Archive for the category “soul and spirit”

30 May 2015

who ya gonna be?

#363 curiosity

One day, many years ago,

I realized how little I knew

about life

about the world

about God

about love

about relationships

about nature

about cultures

about people

about learning

about how things work

about myself

about pretty much everything.
Yes, one day the full impact hit me

of how small my understanding

really is,

and it changed my life.

I became aware.
I became aware that I could choose,

even though no one gave me permission.

It hit me – that all the people,

who had told me they had the complete truth,

and so I should just believe them,

couldn’t possibly ALL be right.

I also realized, very importantly, most of them were not people I wanted my life to emulate.
So, maybe, living wasn’t about being right, or perfect.

Maybe life was about being open, learning about each other,

about helping each other.

Maybe love really was about unconditional,

whatever that truly meant.

Maybe life was about trying…

anything…everything

that I found intriguing,

or felt my soul drawn to.
And so I opened myself to this new way

of thinking,

of being,

of seeing.

I became curious.

I became open.

I became dogmatic –

about NOT being dogmatic.

I removed the words,

‘I’m right’ and ‘I can’t’ and ‘impossible’ from my vocabulary.

I fought my automatic judgements….

still one of my biggest daily battles….

I keep making that choice.

I fought to improve only myself,

to forgive myself,

to keep learning the hard way,

it is my choice.

I sought to tell, and live, my ever-evolving truth,

holding that truth lightly in open, adoring hands,

always allowing myself to be wrong without shame,

allowing for changes without despising the learning,

I am ever-so-happy when I make that choice!

I battled to take responsibility

for my thoughts and actions,

Always adjusting, making new choices.

Staying aware.

Being honest.

Making lots of mistakes,

Life is very messy at times.

I’ve lost a lot.

I’ve gained more than I lost.
At some point, along the way,

I became convinced, at least for me,

this was the only way to truly live.

The mystery keeps getting bigger.

I continue to do war with my desire to shut down my heart,

in the face of constant hurts and disappointments.

I keep letting go.

Opening, always opening.

Each step has become a miracle moment.

Each opening leads me to open more.

I have come to see everything is grace.

I have come to understand the extreme value,

of each human soul,

of being vulnerable,

of being human,

of just being.

I have made the commitment to the path of curiosity,

not because I will ever learn it all,

but because I won’t.

Yet, I am aware, that there is infinite learning at my fingertips,

and I want as much as I can get,

to go as high as I can go,

to know as much

of God,

and Mystery,

and life itself,

as I am able.
One day, not very long ago, I found the words of poet, Mary Oliver.

She gives these brilliant life instructions,

pay attention.

be astonished.

tell about it.

Yes, that has been my path.

As Einstein said,

I have no special talents –

I’m just passionately curious.

I add to that:

I have completely fallen in love with life!

I’ve grown fabulously addicted to seeing the holy miracles all around me.

I am so blessed, so full, so grateful!

I can’t help wanting to share

the path of this glorious adventure,

with others who love it too –

and so,

though I’ve been accused of talking too much,

more than a few times, in my life,

I’ll just keep on…

because, I’ve found,

all voices are beautiful –

in their own way.

Listen to my friend, Barbara McAfee sing Who Ya Gonna Be? http://youtu.be/Xf5BJgOmBd8

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, Change, Choice, commitment, courage, create, find art at pinterest, Happiness, Impossible, Letting Go, Life, Love, Passion, soul and spirit | Leave a comment

27 May 2015

on growing strong bones

backbones get built

vertebrae by vertebrae

with every victory

with every heartache

with every triumph

with every shattering

with each awakening
they become sturdy

bearing the weight of new consciousness

embodying self-love

strengthened, emboldened
yet still flexible, yet still able

to make flowing and fluid movement

undulating with pulsing life

able to stand firm in the face of a challenge or adversity
backbones don’t magically appear because we wish them into being
backbones need nurturing and kindness and discipline and conviction and intention

and desire

to form and develop
they help us be stalwart and valiant

protecting the soft, vulnerable, tender inner parts of our being
robust, hearty boundaries that

don’t cut us off from nourishment — they make sure we’re getting the right kind
the fortitude to love, not blindly, but with courage.

💪🏻💪🏾💪🏽💪🏼💪🏿💪🏼💪

How Backbones Get Built by Eloiza Jorge

https://deepeningwisdom.wordpress.com/2015/05/25/how-backbones-get-built-a-poem/

Never quit. Never. Rest when you need to, then get back up. Strength comes as you walk. Backbones come one good choice at a time.

Listen to Katy Perry sing Roar http://youtu.be/CevxZvSJLk8

photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Change, Choice, commitment, courage, create, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Growth, inspiration, Patience, power, Reflection, Relationships, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

26 May 2015

practice

listen to Kate Earl sing Nobody http://youtu.be/imIxwxpd04E

💑💑💑💑💑💑💑💑

photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Choice, commitment, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, Passion, Patience, Relationships, soul and spirit, touch, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

24 May 2015

The whole world opens when we accept this moment, this very moment.— Deepak Chopra

Consider a tree for a moment. As beautiful as trees are to look at, we don’t see what goes on underground as they grow roots. Trees must develop deep roots in order to grow strong and produce their beauty. But we don’t see the roots. We just see and enjoy the beauty. In much the same way, what goes on inside of us is like the roots of a tree.

