Category Archives: Mindful Life

All That We Share (Watch!)

Posted on February 7, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Video post by @davidkanigan. This is a great post from David and worth the few minutes it takes to watch it.

As I watched this video, it reminded me of an undergraduate class I took. It was the only class non-special needs undergraduate students could take.

I recall how our text and professor focused on the idea that we have far more in common than what makes us difference. At the core, we are each humans and, when we see each other in that light, it makes all the difference.

When we take time and are mindful to each person present to us, we can grow and understand their presence is a gift to each of us. The differences make us each a unique star in the universe, but there is more to each of us that makes us the same.

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The Shadow

Posted on February 6, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Last night, as I posted, the words of a paragraph began to take shape as a poem and Mary Oliver’s words echoed for me.

Today, I took those words and echoes and finished the poem. It has been some time since I wrote a poem. Perhaps, without the urgency of writing a dissertation, this just happened. As well, the break without a need to read and write may have helped and freshened my desire to write differently.

There is no sense of urgency.

Here, I am in the shadow of nature

It uplifts, holding me close.

Nature reminds of less mechanical ways and times;

Of just being and living in the moment.

Pelicans dive bomb the surf in an instinctive search,

Oblivious to me, they bob on the waves.

At night, stars fill darkness and stillness,

They wait to be touched.

Oxen pull a plow across the hardpan soil,

They follow a deep-rooted instinct lost on me

The horse trotts a path, familiar to it

I sway, recalling greater comfort the last time I rode.

I recall days past.

I unsmother moments, days and experiences

My dreams call out to me;

They breathe life into my being.

Here, I sense what it might mean to live and just be.

Without urgency, there is a lightness in my gait.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, Synchronicity, teacher as transformer, Writing and tagged community, creativity, Mary Oliver, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, nature, poetry, teacher as transformer, The Shadow. Bookmark the permalink.

The Poet Dreams of the Mountain

Posted on February 4, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

Kathy and I were in Cuba for a week. I think I am back on track with the blog. As well, I submitted a draft of my dissertation to the committee and am waiting to hear back from them.

It was nice to go and just be for a few days. Sometimes, we need to just look back and contemplate, without anything other than being present and in the moment. I think that is what Mary Oliver is getting at in this poem. I found that reading, writing, re-reading, and re-writing consumed my days.

For few days, I found there was no urgency. It was peaceful to walk on the beach, watching pelicans dive bomb into the surf. It was inspiring to look up at night and see the heavens filled with stars, only occasionally disrupted by a distant light house beacon. It was enjoyable to be behind an ox and plow for a few minutes. When I rode a horse, I remembered days past. We need to unsmother those moments, those days and experiences so our dreams come back to us and breathe life into our souls.

Sometimes I grow weary of the days, with all their fits and starts.
I want to climb some old gray mountains, slowly, taking
The rest of my lifetime to do it, resting often, sleeping
Under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks.
I want to see how many stars are still in the sky
That we have smothered for years now, a century at least.
I want to look back at everything, forgiving it all,
And peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know.
All that urgency! Not what the earth is about!
How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only.
I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts.
In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, Sabbath, teacher as transformer, Writing and tagged creativity, Cuba, eloquent questions, Mary Oliver, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, sabbath, teacher as transformer, The Poet Dreams of the Mountain. Bookmark the permalink.

* My Words for 2017

Posted on January 21, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

It will be a time of change. Life is unfolding along an unexpected and uneasy path, with so much outside of our control. When moving into the unknown, it is helpful to sit and pause and listen to o…

Source: * My Words for 2017

Be ready to be fierce.

Be ready to be kind.

Those words sound paradoxical, but to be kind one has to be fierce in our kindness to others. We must want to be kind in the way others have set an example for us.

It is like being radical, which takes us back to our roots. In French, roots is racine and it connected to being radical. If our roots are strong and give us strength to act and speak out against the wrongs others do to the world and people, we can stand and shelter those who need it.

