Monthly Archives: March 2014

Glimpse

Posted on March 24, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I heard Eckhart Tolle present virtually just over a year ago at Wisdom 2.0 in San Francisco. This is such an uplifting message that reminded me of Thich Nhat Hanh saying the extraordinary is in the ordinary. I only need to open my eyes and heart to witness the extraordinary.

Cast Light

“Seeing beauty in a flower could awaken humans, however briefly, to the beauty that is an essential part of their own innermost being, their true nature.” – Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

“The Amen of nature is always a flower.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Let each day unfold without pretense or prediction of what will or should be. Look for the good in others and yourself and let the rest go. Stop trying to fix others and control the uncontrollable. Glimpses of light and clarity are woven through each day to awaken us to life, to ourselves.

View original post

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

For Courage

Posted on March 23, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

John O’Donohue wrote this lovely poem about the need for quiet spaces where we rekindle the love and joy we find in living life. I attended and presented at a small leadership symposium today. Although it was an invigorating two days, my brain is a bit like mush.

I think I will close my eyes, gather a little kindling around my heart, and seek to create a new spark to light my way.

Close your eyes.
Gather all the kindling
About your heart.
To create one spark.
That is all you need
To nourish the flame
That will cleanse the dark.
Of its weight of festered fear.

A new confidence will come alive
To urge you toward higher ground
Where your imagination
Will learn to engage difficulty
As its most rewarding threshold!

11 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath and tagged creativity, For Courage, John O'Donohue, Mindful Practice, poetry, sabbath, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

312. At last the vernal equinox — “Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn.” ~Quoted by Lewis Grizzard

Posted on March 22, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I love Mary Oliver’s poetry. She writes in a purely joyful way about those things that are readily available in daily life and often overlooked.

Sacred Touches

Such Singing in the Wild Branches

By Mary Oliver

It was spring
and finally I heard him
among the first leaves—
then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade
with his red-brown feathers
all trim and neat for the new year.
First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.
Then I began to listen.
Then I was filled with gladness—
and that’s when it happened,

when I seemed to float,
to be, myself, a wing or a tree—
and I began to understand
what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass
stopped
for a pure white moment
while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,
and in fact
it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing—
it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,
and also the trees around…

View original post 161 more words

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

The life of hunters in Greenland.

Posted on March 21, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

There are some great pictures in this post. Greenland would be an interesting place to visit during the summer. I suspect winter is not very warm.

Nature’s Secret

Posted on March 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Grace Holmes wrote this poem. I was unable to find a link to the poet, but wanted to share the poem. If someone has a link, I will edit and add it.

The poem reminded me of Alfred North Whitehead‘s thinking. He suggested we only need to look at nature and find general patterns for life. Nature reveals patterns when we take time and observe living in nature.

There’s a secret with these rugged hills, whose slender tops are gray;
There’s a secret with the wild flowers that bloom along the way;

There’s a secret with the roaming clouds that change the changeful sky
A secret have the busy winds, that chant and moan and sigh:

A secret has the moonlight, that touches land and sea,
A secret is between the stars that blink and you and me.

Ah the secrets! can you count them? so numerous are they!
Ah the secrets! can you find them out? can you find them out, I say?

I knew that some sweet secret ‘twixt my garden flowers grew.
But I said, I know, I feel, it is not for me, or you.

I felt there was a secret with the wondrous charming sea,
But again I shook my head and said, that secret’s not for me.

Yea, every where I turn my eyes on nature living show,
I feel there is a secret that ’tis not for me know.

7 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged Alfred North Whitehead, creativity, Grace Holmes, Mindful Practice, nature, Nature's Secrets, poetry, stewardship, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

DAMN DOOR

Posted on March 20, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Cartoons sometimes provide insight into the world that we miss. Kathy always reminds me that when one door closes another has opened. Patience and faith, as evidenced by the cartoon wolf, are necessary in life. We talk about resiliency and forget about the underlying qualities that contribute to it. Enjoy a great day.

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

桜の花 (悟り: tanka

Posted on March 19, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

It is kind of a cool and breezy day in Spokane. Nature is its own boss and decides on rules humans do not impose. In this way, spring does come slowly, but it is a gentle awakening and healthy. The world has been meditating and is ready to be fully visible.

kanzen sakura

Sakura Satori

spring comes slowly. bloom
sleeps in cluster waiting for
the time to awaken and
glow pink against grey.

View original post

4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Daybreak

Posted on March 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

I know it is not daybreak, but it could be. There are many things at many times of the day that leave us breathless. Yesterday, it was squirrels that are simple yet important part of my daily life. At home, it is the rabbits who have migrated into our neighbourhood. They sit very still as we cannot see them, but we know they are there and they are know we are there.

Gabriela Mistral wrote this poem as a reminder that there are many things that can leave me breathless. Being present in the world is important in taking note of those things in more than a superficial way.

My heart swells that the Universe

like a fiery cascade may enter.

The new day comes. Its coming

leaves me breathless.

I sing. Like a cavern brimming

I sing my new day.

For grace lost and recovered

I stand humble. Not giving. Receiving.

Until the Gorgon night,

vanquished, flees.

6 Comments

Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, Daybreak, Gabriela Mistral, Mindful Practice, poetry, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

How to walk

Posted on March 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

These are words to live by. My guess is when I walk this way my footprint is quite small, but impactful.

Zen Flash

Thich Nhat Hanh’s Mindfulness Bell

View original post

2 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Simplicity

Posted on March 17, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Simplicity sometimes is so simple we miss it completely. I see many squirrels on my walks around the campus. They sometimes make a great show of hiding behind trees when I walk to close. More often, they stay out in the open, continue to attend to their work, and keep a close eye on me. It is one of the simple things I can enjoy that sometimes flies under the radar when I am not paying attention.

memyselfandela