– Joyce Meyer

every bridge invites someone to cross it.

– Deepak Chopra
on the shores of my soul

I invite you to come

cross the bridge of love

and sit with me a while

under the old banyan tree

and wonder the possibilities of where our love can lead

the river is wide

from shore to shore

yet, there’s always a bridge of love

we must cross once more

always once more

to reach our home on the distant shore

where we’ll both be safe where fear and war and pain will be no more

and joy resides with us

side by side

🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳🌳

listen to Serenity Fisher sing Fall in Love Again http://youtu.be/Zk388D1MaJA

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Burnign Bridges, Choice, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, intimacy, Love, nature, Relationships, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

23 May 2015

what are you looking for?

When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us. There are people who see only dullness in the world and that is because their eyes have already been dulled. So much depends on how we look at things. The quality of our looking determines what we come to see. – John O’Donohue

Listen to Jason Mraz sing I’m Yours http://youtu.be/wIFh9hYongk

quote photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, determination, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Love, Miracles, mystery, perceptions, soul and spirit, touch, Trust, truth, words, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

20 May 2015

leaps & bounds

When you send forth your spirit, we are created

—Psalm 104.30

Holy One,

breath of the big bang,

idea of creation,

you who make spring come forth,

who make life out of nothing,

breathe yourself into me.

Create me.

you are the flame,

I am your light.

You are the nerve,

I am your muscle.

You are the Word,

I am the story.

You are the song,

I am the singing.

I am one with you

and one with all Creation.

One Spirit,

one flesh, many forms.

In your Spirit

I am we.

Holy One, live in me;
I am your body.

I remember,

and I live.

__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

🌌🌄🌅🗻🌈🗾🌋🌠🌍

my words my world my earth my sky

you are them all

my notes my music my score my song

you are them all

my heart my soul my mind my life

you are them all

my blood my breath my skin my bones

you are them all

everything I am everything I hope to be

you are them all

Listen to Amos Lee sing Learned A Lot http://youtu.be/wgzFPP-Fa8o
🗾🌠🗻🌄🌍🌈🌌🌋🌅

photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

[God] seems to delight in using the unexpected, the least likely, or the weakest link to turn our lives upside down and inside out . . . and fulfill the plan he has had in mind since the beginning of time.

~ Thelma Well

💞

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Choice, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Glory, grace, Gratitude, intimacy, Letting Go, Love, music, mystery, Passion, Poetry, power, Prayer, Reflection, Relationships, soul and spirit, touch, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

19 May 2015

super power

With love so sudden and so sweet,

Her face it bloomed like a sweet flower
And stole my heart away complete.
My face turned pale as deadly pale.
My legs refused to walk away,
And when she looked, what could I ail?
My life and all seemed turned to clay.

And then my blood rushed to my face
And took my eyesight quite away,
The trees and bushes round the place
Seemed midnight at noonday.
I could not see a single thing,
Words from my eyes did start –
They spoke as chords do from the string,
And blood burnt round my heart.

Are flowers the winter’s choice?
Is love’s bed always snow?
She seemed to hear my silent voice,
Not love’s appeals to know.
I never saw so sweet a face
As that I stood before.
My heart has left its dwelling-place
And can return no more

💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞

First Love by John Clare

Listen to Englad Dan and John Ford Coley sing http://youtu.be/_QZjJU-mtFU
💞💞💞😍💞💞💞💞💞

quote photos found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Posted in awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, connection, grace, Gratitude, Happiness, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, power, Relationships, soul and spirit, touch, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

18 May 2015

unseen business

Because no one could ever praise me enough,
because I don’t mean these poems only
but the unseen
unbelievable effort it takes to live
the life that goes on between them,
I think all the time about invisible work.
About the young mother on Welfare
I interviewed years ago,
who said, “It’s hard.
You bring him to the park,
run rings around yourself keeping him safe,
cut hot dogs into bite-sized pieces for dinner,
and there’s no one
to say what a good job you’re doing,
how you were patient and loving
for the thousandth time even though you had a headache.”
And I, who am used to feeling sorry for myself
because I am lonely,
when all the while,
as the Chippewa poem says, I am being carried
by great winds across the sky,
thought of the invisible work that stitches up the world day and night,
the slow, unglamorous work of healing,
the way worms in the garden
tunnel ceaselessly so the earth can breathe
and bees ransack this world into being,
while owls and poets stalk shadows,
our loneliest labors under the moon.

There are mothers
for everything, and the sea
is a mother too,
whispering and whispering to us
long after we have stopped listening.
I stopped and let myself lean
a moment, against the blue
shoulder of the air. The work
of my heart
is the work of the world’s heart.
There is no other art.

