Teacher as Transformer

mermaid lessons

Posted on January 4, 2015 by ivonprefontaine

The suggestions in the post i.e. cultivating beauty and joy, playing, filling your sails with dreams, and feeding your soul with what enchants you are worth meditating over each day. What do they mean in our living?

Sirena Tales

Feed your soul with what enchants you

Bask

Rough seas will pass

~~Ebb~~~ and~~ flow~~~~

Cultivate beauty and joy

Dive deeply: ’tis where the richest treasures lie

Play

Your heart is your true compass: listen

Fill your sails with your dreams

and

Venture forth on your life’s vast seas of possibility

Be intrepid in your quest

LOVE

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We rise by lifting others.

Posted on January 3, 2015 by ivonprefontaine

We do. It is in and through the extended hand that we express our humanity for others to witness.

A Small Act Of Kindness Can Bring Smile On Million Faces

Image Courtesy: http://th00.deviantart.net

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At the New Year

Posted on January 1, 2015 by ivonprefontaine

As Kenneth Patchen wrote, “there are other bells we could ring” provides choice in living mindfully and sensitively in the world.

In the shape of this night, in the still fall

of snow, Father

In all that is cold and tiny, these little birds

and children

In everything that moves tonight, the trolleys

and the lovers, Father

In the great hush of country, in the ugly noise

of our cities

In this deep throw of stars, in those trenches

where the dead are, Father

In all the wide land waiting, and in the liners

out on the black water

In all that has been said bravely, in all that is

mean anywhere in the world, Father

In all that is good and lovely, in every house

where sham and hatred are

In the name of those who wait, in the sound

of angry voices, Father

Before the bells ring, before this little point in time

has rushed us on

Before this clean moment has gone, before this night

turns to face tomorrow, Father

There is this high singing in the air

Forever this sorrowful human face in eternity’s window

And there are other bells that we would ring, Father

Other bells that we would ring.

When we explore the cracks in everything, we find the light and ring the bells we can and could.

“Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering, there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”—Leonard Cohen

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Words Crystallize

Posted on December 31, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

There is a always a deeper secret within the secret which cannot be fully explained. Accepting this wordless and mysterious essence allows us to find our way home.

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Wonder Haiku 93

Posted on December 30, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Time is elusive. Yet, we try to manage it, own it, and save it.

Skywalker Storyteller Works

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If you are a poet….

Posted on December 28, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem describes the interconnection of matter. Remove one thing from the link and what remains?

“If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow: and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are.”

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Free Flight Into The Wordless

Posted on December 26, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The image and the short piece by Pablo Neruda fit so well together. Poetry is a deep inner calling in humans. It is a language that allows us to speak immediately to the world.

Becoming is Superior to Being

“Free Flight into the Wordless” — Image by kenne

Poetry is a deep inner calling in man: from it came liturgy, the

psalms, and also the content of religions. The poet confronted

nature’s phenomena and in the early ages called himself a priest,

to safeguard his vocation. . . . Today’s social poet is still a member

of the earliest order of priests. In the old days he made his

pact with the darkness, and now he must interpret the light.

— Pablo Neruda

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Christmas Light

Posted on December 25, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

May Sarton provided a simple message for this time of year. When we take a moment and share a few moments of quiet, there is sometimes a feeling of being reborn. It is in the quiet and simple moments we feel love’s presence.

As I prepared to post, I read the poem again. It took May Sarton almost a whole year to feel love’s presence. Regardless of our beliefs, each day is a special celebration and feeling love’s presence. Each day offers silent spaces for meditation and prayer bringing us closer to each other.

Take care and enjoy each day as if it were a special and wonder filled holiday. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

When everyone had gone
I sat in the library
With the small silent tree,
She and I alone.
How softly she shone!

And for the first time then
For the first time this year,
I felt reborn again,
I knew love’s presence near.

Love distant, love detached
And strangely without weight,
Was with me in the night
When everyone had gone
And the garland of pure light
Stayed on, stayed on.

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Christmas Gift Suggestions

Posted on December 24, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The short poem offers us a way to experience the holidays regardless of how we believe. The suggestions are something we can carry into daily living.

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Natures Wisdom

Posted on December 23, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Wisdom is not easy to find. It is buried in the roots of our living. Nature is a space where wisdom does not know bounds in the way humans often place them around phenomena.

kat says