Roses in winter sounds beautiful. The imagery in the picture and poetry change the snowy world.
Otherwise
There are always otherwises in life we can never know, because they have not happened and perhaps never will. In many ways, I am grateful for not having experienced the otherwises that might replace getting out of bed on two strong legs or eating my cereal, breakfast bar, and banana each morning. Or, drinking tea as part who I am.
Jane Kenyon wrote about things we take for granted because they are ingrained in who we are and we pay little attention to them. They are the ordinary things that in many ways are extraordinary.
I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.
At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.
Dream a little…
Our personal dreams can never be dreamed by anyone else. It is part of what makes us unique and who we are.
A wasted life
Thomas Merton had a way of seeing and saying things that make sense even 50 after he passed away. Osho says the same thing essentially. We cannot take it with us so it is important to do well with it on Earth and share in ways that make the world a better place.
“If you have learned only how to be a success, your life has probably been wasted.” ~ Thomas Merton
The Way it Is
I chose this poem by William Stafford after comments I shared with David at The Dad Poet about poets we enjoyed. Those are not short lists. David reminded me of William Stafford who writes in both a simple and complex way as well. He tells us with simplicity that there is a thread that connects us all and to all things.
More importantly, perhaps, it connects us to our self. We cannot describe it. We know it is there and by holding on life unfolds the way it should without us knowing exactly what that means. The connections to others provide safety and love that we know there are people, places, and spaces to turn towards during the more difficult moments.
There’s a thread that you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about this thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you can stop unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
Power #tiny hearts
What is most interesting about each of the quotes, is their sources transcend what we might understand as differences. For example, epoch is not a barrier to the shared meaning of the quotes individually and in their totality. In this way, the words shared are part of a universal understanding of what it is to be human, live and to love as humans.
The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace. -Mahatma Gandhi
Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power. -Tao Te Ching
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any. -Alice Walker
All the forces in the world are not so powerful as an idea whose time has come. –Victor Hugo
Circumstances are beyond human control, but our conduct is in our own power. –Benjamin Disraeli
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. ― Abraham Lincoln
Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing.” It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way. –Fulton J. Sheen
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. –Jimi Hendrix
Feature image: The…
View original post 3 more words
Serifos, Greece.
There are pictures worth being shared because they need no extra words. Enjoy.
Chuang Tzu And The Butterfly
Li Po wrote poems that asked questions. A common theme was drinking alcohol, but, when I read his poetry, I wonder if it was alcohol or his intoxication with the world he lived in? What is real and not real sometimes blurs boundaries and we ask questions about what is real and not real. Who is the leader and who is not appears in Li Po’s poetry.
Herman Hesse blurred the lines between Leo as a leader and Leo as a servant in Journey to the East. Who serves who? What does it mean to lead and serve? There is a Taoist quality in those questions.
Chuang Tzu in dream became a butterfly,
And the butterfly became Chuang Tzu at waking.
Which was the real—the butterfly or the man ?
Who can tell the end of the endless changes of things?
The water that flows into the depth of the distant sea
Returns anon to the shallows of a transparent stream.
The man, raising melons outside the green gate of the city,
Was once the Prince of the East Hill.
So must rank and riches vanish.
You know it, still you toil and toil,—what for?
Trust a Little Bit
This gallery contains 4 photos.
This is a great message or messages. One thing that gets us through the day is the faith that others have in us that we will achieve and that becomes our faith in our self. Faith, whether it be one’s own faith, the faith others have in them, or a combination, is the platform and […]
Be with those Who Help your Being
Rumi, the Sufi poet, wrote this poem several centuries ago, but it resonates today strongly. In the fast-paced world, it seems easier to calculate and do, rather than mediate, pray, and be. The latter takes time, patience, and caring. Once the calculation is done, quite often the business is done. When we enter into the space where we listen deeply to our self and others, there is no business to do. It is just being in relationship, first with the person who is me and with the other who has listened with care.
Be with those who help your being.
Don’t sit with indifferent people, whose breath
comes cold out of their mouths.
Not these visible forms, your work is deeper.
A chunk of dirt thrown in the air breaks to pieces.
If you don’t try to fly,
and so break yourself apart,
you will be broken open by death,
when it’s too late for all you could become.
Leaves get yellow. The tree puts out fresh roots
and makes them green.
Why are you so content with a love that turns you yellow?
Teacher as Transformer 