Monthly Archives: February 2013

Human Hearts and Spirits

Posted on February 9, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I had another great day at Teacher’s Convention. Made another contact for my dissertation process. It is quite interesting the willingness of people to help.

~~Harry~~ Russ who provides the blog wrote this beautiful poem. I finished reading Margaret Wheatley‘s book, So Far From Home. She referred several times to human hearts and their capacity for love and kindness. Parker Palmer, in his book Healing the Heart of Democracy, referred to the heart being able to hold so much. ~~Harry’s~~ Russ’ poem reminded me of their writing and I think he is on to something: the heart and the spirit combined have incredible capacity.

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the human heart can hold.” Zelda Fitzgerald

…But if I might be so bold
While I don’t know the exact amount
From what I have found
I believe
The human spirit
Can store
Even more

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Posted on February 8, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

More and more, I think this is true. We need to be in relationship in this world with others and the world we live in.

Otrazhenie

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Tao Te Ching #33

Posted on February 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I was busy today and am off to a dinner meeting momentarily. I took a deep breath and remembered to breathe. I attended Teacher’s Convention which is unique to Alberta, for the most part. The Alberta Teacher’s Association, our professional organization/union, organizes several each year depending on geographic locations. There is a large exhibit hall and many presentations. I find it challenging as it is busy, crowded, and noisy, but there was a great presentation and another good one. The first presenter spoke on a topic similar to what I am massaging for a dissertation topic and, when I approached her, she graciously agreed to share more of her thoughts and I will contact her. She was genuinely interested and I am pretty jacked.

I also found a nice little restaurant. It wasn’t lost, but I had never been there before and it was a nice place. I finished the book I am reading while I ate lunch. I could have focused on the challenges–noise, crowds, and busyness–instead I pulled three great things out of the day and feel energized. I found this beautiful little poem by Lao Tzu and it resonated. When we turn in and find the extraordinary of the ordinary that is true power.

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.

He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of will power.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

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Posted on February 7, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

This might be my favourite Mary Oliver poem. I ran across it early in my doctoral journey and the lines: “Oh, good scholar, I say to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these.” I stopped and took stock of the person I was and continue to reflect on the question Parker Palmer asks, “Who is the self that teaches?” Or, the paraphrase: “Who is the person who lives this life?” I pause, breathe, and attempt to be mindful of all “the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean’s shine, and the prayers that are made out of grass.” As Thich Nhat Hanh advises, turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Dr Bill Wooten

“Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?”

~ Mary Oliver

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Posted on February 6, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Valerie posted a wonderful article yesterday about peace. I was reminded of the roots of the term “walk the talk”. It comes from the work of John Woolman, a Quaker, who walked and shared his belief that owning slaves in the 13 Colonies and then the US was immoral and God would disapprove. Parker Palmer tells this story in his books. The reference to the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts” brought to mind the writings about peace of Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk, who is seen by many as instrumental in the the contemporary peace movement although he passed away in 1969. Valerie’s last reference was to Thich Nhat Hanh, the Zen monk, who has written about peace that begins with me and extends outwards. Have a beautiful and peaceful day.

valeriedavies

Last night I read a novel by a distinguished prizewinning writer. I polished it off in a few hours, turned over and went to sleep.

This morning I awoke thinking how depressing it was… not one man or woman who was inspirational, kind, or good – everyone ambivalent and self-absorbed. And then I remembered one peripheral historical character, whose real life contribution to the care of the wounded in World War One is one of the more fascinating true stories of that time. He was a man of integrity, compassion and genuine goodness.

And as I thought about him, I could feel my whole body relaxing, and a smile on my face. I thought to myself how much I love reading about goodness.

I thought about Mildred Norman, the Peace Pilgrim, that amazing woman who for twenty-eight years walked the length and breadth of the States seven times. She…

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Compassion

Posted on February 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

Thich Nhat Hanh provided this beautiful quote about compassion and embracing who we are in this world. I need to be inside of someone else`s skin to build compassion.

The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognize the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves “inside the skin” of the other. We “go inside” their body, feelings, and mental formations, and witness for ourselves their suffering. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the subject of our observation. When we are in contact with another’s suffering, a feeling of compassion is born in us. Compassion means, literally, “to suffer with.”

