you somewhere fertile.
Receive the gift only departing can bestow,

the holy not in what is anointed
but in what is next,

the beginning beyond the silence beyond the end.
In thickest darkness is a door felt, not seen.

It gives.
Beside you in confidence

God is uncompleting the journey for you.
Lay your hand on the dark door. A voice

says, “Come, join my becoming.”
__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

There was a definite cracking sound

It came from that place inside

Secret Deep

Like the milky way

Or the center of the earth

Or heaven

More possibly hell

– At least half way to one or all of those places

Like winter ice in the springtime thaw

The sound was unmistakeable

Now i feel it moving outward from that secret place

Like an inchworm

Made of glass

Or razor blades

I wonder if half of me will

suddenly

Melt down onto the floor

Like a bizarre murder in an action movie

Where the camera stays still

watching

to catch

The guy who just got slashed through

From the sword of justice

Looking normal

for suspended moments

Then

Slowly

The smile still on his lips

One piece slides to the floor

While the other stays upright

To the delight

of the eager

bloodthirsty

cheering

audience

All of whom I know

🗡

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, courage, dark, Death, Faith, find art at pinterest, Growth, healing, Letting Go, Life, mystery, soul and spirit, transformation, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

28 Apr 2016

We are here essentially to risk ourselves in the world. We are a form of invitation to others and to otherness, we are meant to hazard ourselves for the right thing, for the right woman or the right man, for a son or a daughter, for the right work or for a gift given against all the odds. And in all this continual risking the most profound courage may be found in the radical and simple willingness to allow ourselves to be happy along the way…

😄

LONGING by David Whyte

It’s not how we leave one’s life.

How we go off the air.

You never know do you.

You think you’re ready

for anything;

then it happens, and you’re not.

You’re really not.

The genesis of an ending, nothing but a feeling,

a slow movement,

the dusting of furniture

with a remnant of the revenant’s shirt.

Seeing the candles sink in their sockets;

we turn away,

yet the music never quits.

The fire kisses our face.

O phthsis, o lotharian dead eye,

no longer will you gaze on the baize of the billiard table.

No more shooting butter dishes out of the sky.

Scattering light.

Between snatches of poetry and penitence

you left the brumal wood of men and women.

Snow drove the butterflies home.

You must know how it goes,

known all along what to expect,

sooner or later …

the faded cadence of anonymity.

Frankly, my dear, frankly, my dear, frankly

💞

Only the Crossing Counts by C. D. Wright

Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down

You could stand me up at the gates of hell

But I won’t back down
Gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around

And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down

Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down
[Chorus:]

Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground

And I won’t back down
Well I know what’s right, I got just one life

In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around

But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down
Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground

And I won’t back down

No, I won’t back down

This day maybe be rough and bloody and heartbreaking but it is here and it is now and it is bursting with untold potential and possibility and our response to it is of utmost, urgent importance.

– Rob Bell

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Choice, connection, courage, determination, do, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, fun, Letting Go, Life, Passion, risk, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

26 Apr 2016

the art

When they say

Don’t I know you?

say no.

When they invite you to the party

remember what parties are like before answering.

 Someone telling you

in a loud voice  they once wrote a poem.

Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.

Then reply.

If they say

We should get together

say why?

It’s not that you don’t love them anymore.

You’re trying to remember

something  too important to forget.

Trees.

The monastery bell at twilight.

Tell them you have a new project.

It will never be finished.

When someone recognizes you in a grocery store

nod briefly

and become a cabbage.

When someone you haven’t seen in ten years

appears at the door,

don’t start singing him all your new songs.

You will never catch up.

Walk around feeling like a leaf.

Know you could tumble any second.

Then decide what to do with your time.

🐧

The Art of Disappearing by Naomi Shihab Nye

there is terrible beauty in every human heart
tell me a story that will live with me forever
love always shares grace always wins
you can’t miss if you show up
pay attention…
the message is always revealed at the appointed intersection
letting go brings the right miracle
at the right time the song playlist repeats
crazy love flows into mystic waters
deep calling to deep
honor chooses to say yes to the best invitations
making the call brings me the messages I need to build the new bridge from the friend bench of this manna-filled moment
there is always more than enough to share
gratitude buckets fill and overflow
removing scales from blurry, tearful, kaleidoscope eyes
as perfect peace falls into rightful place
color shards blooming into new masterpieces of never before seen glory
diamonds dance on the water
flaming beauty evolves, drives me to my knees,
shedding shoes, and fear,
as we talk
I lift my face to the sun and free soar
full wing, open soul, with the gulls,
who always fly in trust, never a shadow of doubt, that they are loved to the sky
right here, and in every tick of time,
in, and in between, every click of the second hand,
around the bend of eternity and back again

🐧

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, forgiveness, Letting Go, Life, Love, Party, Reality | Leave a comment

25 Apr 2016

just pay attention

a poem can write itself in a moment –

a snapshot written in the soul –

a worded,

or wordless,

recognition of beauty,

the endless evolution

and creation,

which surrounds our steps

and walks with us

as we dance through our lives.

A few examples:

the way a weeping cherry tree delicately drapes pink branches

against the blue sky.

the way a jagged cut tree stump

covers itself with luxurious moss

and pours out green English ivy all over the ground around it.

the way the tires of a bulldozer

make such interesting patterns in the sand

on the way to the salt water.

the way dandelions keep on

cheerfully spreading wishes

and polka dot sunshine

no matter how many times they get labeled weeds.

the way the smell of an orange

colors your hands,

long after the fruit is consumed.

the way a great conversation,

of kith and kin,

on any ol’ friends bench,

can take you miles and miles

around the moon

and back again

changing the course of your day,

sometimes,

even your life.

yes, poems are born

in the senses.

no need for pen or paper,

poems are created

while paying attention,

in the heart of

our ordinary,

extraordinary,

living of life.

🍊

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?