Monthly Archives: February 2019

….and Mary Oliver spoke

Posted on February 21, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

Udo posted this quote from Mary Oliver‘s poem, The Summer Day. It is my favourite line from all of her wonderful poetry and challenges me to reflect on and act on the purpose and calling of my life’s vocation.

Mary Oliver reminds me life and its many callings are not filled with certainty and fixed paths. Instead, I wander and wonder as I take detours and hope I find my way.

I share this line teaching and presenting, as a reminder life is about unexpected and, sometimes, we have to permit ourselves to stop and experience what we often drive by and take-for-granted.

Robson

On trips to visit in British Columbia, Mt. Robson is a favourite stopping place. The mountain is a sentinal over the valley, with wilderness gems to experience and revel in as I live my one and wild life.

100_4206

The waterfalls are located in the Crowsnest Pass. Like Mt. Robson, I gave myself permission to pause and experience being in nature and not just a visitor.

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Synchronicity, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged blogging, environment, experience, life, living, Mary Oliver, Mt. Robson, nature, relationships, waterfalls, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 22 Comments

Gratitude is a Consistent Conversation

Posted on February 15, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

via Gratitude is a Consistent Conversation

Tina shares a wonderful post about gratitude.

I am in Phoenix for a few days and enjoy hiking whenever I go to somewhere new. The other day, I went with Kathy and others. It was a beautiful walk in the midst of an urban, which is not always visible, setting revealing its desert ecosystem.

As we walked, we talked about the beauty of the desert and the subtle colours and the richness revealed. To take note of the world we live in and who we share it with, animate and inanimate, is a part of the conversation we have to express our gratitude. For me, an essential aspect of the conversation is being attentive and mindful of the world I share.

Skyline Regional Park February 13

In this picture, you can see the skyline of the city in the background.

Skyline Regional Park February 13 #3

Skyline Regional Park February 13 #2

In the other pictures, there was a focus on the desert and its richness.

I apologize for the lack of editing on the pictures. I am using new apps and learning how to share and edit with them on the fly.

Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Reflective Moments, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged blogging, conversational journey, Dialogue, environment, Gratitude, life, nature, Phoenix, Practical Practice Management, relationships, sharing, Tina Del Buono, writing. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments

Dance of the reef heron…

Posted on February 7, 2019 by ivonprefontaine

via Dance of the reef heron…

Sriram shares beautiful photos from nature along with poetry and quotes to complement.

Wendell Berry reminds me nature is a place of refuge among the wild things we share the universe with. It is in those spaces we dance with the heron and others.

Nadia Janice provokes me to pause and experience what I imagine as flight. Here, I imagine in ways the universe becomes even more than I experience it in my senses.

Several years ago, I wrote a class paper sharing how the Psalmists and Psalms resonated God’s voice and vision of the universe humans live in with all other creatures and natural phenonmenon. Our anscestors understood the universe as a place of wonder and imagined how it spoke to them and revealed itself in divine ways.