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Imperfection

Posted on February 5, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I re-blogged an Elisabeth Kubler-Ross quote this morning about resiliency. I am not always comfortable with new things or taking risks, yet I took huge risks in my adult life. I went back to university as a married adult with a family and, to some extent, we reversed roles for several years in our family. Kathy was the primary bread-winner. We sacrificed things others around us took for granted, but in the long run we ended up where we wanted to be, here.

I learned on this journey called life that bumps on the road are more worthwhile than perfectly planned and executed outcomes, if those happen. I found, the past few years, as hard as I wished for things to be a certain way did not make them that way. I hope it makes me a better person learning that things do not work out perfectly and that is part of the joy of life.

Elizabeth Carlson wrote this beautiful poem about falling in love with my imperfections. I am more complete with them.

I am falling in love
with my imperfections
The way I never get the sink really clean,
forget to check my oil,
lose my car in parking lots,
miss appointments I have written down,
am just a little late.

I am learning to love
the small bumps on my face
the big bump of my nose,
my hairless scalp,
chipped nail polish,
toes that overlap.
Learning to love
the open-ended mystery
of not knowing why

I am learning to fail
to make lists,
use my time wisely,
read the books I should.

Instead I practice inconsistency,
irrationality, forgetfulness.

Probably I should
hang my clothes neatly in the closet
all the shirts together, then the pants,
send Christmas cards, or better yet
a letter telling of
my perfect family.

But I’d rather waste time
listening to the rain,
or lying underneath my cat
learning to purr.

I used to fill every moment
with something I could
cross off later.

Perfect was
the laundry done and folded
all my papers graded
the whole truth and nothing but

Now the empty mind is what I seek
the formless shape
the strange off center
sometimes fictional
me.

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Posted on February 4, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I had a conversation yesterday about a lack of resiliency amongst some of the younger people. It is good to provide a place to land, but sometimes people need to come out of the cocoon and skin their knees. This Elisabeth Kübler-Ross quote points that out. I think of the people I know that I admire and many of them are incredibly resilient people who bounce back.

Gurly's collection of quotes, notes & video's made by great people who have been sharing their enlightenment through their words and actions.

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A Dream of Warriors

Posted on February 3, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

I enjoy reading Thich Nhat Hanh. Presently, I am reading Margaret Wheatley’s new book: So Far From Home. Margaret Wheatley brought shared this by the Zen monk. The poem and book are gentle reminders to pause, reorient ourselves in the present, and find strength and courage to continue the journey. It does not end.

The road goes on and we only walk one step at a time, one moment at a time, and each step moves us into an unknown future. It is good to rest and make each step mindful. We live in the present moment, find courage, and discover strength to carry on. It is in this moment, this space, we are at home, because when we are mindful we can nowhere else.

“They were exhausted. They had been traveling longer than they could remember. Their journey had begun with energy and enthusiasm, but that too they could no longer recall. They had lost many companions along the way—some had turned back, some had refused to go on, some had died of weariness. They all had suffered greatly.

They came to a narrow bridge that spanned a great river running swift and fast. On the far shore they could see what they had dreamed of during all these years of hardship—gentle green valleys and peaceful lakes reflecting clear blue sky. They stood there astonished to realize that what they had struggled so long for was suddenly here.

They began walking across the bridge with joyful steps. Midway across, they were stopped by children who had come to meet them. Tears overcame them for their own children left behind long ago. The children began to speak: “You cannot enter our land. You must go back. You will need to repeat your struggles. You must go back and do it all again.

The warriors stood there quietly. They gazed longingly at the pleasant pastures. They beheld the bright faces of the children. Tenderly, they bent down and kissed their cheeks. Then they stood up and spoke: “We are not afraid.” And they went back to begin again their journey.”

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Posted on February 2, 2013 by ivonprefontaine

It is hard to let go. I have my sacred cows. This short proverb is a gentle reminder that the only that is real is the present moment. I need to let go of my historical narrative designed to fit my view of the past and my fantastic future.

This Psychic Life