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Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments, Social Justice, teacher as transformer and tagged community, Mindful Attitude, mindfulness, social justice, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Kahlil Gibran

Posted on January 20, 2017 by ivonprefontaine

In this little treasure of a book I found yesterday, is a quote .. I had not seen this one before from one of Kahlil Gibran’s writings;. You pray in your distress and in your need; would tha…

Source: Kahlil Gibran

This is a wonderful quote from Kahlil Gibran. We should make it a daily practice to pray whether it is in a time of need or not. When we pray, it can be a thankful and mindful practice that acknowledges the good that comes into our lives.

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Our Devotion to Transformation

Posted on December 29, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

In this poem, Alice Walker counselled us to think of life as a transforming event. Parker Palmer referred to the inner and outer movement as similar to a Möbius Strip with one side that is continuous.

We have to pause and be mindful, but it is not like we are separate from the world. We live in it and it lives in us. We act on it as it acts on us.

Living is about going beyond who we are. Trans means to go beyond. We are continuously moving beyond who we are at any given moment. It is inevitable and poetic. Living is poetry. We are always creating someone and something new, despite ourselves.

Poetry is leading us.

It never cares how we will

be held by lovers

or drive fast

or look good in the moment;

we are committed to movement

both inner and outer;

and devoted to transformation

and to change.

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Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer and tagged Alice Walker, community, creativity, leadership, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Mobius Strip, Parker Palmer, poetry, servant-leadership, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Each Day Is A Gift

Posted on December 27, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

Each day is a gift! Make sure you share it with joy and happiness!

Source: Each Day Is A Gift

This is a beautiful thought that we can each take action on and bring to life.

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Posted in Community, Leadership, Mindful Life, Reflective Moments, teacher as transformer, Uncategorized and tagged learning community, Mindful, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, relationships, Snoopy. Bookmark the permalink.

Merry Christmas Everyone

Posted on December 25, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

You already possess everything necessary to become great. source: Crow image: Eddie’s Image Collection editor’s note: this is a repost from ETH December 2015 “Happy Holiday Everyo…

Source: Merry Christmas Everyone

When I saw the picture and quote in this post, they reminded me how much we have in common with each other. Instead of a politics of fear and division, can we can live in peace and harmony as stewards who care for each other, the world, and the future generations we live that world to?

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Merry Christmas

Posted on December 25, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

I grew up in Northern Alberta and Christmas was a special time of the year. I recall cold winter nights. I mean they were cold–almost minus 40 at night. Our windows upstairs were partly frosted over and on moonlit nights the light kept me awake or that is what I told others.

During Advent, my mom and older brothers walked across the street for evening Mass. The younger ones, including me, went to bed. I did not fall asleep right away and would watch out the window for them to come home. I thought no one saw me, but my Mom would come up and tell me to go to bed.

The other experience I recall is the Northern Lights and how you could hear them as they lit up the sky. We don’t see them very often in Edmonton with the urban light. When we spent time at the farm at Christmas, we heard and saw them there. Again, on cold nights we heard the train (about a mile away) and it sounded like it was coming right through the house.

I wrote this poem several years ago about the magic provided by the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and Christmas. What message was in those celestial colours and sounds? As a child, I thought the sky talked to me and told me a creation story.

Small children–

Breathlessly wait,

Peer through frosted window

Soak it in.

Heavens ripple–

Lights undulate;

A celebratory fury

An indisputable guide.

This old house speaks;

Nature answers–

The heavens crackle

Sweet symphonic sounds shimmer.

Earth’s floor–

Blanketed in white

Celestial colours speak to me

Captures young senses.

A vivid winter scene,

A sensual, sensory palette,

Reminds me–

Christ’s Mass is here.

pic_wonder_northern_lights_lg

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Posted in Blogging, Community, Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Photography, Poetry, Sabbath, teacher as transformer and tagged Christmas, community, creativity, northern lights, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

“The Good Samaritan” by French artist Maximilien Luce (1858-1941)

Posted on December 22, 2016 by ivonprefontaine

Photo post by @georgebost.

Source: “The Good Samaritan” by French artist Maximilien Luce (1858-1941)

I enjoy this parable. It should raise questions about what I do for others and how, when I do right , my life is enriched. It is a spiritual richeness that can make each day Christmas, rather than one day a year.

Several years ago, I heard a sermon that explained how the first two people who passed by may have felt they had to do so based on their understanding of certain laws. The Samaritan did not feel he was and stopped to care for someone in need.