Tag Archives: eloquent questions

Personal Legend: Life Lessons from Dancing

Posted on September 30, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Personal Legend: Life Lessons from Dancing.

The link begins with a quote from Paulo Coehlo about finding meaning in life. It becomes our personal legend when we find those things that add to our lives. We are remembered for dancing, teaching, singing, etc; whatever brings us and others joy.

The linked article ends with a poem from Joseph Campbell. He began the poem with “follow your bliss.” When we do, we find our voice and speak through our lives.

Parker Palmer and Thomas Merton pointed out voice and vocation are linked in etymology. They come from a place deep within us. We don’t even have to chase it. We only have to sit, be still, be quiet and our voice finds us. When it finds us, we dance as our voice accompanies us finding what brings meaning and joy in our lives and the lives of those we dance with.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, eloquent questions, Joseph Campbell, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Parker Palmer, Paulo Coehlo, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer, Thomas Merton. Bookmark the permalink.

Wordless Wednesday: And You?

Posted on September 25, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Wordless Wednesday: And You?.

Rumi‘s poetry becomes meaningful quotes very easily. It seems in the quotes nothing is lost and much is gained. Perhaps, it is because the quotes often become questions opening up spaces in living that we had not anticipated.

Poetry is an internal journey. It asks questions in ways that even when speaking of the external world we turn inwards and seek the answers. It is in the pauses, much like when we pause in living, that something reveals itself.

Amidst the busyness of life we chase missing what is seeking us. When we pause, what is seeking us finds us and speaks to us. We open ourselves and let go in those pauses. It is in the pauses that we can be fully present to the world and our self.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, Rumi, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Live in Wonder

Posted on September 24, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Live in Wonder.

The world is a place of wonder. It is poetry in its most indefinable ways and that is why we need pauses between the words. It is in those pauses that the wonder soaks in and we can live in wonder. If the world had no spaces and only noise, we would be overwhelmed. The spaces are an inviting into the most precious relationships we can possibly have with the world, those we share the world, and all matter that matters.

When we pause and listen in the stillness and quiet, we are present to all that is holy and real. The world is made whole in those moments.

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Posted in Community, Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged community, conversational journey, Educational Leadership, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, poetry, spirituality, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

The Wine and the Cup -Rumi

Posted on September 22, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The Wine and the Cup -Rumi.

Rumi‘s poetry resonates through the centuries. This short verse reminded me that life is the way we are open up to it. What we receive depends on the number and quality of windows allowing light to enter life.

Gadamer referred to the questions we ask, which open up life, as eloquent . We enter questions as though they are living without presupposed answers ready for exploring.

The moonlight shines into our questions and the size of the cup is of our making. The quality of life is the quality of the windows in our life. Do we age like good wine as we mature? Are we mindful to the character of our living?

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, Gadamer, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, Rumi, teacher as transformer, The Wine and the Cup. Bookmark the permalink.

Ask a Tree

Posted on September 18, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Ask a Tree.

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote about a large tree on the grounds at Plum Village a Zen monastery in France. When people are feeling lonely, sad, angry, etc. he suggests they hug the tree for a few moments. It provides people with an opportunity to connect as they pause.

The druids lived in nature often living in trees. Nature was a cathedral and should still be today. As I drove home yesterday, I saw the changing colour in leaves and branches hanging over our street. Nature and trees have stories to tell. We only need to ask, pause of a moment, and listen attentively.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Nature in All Its Glory, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged conversational journey, creativity, eloquent questions, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, nature, poetry, teacher as transformer, Thich Nhat Hanh. Bookmark the permalink.

Silver

Posted on September 16, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Silver.

If we can live in the world and it still amazes us and brings us wonder, the silver in our hair will shine. What do we hurry by and step over during our waking hours which, if we were fully awake, would shine forth their extraordinary qualities? Being present and mindful in the world and in our lives, brings the world into a fuller contrast with brightening of the colours, fragrances, tastes, feelings, and sounds.

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Today

Posted on September 14, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Sabbath is here. Hafiz, the Sufi poet, wrote this wonderful poem which helps me understand Sabbath more fully. The third stanza speaks to the need to be present in the world. It is each Now that we can testify to the truth. Yet, this truth is always transient, because I recall it later incompletely.

I do not want to step so quickly
over the beautiful line on God’s palm
As I move through earth’s
Marketplace
Today

I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved

Something has happened
to my understanding of existence
That now always makes my heart full of wonder
and Kindness.

I do not
Want
To step so quickly
Over the sacred place on God’s body
That is right beneath
your own foot

As I dance with
Precious life
Today.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry, Reflective Moments and tagged creativity, David Whyte, eloquent questions, Hafiz, Mindful Practice, poetry, spirituality, Sufi, teacher as transformer, Today. Bookmark the permalink.

Tree of poems (1)

Posted on September 10, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Tree of poems (1).

This post includes the poem written in three languages, English, Roma, and Italian, along with a graphic. The graphic is fuzzy as it should be. Living is like writing a poem. The space between the words mean something and create a fuzziness that perhaps speaks more clearly than the words spoken.

Similar to writing, living is always a process of editing. The stories we tell and the person we are (our whoness and isness) is not fully describable. Memories are incomplete and fuzzy even the moment we step out of this moment. Moreover, can we even know what we missed and did not understand? Living and reading poetry are always happening in the Now. They always take on new meaning as we listen and act again.

Living is an ongoing conversation in the world and with its phenomena. We live in community where our humanness is what provides the common feature between us and Others we are in relationship with. The world presses in on us and is included in the conversation as it helps us make sense of the journey we are on.

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The Path

Posted on September 9, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

The Path.

This is a short poem which speaks to the humble beginnings each of us lives. Somehow, we occasionally forget these humble beginnings and the idea that each moment is its own humble re-beginning. We live in the most immediate time possible, now.

Taking time and realizing the path is made with each new step is a humbling experience, sometimes humiliating and always human. All these words, humble, humiliate, and human, share a common root, the word humus.

A path made of humus reminds us that there is a cycle to life. Each moment passes into a never fully retrievable history. In each moment, we live our questions when we are mindful and attentive in the world, not as observers. We live in community with the world and all its phenomena, sentient and non-sentient.

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Posted in Mindful Life, Poetry and tagged community, creativity, eloquent questions, Glacier National Park, Mindful Practice, mindfulness, teacher as transformer. Bookmark the permalink.

Mysteries, Yes

Posted on September 7, 2014 by ivonprefontaine

Mary Oliver writes many poems about life’s mysteries, life’s questions, and the sacred spaces we enter in listening. During Sabbath time, I use her poetry to focus on stillness and allow questions to emerge. They poke their heads forward and are always joined by other questions. The answers are less relevant than the wondering that flows from each question. The mysteries are truly too marvelous to be understood.

Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous
to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the
mouths of the lambs.
How rivers and stones are forever
in allegiance with gravity,
while we ourselves dream of rising.

How two hands touch and the bonds
will never be broken.
How people come, from delight or the
scars of damage,
to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance, always, from those
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say
“Look!” and laugh in astonishment,
and bow their heads.