Tag Archives: lifestyle

Earth has Her Moods

For many years I have practiced daily walking outdoors. It is a quite, meditative time when I relax and escape from my monkey mind cage.

Ideally, immersing in nature is part of the walk. Daily walking requires a certain self-discipline, because realistically every day does not offer “perfect weather”. (We all have our own definition of that – if we didn’t, people wouldn’t talk about the weather so much.) I have walked in cold, rain, snow, and gloom as much as I have enjoyed sunshine and bright, shiny walks. I have come to love all of it.

Here’s the thing: I love sunshine as much as the next person. And when we’re feeling down, the sun can be a real mood lifter. But depending on what I’m dealing with in my day, sunshine can feel like a good friend trying to jolly me out of my problems, rather than allowing space for my mood.

My observation over the years is that those moody, rainy, snowy, cloudy days also have their own merit for solitude and introspection. They are the perfect back drop to quiet my conscious mind. There I inevitably find the space for the true answers to come through from my subconscious.

Rain or shine, nature is my therapy. Without fail, I find the beauty, grace, quiet and solitude I need to transcend the rat race.

“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.” ~ Bob Marley

“Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.” ~ John Ruskin

“As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” ~ Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“I am a tiny seashell that has secretly drifted ashore and carries the sound of the ocean surging through its body.” ~ Edward Hirsch

Thank You, Etc.

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This is a big thank you note to my readers! I discovered with delight today that thus far I’ve reached people in 71 countries with my blogs. That’s astounding to me, and many thanks to everyone who has visited from:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guyana, Hong Kong SAR China, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam, Zimbabwe

Also a big hug to my American friends who are celebrating Thanksgiving today. I send a prayer for your country to be unified and healed soon. And with COVID-19, this has been a rough year for everyone. I really miss traveling, but, I’m very grateful for the Internet that connects us. This is my additional gratitude message for you all:

Around the world, let us embrace our humanness and appreciate our unique cultures. Let’s reach out with respect to connect with others who share our humanity. And with deep gratitude, may we all cherish the Earth that sustains and cradles us.

Gratitude is an opening of the heart; it connects us to the Light. Be of the Light, and do every thing you can, from the smallest gesture to the grandest, to spread your light. Our world sorely needs every candle in the window right now, as we find our way towards the better humanity that we can be. I know we can get there together!

“Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind.” ~ Roy T. Bennett

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” ~ G.K. Chesterton

“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” ~ Maya Angelou

Photos courtesy qimono, sasint, artsysolomon, 6335159, Daniel_Nebreda, Pixabay

Nature Teaches Us

When I see a solitary tree in a field, I wonder… Are you lonely out there? Do you yearn for the other trees, your family?

But wait, when the farmer cleared the field and if there were others, why did he not cut you down too? Perhaps there was something in you that he felt. A will to live? A purpose not yet fulfilled?

Were you the one tree that looked strong enough to withstand the solitude, to be staunch and strong through every harshness imaginable to guard his field?

But wait, you are NOT alone. Earth, air, sky, clouds, rain, sun… You are nurtured, cradled, and loved by all of it.

Perhaps you demonstrate that not just simply survival – but dare we hope great joy? – is found in your ostensibly lonely journey.

But still I wonder, DO you miss your trees? Your family?

Hmm. Perhaps not. Perhaps you also teach that it is ALL family.

Green Monday

No Monday blues here. I’m bringing you an injection of nature’s 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. Make your well-being the most important “item” on your calendar this week.

You know the things that bring you personal happiness, that lift your heart. Right now we might be restricted to “the small things”. What you will find out is that the small things are actually the big things…

“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

Photos courtesy Luis del Río Pexels, HoliHo Pexels, KANENORI Pixabay, Pixel2013 Pixabay, SplitShire Pexels

Your Eyes, My Eyes

Major world events this year brilliantly illustrate the necessity to broaden our perspective. These situations are highly complex. Why are we as a collective trying to analyze 3-dimensional problems with duality thinking? Many people are feeling displaced, vulnerable, and upset. Other individuals are personally dealing with very different problems than you or I around these circumstances.

It behooves us to show more kindness to the person who may contradict our personal belief system. Also, to allow them the right to voice their different point of view. We as a collective are way too inclined to want everyone to agree with one consensual reality. We may be part of one humanity, but, as individuals we are always entitled to express our sovereign viewpoint. People are forgetting this.

The Bigger View Leads to Better Understanding

Let’s have some respect for each other. In the long run, carefully considering other viewpoints could actually stand the collective in good stead. There are answers in the large gray zone between black and white, if we could all commit to seeing other perspectives. Let’s meet in the middle and discuss them, instead of all this divisive bickering.

Slowly but surely, it’s killing us.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” ~ Marcus Aurelius

“Most misunderstandings in the world could be avoided if people would simply take the time to ask, “What else could this mean?” ~ Shannon L. Alder

“Sometimes all it takes is a tiny shift of perspective to see something familiar in a totally new light.” ~ Dan Brown

Photo courtesy Oziel Gómez, Pexels