Sometimes as I write one poem, another emerges in the tangle of thoughts and words. This happened with the post Transforming. One poem gave way to another. Both poems remind me of the unnecessary chase in life. Life is not a race or hunting trip in which I seek the biggest prize. What I need is patience with life arriving fully in each moment, revealing itself in extraordinary ways.
There are quotes that are on the tip of tongue at all times. Alfred North Whitehead wrote the present moment is holy ground. The past and future meet in each present moment, making it whole. Some humans tend to see life as a competition and end up running in one spot. This contradicts being present and patient, echoing Matthew 6:28: consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. To flourish and experience good health, one has to reduce the stress of spinning in one spot.
Seeking,
Chasing,
Competing–
Failing.
Patience calling,
Just sitting,
Cooperating–
Life discovering.
Life revealing itself,
In its good time,
Arriviving–
Right on time.
I know these are not lillies. Kathy took this picture hanging out the window of her car while driving on the Highway to the Sun in Glacier National Park. Elements of nature complement one another, forming the whole.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
About ivonprefontaine
In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms.
I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders.
I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs.
I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry.
I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry.
I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope and its anticipatory relationship with the future, and hope as an essential element in learning.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
Nice poem, ell said.
Thank you
That was supposed to be WELL said!
It seems we all came to this earth with a purpose. If you think back to the things you enjoyed most as a child, you will most likely have a clue as to that purpose. Sit back and let it all flow into place.
That is so true Bev
Beautiful!
Thank you Melba
This speaks to me today, thank you, C
You are welcome Cheryl
Beautiful. Earlier this evening, after a harried workday, I stepped outside to take my now-dry clothing off their drying racks. I noticed I was hurrying and, intentionally, slowed myself down, to simply feeling the fabric in my hands as I slowly, care-fully, tended to the clothing. What a difference that made.
I found when I went to Spokane to work on my PhD in the summers, it took a conscious effort to slow down. The pace of life we normally experience leaves us not thinking about a different pace. Thich Nhat Hanh would say what you did was was to be present in the moment and taking care of the clothes.
Thank you for a lovely comment Deborah.
Your poem is a great reminder to relax into the moment. The picture below has all the elements in balance; it is well composed!
Thank you Ka Malana.