River winding to the sea, my soul searches for answers in ripples.
Puzzle
The problem with trying to fit in to society, you see, is that every part of the puzzle that does not fit you chips away at the edges of your very soul.
Then one day you wake up, frayed and afraid, because you don’t recognize who you are any more.
Be careful to not let the puzzle destroy you.
Ripen
Life is a journey from urgent to poignant self-realizations.
Sacred Ground
Fiercely I protect the place within that cradles my brightest dreams and deepest truths, that precious locus, where my soul whispers wisdom of lessons learned, eternally echoing across all of time.
My heartaches, and yes, heartbreaks, over many lifetimes hammered and tempered the line, beyond which now none are allowed to trample upon, or desecrate my hard won ground, my sanctuary inviolate.
Tally
In the final act, what will your answer be to, “Did you live your truth?”
No Monday blues here. I’m bringing you some of Nature’s signature green to start your week feeling uplifted and rejuvenated. Think of it as a building block, a foundation for your day (and I hope) for your week. Build on it.
Pen onto your calendar, right now, something that will uplift you each and every day. Commit to those goals. They can be small, and they don’t have to cost money. Perhaps just a little extra time daily to take a walk, ride your bike, pick up that book you’ve been meaning to get to, or more time spent talking with members of your family, face-to-face. Make your well-being and happiness the most important item on your calendar this week. (And yes, I intend to step up to the challenge, too. 🙂 )
You know the things that bring you personal happiness, that lift your heart. It is the focus upon and gratitude for all the seemingly small things that give life much of its delight.
“The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” ~ John Muir
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” ~ John Muir
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” ~ John Muir
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” ~ Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Life Is a Gift
It’s a blue-sky day, one of those beauteous blue-full, joyously jocular, splendidly splashy, exceptional days – I long to shout LIFE IS A GIFT in unmistakable letters across the blue shiny yonder, to imprint them indelibly on your mind, so you’ll –
Remember when the dark clouds roll in, on a day when life feels pissy and oh so problematic, to take a deep breath, and close your eyes, and gently pull the gray gloom aside, to see those big oh so true words I etched on blue for you, so that you’d never forget –
How our souls yearn for spring, for the sweetness of it, the rebirth of green and the feeling that no matter how hard the winter was, we endured it. We are finally rewarded with the chance to start afresh…
Our dreams are renewed in spring; we feel like anything is possible. The vitality of life runs through our veins again, just as the sap flows in the trees.
My heart drifts back to sweet memories of spring, accompanying my dad to the sugar bush, snow still on the ground, but the sun promising the coming warmth of summer. And hauling a big tin of maple syrup home, feeling the abundance that the Earth had provided. Even as a kid I appreciated it, the sweetness of this simple annual ritual with my father.
Our backyard boasted both a cherry and an apple tree; one would flower pink, the other white. I loved walking way down to the end of the yard, simply to admire the beautiful blossoms and breathe in their intoxicating, delicate scent.
Much later in adulthood, I discovered travel stories of Japan, and now my soul yearns to visit a place where the cherry blossom is revered and celebrated. Some day I will, paying homage to girlhood memories, springtime, my father, and the beauty of life, which ideally we should celebrate every day.
But oh, how it feels easier to celebrate that beauty in springtime!
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” ~ Albert Camus
Here Comes the Sun
Here Comes The Sun. This classic Beatles song never fails to make my heart sing. According to Wikipedia: “As of 2021, it was the most streamed Beatles song on Spotify globally.”
The song is now 56 years old, written early in 1969 by George Harrison, apparently at the home of Eric Clapton. So why the sustained popularity?
There is something about the arrival of the sun that is energizing and uplifting. The song is about spring, respite from a cold, bleak winter, when the sun becomes stronger in the Northern Hemisphere. We turn our faces to the sun in gratitude, eager to embrace the fresh start.
This is why each sunrise also feels like a special gift, deep in our souls. It is a tangible sign of each day’s new beginning, and all of the opportunity that comes with it.
Hence this haiku I wrote to celebrate the enduring presence of the sun in our lives:
Grateful for you, Sun, your ceaseless radiance greets and anchors my day.
“Around us, life bursts with miracles–a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.” (Thich Nhat Hahn)
And, Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it this weekend!
My ebookstore (Purchases help to support my writing, and thank you for reading.)
Our telepathy meets in a monumental hello of two hearts.
I call, you come, and brush gently against the boat, crooning your love song.
Pausing a moment, is that a wink I detect? You flirt, then farewell!
Will you invite me to frolic in frothing waves? Besotted, I wait.
This poem was inspired by a whale watching trip (humpbacks) a few years ago. I very much wanted to have a close encounter with a whale, so before the trip I meditated and asked for the whales to hear me, and for one to come and visit.
The day we went out the whale watching seemed dismal. There were a few sightings of them breaching and jumping high in the air, but they were far away. Wherever our boat went, the whales were not close. I had almost given up inside (“Where are you? Please come.”) and was standing away from the group on the boat. Suddenly the guide came over and excitedly tugged on my jacket. “Come over here! Now!”
I went over to the other side of the boat, and a whale had quietly surfaced right beside the boat, nestled right up against it. “There you are!”
The whale moaned his whale talk a couple of times, then waited a moment, and submerged. To this day I’m absolutely certain he came especially to say “Hello” to me. Can’t prove it, but sometimes you just know…
What special encounter(s) have you had with the animal world? And do you believe in telepathic communication? I would love to hear your comments. 🙂
Fear has a way of dissolving our resolve, when it is strong and threatening enough. Discernment, critical thinking and our wise intuition go quickly out the window. The black ooze of fear grips us in a stranglehold. To say fear is uncomfortable is an understatement. It undermines that which we long for and value – comfort and safety.
But as Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said in his first inaugural address, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
When we are gripped by fear, we become very vulnerable to the manipulations of those who like to control others. We just want relief in the fastest way possible. The controllers are only too happy to spoon-feed it to us in order to gain their advantage.
When we are fearful is exactly the time when we should not succumb to the “easy and fast solution”. It’s the time to stand back, take a deep breath, and look for the way that makes sense logically, does not undermine our own moral compasses, and perhaps most importantly, what ultimately feels right at a gut instinct level.
As individuals we vary in our resolve to face the ugliness that the world dishes out. History shows that “good times” and “bad times” revolve in a continuous loop, and the meaning of these words varies widely for each of us.
However, when push comes to shove, we all have something in common. There is a core of fearlessness inside of each human being. When what we hold dear is threatened, we step up to the plate.
One of the huge lessons humanity is learning at the moment is personal responsibility. We work very hard to build that which others are so eager or careless to throw away. It is our own responsibility to protect and stand up for what is precious to us.
Inspirational Quotes:
“Becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.” ~ Veronica Roth, Divergent
“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~ Nelson Mandela
“I believe that anyone can conquer fear by doing the things he fears to do.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“Through every generation of the human race there has been a constant war, a war with fear. Those who have the courage to conquer it are made free and those who are conquered by it are made to suffer until they have the courage to defeat it, or death takes them.” ~ Alexander the Great
What is your greatest fear, and what do you do (what have you done) to overcome it?
Susan L Hart / Author 