Monthly Archives: February 2013

Posted on February 28, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is a wonderful post. I have been reading about being present in the digital age. John is accurate busyness is not new. It might be harder to manage. Thomas Merton warned us about the violence of activism decades ago and Parker Palmer has reiterated the theme over the years. The person I am most afraid of listening to is my self. It takes the fullest presence to hear my spirit, my soul, my inner voice. The need to sit with one’s self is essential to life.

What Is Real True Love?

David Kanigan, over at Lead.Learn.Live, this morning posted this excerpt from a book by Tony Schwartz . I read it and commented. I’m reposting my commenting here as well, because it goes to the heart of what I write about on this and my other blogs.

http://davidkanigan.com/2013/02/28/the-addiction-of-our-times/

“I believe this is a very special moment in history, a kind of perfect storm. There is a growing recognition — to borrow language from AA — that our world has become unmanageable…The addiction of our times is digital connection, instant gratification, and the cheap adrenalin high of constant busyness. The heartening news is that more and more are beginning to recognize the insidious costs of moving so relentlessly and at such high speeds. Just below the surface of our shared compulsion to do ever more, ever faster, is a deep hunger to do less, more slowly. I saw proof of that a…

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Life Is…

Posted on February 28, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

We are writing poetry at school. Tomorrow, we write extended metaphors. I provide examples for students. I wrote this extended metaphor several years ago. I hope you enjoy.

Life is a spirited ride…
It soars;
Plummets;
Break neck speed.

Out of control;
On the edge;
It swerves–
Remains on the rails.

Never fully alone;
Solitude appears when needed;
Safe, yet vulnerable–
This paradox.

I breathe deep,
Exhilarated—
Life fully lived and experienced;
Not meant to be tamed.

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Posted in Education, Lesson Plans, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, education, Life is, metaphors, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on February 27, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Gary Snyder is a wonderful poet who writes about many things that go unobserved. Take care, have a great day, and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Silver Birch Press

MAGPIE’S SONG

by Gary Snyder

Six A.M.,

Sat down on excavation gravel

by juniper and desert S.P. tracks

interstate 80 not far off

between trucks

Coyotes—maybe three

howling and yapping from a rise.

Magpie on a bough

Tipped his head and said,

“Here in the mind, brother

Turquoise blue.

I wouldn’t fool you.

Smell the breeze

It came through all the trees

No need to fear

What’s ahead

Snow up on the hills west

Will be there every year

be at rest.

A feather on the ground–

The wind sound—

Here in the Mind, Brother,

Turquoise Blue”

“Magpie’s Song” by Gary Snyder is included in BRIGHT WINGS: An Illustrated Anthology of Poems About Birds, Edited by Billy Collins with Paintings by David Allen Sibley. This gorgeous, uplifting, inspiring book is available…

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Posted on February 26, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This was in my reader the other day. Similar to yesterday’s re-blog, it made sense when I read it. Children look to us, in various adult roles, to guide them and help them find their path. Rest our hands gently on their shoulder as they walk their path.

For the Earth Blog

I have held onto this dog-eared sheet of good wisdom for years. I am not a parent but have watched good friends and family members raise their children and know that it is one of the toughest jobs out there. I salute all parents and all with the courage and love and compassion to be parents who follow these types of guidelines.

With love… Mare

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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Posted on February 26, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is not the poem. I chose a part that speaks to me deeply. I tend to be a bit of rebel. I know it hard to believe, but I am always willing, when others are not, to shake up the things as they are. T. S. Eliot said it so well: “Do I dare/Disturb the universe?” I find comfort some days in the power of that question. What in my universe needs to be disturbed? Even as I grow older, what does wisdom call on me to do that ruffles my feathers and those around me?

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea…

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

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Posted on February 25, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This is one of those common sense lists we run across. I said to myself, “I knew this.” It is one thing to know and another to be these things. It is one of those lists worth sharing, printing, and letting touch me each day.

Simple Tom

12 Things Happy People Do Differently

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Stillness, Silence, Insight, Clarity

Posted on February 24, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am reading Buddha’s Brain which summarizes the neuroscience about the benefits of meditation and solitude. The authors, Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius, intertwined science and poetry from practitioners of contemplative practices.

A few weeks ago, I began to blog differently and blogged less each day plus plus continued to take a day away from the computer. I thought I would feel less connected, but I feel more connected. I might have more clarity when I blog as I move in and out of stillness and quiet. I leave you with this short and profound poem by Tenzin Priyadarshi from the above noted book.

If there is no stillness,

there is no silence.

If there is no silence,

there is no insight.

If there is no insight,

there is no clarity.

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Posted in Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged blogging, clarity, insight, Mindful Practice, poetry, quiet, Richard Mendius, Rick Hanson, spirituality, stillness, teacher as transformer, Tenzin Priyadarshi. Bookmark the permalink.

Posted on February 23, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

If each day, I did small things to be a better peacemaker, healer, restorer, lover and tell stories that make the world better and healthier it could make a small and incremental difference.

Soul Writings

The Dalai Lama Foundation‘

‎”The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.”

~Dalai Lama~

Shared by “Bernadette”

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Little Gidding V

Posted on February 23, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

As I rested today, I missed the opportunity to be out there exploring. T. S. Eliot eloquently spoke of this. I seek for and find when I explore the cyclical journey we call life. When I open my eyes, my heart, and my mind like a small child I find the apple-tree of my dreams. When I quiet my thoughts I can hear in the stillness between the waves. The gap between the stimulus and response grows in that way.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
Through the unknown, remembered gate
When the last of earth left to discover
Is that which was the beginning;
At the source of the longest river
The voice of the hidden waterfall
And the children in the apple-tree
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness
Between the two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always–
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of things shall be well
When the tongues of flame are in-folded
Into the crowned knot of fire
And the fire and the rose are one.

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Posted on February 22, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I am headed back to bed. I think I am fighting another bout of the flu. Doesn’t seem as bad as last time, but still… I thought I would leave this with me for the day and moving down the road. What if I took a moment and listened. Pause before I jump in there for of judgement.