💨💨💨💨💨💨💨💨🌅💨

Invisible Work by Alison Luterman

There are prayers that God hears

That may not even noticed
by the one praying –
The eyes lifted in awe to a sunset.
The beach comber picking up rocks as she grieves huge losses.
The deep breath before entering the office of the abusive, power-hungry boss.
The smell of your first cup of coffee.
The watery laughter through brimming tears of the overwhelmed new mother.
The patience of the store clerk doing his best with the impatient standing in line.
The smiles of the people who know the secret of choosing to live life well.
The accomplished weariness at the end of a good days work.
The ride to home after 17 years of waiting.
The beautiful silence of a couple sitting together holding hands.
Candles burning in the darkness their shadows dancing on the walls.
The smell of an old library.
The many tastes of freedom.
Sharing gifts with others because you know there is ALWAYS enough.
Finding something special on the sidewalk.

Waking up with someone to smile with.
The list never ends –
It’s why we are told to pray continually –
Keep naming.
Stay aware.
Living as if everything is the miracle that it truly is –
Everything is grace.
Our world is the spoken word of God,
we breathe the very breath of God which brought us to life,
and, as God said,
It is very good.

AL 2/18/14

My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from him. Psalm 62:5
Our prayers lay the track down on which God’s power can come.

– Watchman Nee

Listen to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sing It’ll All Work Out http://youtu.be/M_ftfh1z2Xc
🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅🌅

photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Sent from my iPhone

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, connection, grace, Happiness, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

17 May 2015

songs of gold

Photo by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

A yellow flower

(Light and spirit)
Sings by itself
For nobody.

A golden spirit
(Light and emptiness)
Sings without a word
By itself.

Let no one touch this gentle sun
In whose dark eye
Someone is awake.

(No light, no gold, no name, no color
And no thought:
O, wide awake!)
A golden heaven
Sings by itself
A song to nobody.

🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎶🎵

Song for Nobody by Thomas Merton

Listen to Sarah McLaughlin sing Ordinary Miracle http://youtu.be/m4j_wrmpMnU

🎵🙏🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵🎵

photo sources found at www.pinterest.com/al513

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, find art at pinterest, Joy, Life, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, nature, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

13 May 2015

Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you. – Frank Tyger

  This is my commandment,
         that you love one another as I have loved you.
                  —John 15.12

that is,
with tender attention
and stout resilience,
that is,
despite your blame and fear,
your betrayal yet to come,
your lack of repentance,

as I have loved you
when you were determined
not to deserve it,

that you love as I have,
withholding nothing,
excusing no one,

that you pour yourself out
for the unworthy,

as I have
pour yourself out
of your life
into eternal love
and as I have
rise
new,
perfected
in love.

__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net

What Is The First Step In Healing

What do you need to do to get better?

This morning, a 73 year old doctor in Tampa Bay, Florida shot himself. Today was his 38th wedding anniversary. He was accused of recklessly driving his speedboat and killing four teenage boys in 1989. Although he was acquitted, he never really got over it.

This morning, I met with a friend, age 64, who told me bitterly she’d stopped talking to her father. They’ve had so many arguments in the years I’ve known her! In their last scene, she said she told him, “I’m a grown up now! You can’t keep hurting me like you did when I was 12!” I don’t know for sure, but I can fill in the blanks on that one and so can you. My friend has recently lost 80 lbs and she has another 60 to go. Whatever happened back then, she never really got over it.

One of the drivers of the car in which I was passenger when both my children were killed blames himself for the accident to such an extent that his whole life has been mangled and wrought with emotional pain from that day to this. More than 20 years. He never really got over it.

What about you?

Do you have some secret pain, some traumatic memory, some inner anguish that you strive to hide from the world? Is there a monster inside you, jabbing at you and never letting you forget what happened?

Healing from serious issues can be a long, difficult process. At least, that’s how it has been for me. But unless we continue to work towards healing, toward bringing the dark into the light and letting it heal, we will end up like the people above — ending our lives too early; destroying our physical well-being; mangling our futures with self-recrimination.

The journey to wellness – not the kind you fake so other people think you’re OK now – requires a lot of courage. It’s going to be hard, but get this: it won’t be as hard as you think. And it will not require you to suffer as much as you suspect it might. I promise!

The first step in healing is deceptively simple: Decide that’s what you want to do.

Only you know the answer about whether you really want to revisit the past, dig it up and heal it so it doesn’t keep on screwing with your current life. If you don’t, you’ll end up with the life similar to the people above. I’m not suggesting you rush off to confront people who’ve hurt you. I’m not actually suggesting you rush off and DO anything. Healing the soul is as gentle and slow as healing the body. You can’t look at the cut on your finger and simply acknowledge you have a cut, then order it to heal instantly. You might have to tend to it a little. It will cause you pain (although not as much as the original injury.) You don’t have to relive and talk endlessly about your trauma to heal it. Although it would be VERY helpful to see a therapist or a clergy person, even that isn’t mandatory.