Tag Archives: life

Do the Dance of Spring

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!

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© Susan L Hart 2025

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Whale

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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. 🙂

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Freedom from Fear

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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?

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Melding

The Spirit of Aloha

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Hawaii is one of the major tourist spots in the world and if you spend all of your time in Honolulu and Waikiki, a tourist experience is exactly what you will have. Waikiki Beach is just one and one-half miles long and this small strip of sand attracts millions of foreign visitors each year.

However, when you travel outside of the blatantly tourist areas, you begin to discover another Hawaii. You find islands of breathtaking tropical beauty, a slower speed of living, a quiet grace, and inevitably you are introduced to the spirit of “aloha”. If you dig even deeper beneath the surface, you also learn of an issue that runs deep in the hearts of the Hawaiian people. This is the issue of sovereignty and freedom.

First, it is important to understand the concept of aloha. At a very basic level aloha means hello and goodbye, however this one simple word runs much deeper than these superficial meanings. In the Hawaiian culture, words have mana (pronounced: mah’ nah, meaning spiritual or divine power), and aloha is among the most sacred. Aloha is a divine word and it is a greeting of love when expressed with sincerity.

To introduce you to the basic background of the sovereignty issue in Hawaii, here is a quote from an article called “Hawaiian Sovereignty and the Native Hawaiian Vote”. Ppkp Laenui, who at the time was Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Hawaiian Affairs, wrote this in October of 1996:

“There is another side to the picture postcard of the hula girl swaying in her grass skirt under the coconut tree with the American flag in the background. It is the picture of a proud, hard working, intelligent, and honest Hawaiian people whose ancestors crisscrossed the Pacific ocean long before Columbus came upon the Americas, whose literacy rate was at one time the highest in the world, whose nation had almost a hundred diplomatic and counselor posts around the world, whose leaders signed treaties and conventions with a multitude of states of the world, and whose King was the first Head of State to circle the globe traveling to America, Asia, and Europe before returning to Hawai’i.

“In five quick years, Hawai’i moved from independent nation/state to a colony of the United States of America. Following an armed invasion in 1893, by 1898, the U.S. claimed Hawai’i, without the consent of its constitutional monarchy or the Hawaiian nationals. For a time, Hawai’i was lost from the arena of international presence other than as a historical footnote.

“In 1946, the General Assembly of the United Nations through Resolution 66(I) noted Hawai’i as one of seven territories over which the United States was to administer pursuant to Article 73 of the U.N. Charter. By 1959, Hawai’i was removed from that status and considered a State of the U.S. The process under which this changed status happened is now under serious scrutiny for its failure to meet basic standards of self-determination.” 1.

In that same fateful year, on May 20, 1959, a baby called Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (nicknamed “IZ”) was born on the small island of Oahu, Hawaii. He was raised with the knowledge of his Polynesian heritage, found the music inside, and eventually wrote songs that lamented the destruction of the land and the loss of sovereignty of the Hawaiian people. He gave voice to a desire to take back the land that was stolen from the Hawaiians. So say some of the words from IZ’s song “Hawaii ’78”:

“Cry for the gods, cry for the people
Cry for the land that was taken away
And yet you find Hawai’i.”

Sadly, IZ passed away on June 26, 1997, while his star was still on the rise. However, the words of this musical icon had already captured the admiration and imagination of thousands of followers, as it continues to do even today.

The issue of sovereignty in some ways seems complicated, and yet it is simple. It is has now existed in Hawaii for over one hundred years, and many people there still debate whether the land will be returned to the native Polynesian people. No matter what the future holds, however, a love for the land will always be held in the hearts of the native Hawaiians, as well as anyone else that settles there and understands and lives the spirit of aloha.

The music of IZ is haunting and compelling. He speaks to the souls of not only the Hawaiian people who had their land stolen, but at a deeper level to anyone who has felt the bite of injustice and control. (That would probably be most of us, at some time and in some way in each of our lives). The music of IZ cries out for a return to the principle of aloha, so that we may connect back to the beautiful spirit of the land living deep within the soul of each of us.

Footnotes:

1. Quotation from “Hawaiian Sovereignty and the Native Hawaiian Vote”, October 1996, by Ppkp Laenui.

2. Quotation from “Hawaii ’78” on “Facing Future” album, by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, 1993 BigBoy Record Company

I wrote this article almost 25 years ago when I visited Hawaii. It seems apropos to repost it again, given the issues of land ownership and sovereignty that are emerging in the world right now.