Turn the soil
Plant the seeds
Offer precious food
Sustaining liquid
Nourish the spirit
A soul grows,
Buoyed–
A light shines
Reveals the path
With each step taken.
Breathe
Barely audible
Life giving
End of week arrives
I wait quietly,
I pause patiently,
I till tenderly,
Turn the soil
Plant the seeds
Take care.
A common theme has followed me the last little while. It has wound its way through my posts, my thoughts, and it seems in the daily discourse I have with songs I hear or poetry I read. It is the idea that as much as I try to hold on to the way things are, they are still in a constant rhythm of change. It reminds of Heraclitus’ quote: You could not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you. I find it is more complicated than that, as the same person cannot step into the river. With each ensuing moment, I change and the world I live in and with changes.
Yesterday, as I was driving home, Tommy Castro, a San Francisco blues performer, came on the radio with a song called It Is What it Is. The lyrics of the refrain go like this:
Yeah, I am what I am,
‘Cause I ain’t what I used to be.
‘Cause it is what it is,
But it ain’t what it used to be.
Sometimes, as much as I want things to remain the same or return to an idealized past, they cannot. Part of the reason, a big part, is I am not who I was a moment ago. Today, I flipped open one of the many books of poetry books I enjoy and found this William Stafford poem which echoed the lyrics above.
There’s a thread 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 the 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 do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
”A great blog is a space where one brings others into their world with thoughts, aspirations, and visions of what is possible. It will transcend time as visitors will join the day, but discover the past of the member of this vibrant community. Digital communities of this nature will be respectful and honest spaces shrinking the world and dissolving boundaries.”
I am grateful to Marsha Lee who streams her thoughts in many ways and helps me navigate the shoals of this new community. She is a writer, innovator, and teacher on her blog.
I acknowledge and invite several bloggers I was fortunate to find as I transformed my blog from an intermittent one without a focus to one with real purpose, I hope. I followed their efforts and recognized a blog is about connecting with me and, when that occurs, I will connect with others. I know a couple do not accept awards, but I wanted to acknowledge and thank them.
I appreciate Melody at Meanwhile, Melody Muses. She is a wonderful poet and photographer. Her inspirational words and imagery convinced me the digital community was about an inner journey of self-discovery on a personal spiritual journey.
A second blogger I appreciate is Mike at Mike’s Look at Life. Mike is a wonderful photographer who occasionally shares poetry. His photography is a journey of the daily life and its past. He reveals the extraordinary in the ordinary; those parts of daily life I often drove by.
I appreciate is Yaz at Free Your Mind. She leaves many uplifting comments about my posts and shares the need to find one’s truth in both the good fortune and tragedy. She reaffirms a need to search and find community in her posts and frequent comments.
I appreciate Carolyn’s posts on ABC of Spirit Talk and frequent journeys to my blog. She reminded me in her words that living my life as my life, rather than someone else’s life, is essential. Her ballroom dancing and her gently worded reflections speak volumes about her spirit.
I appreciate Mimi at Waiting for the Karma Truck. She shares poetry, a love of music, and life experiences. Mimi responds to, as best as I can determine, every comment on her blog. She demonstrated blogs are a place of genuine conversation.
I appreciate David at Lead.Learn.Live. We share some key ingredients-ice hockey is just a place to begin. David shares humour, quotes, and enthusiasm for life. My favourite posts are those at 4:00 AM when David is viewing the world more optimistically lens than I do.
To fully take part in the Līgo Circle of Appreciation:
~
* Complete this sentence about blogging: ”A great blog is…”
* Refer back to the blogger who invited you
* Invite 2 bloggers to join the Līgo Circle of Appreciation on a post
I read comments today in response to yesterday’s post, Transformation, and found words emerging. They remind me of the unnecessary chase. I only need patience and life arrives in each moment, fully revealed in its extraordinary nature. Life is not a race or hunting trip in which I seek the biggest prize.
When I seek
When I chase
Am active
I fail.
Patience
When I sit
I need not seek
Life discovers me.
Found
I wait
Life arrives
I only need sit.
When I write and post, I do not know where I go. Each step is its own process without rehearsal.
A step at a time;
A moment at a time
The outlook changes
With each step
With each moment.
The world changes every so slowly
Yet, gracefully
Seek no material reward
Yet, the reward is priceless
A dance with life
Unrehearsed.
Change shines outward
A radiant light shines forth
Illuminates the path
If I am present
The world is a gift
A gift of creation.
I read three articles this weekend and Father Richard Rohr’s daily meditation this morning. I found a clear message in each source and this message has slowly been revealed. Sabbath is a necessary part of my life and I slowly discover its purpose in a mindful attitude. It is in life lived mindfully I obtain a radical unity with my self, creation, neighbor, enemy, and always with God, step by step.
A mindful attitude–
Seek to choose well
Blend fiery passion
With compassion’s loving kindness.
Let life’s fruit mature;
Ripen deeply
Nurture life’s fully.
A spiritual banquet nourishes
Deepest meanings revealed
I Respond to life’s bounty.
Assume responsibility
For one’s self
For each other.
Welcome the world
Understand–
With childlike wonder
Become one;
Become whole
Transform the self.
Annie Dillard is a wonderful writer whose prose has a great poetic quality. Her words ask me to find quiet and solitude provided on the Sabbath. In that quiet, I go deeper and seek peace among the turmoil.
“In the deeps are the violence and terror of which psychology has warned us. But if we ride these monsters deeper down, if you drop them further over the world’s rim, you find what our sciences cannot locate or name, the substrate, the ocean or matrix or ether which buoys the test, which gives goodness its power for good, and evil its power for evil, the unified field: our complex and inexplicable caring for each other, and for our life together here. It is given. It is not learned.”
Take care and see you Monday.
I made a promise coming into the school year. I would keep my head, do only what I can, and not flounder. I won’t let things get me down. I find solace in writing, nature, with Kathy, and in reading poetry. Some days I just open a book and find a poem which speaks to me in such a clear voice I think the poet stands or sits across from me sharing their words. That is what happened with this poem by Vaclav Havel.
It is I who must begin,
Once I begin, once I try—
here and now,
right where I am,
not excusing myself
by saying that things
would be easier elsewhere,
without grand speeches and
ostentatious gestures,
but all the more persistently
—to live in harmony
with the “voice of Being,” as I
understand it within myself
—as soon as I begin that,
I suddenly discover,
to my surprise, that
I am neither the only one,
nor the first,
nor the most important one
to have set out upon the road.
Whether all is really lost
or not depends entirely on
whether or not I am lost.
The picture below was not taken today. Winter arrived. In some parts of our fair province 10-15 cm (3-5 inches) of snow fell. The insight is that it will be back up about 15 C on the weekend. Behind each cloud lays blue sky. I only have to wait.
Behind sullen clouds;
Insight awaits
In spaciousness.
Effortlessly
Be present
Hear silence.
In refuge
Rest heart and mind
Drift with the current.
Behind clouds;
Blue sky
Be patient.
Tiny, from Tiny Lessons Blog nominated my blog for an award called the Reality Blog Award. I am grateful to Tiny. You can decide what you would like to do based on time and other considerations. There are no rules per se. I followed the template that Tiny provided, but each of us can follow our path on this award.
Here is the image for this award:
These are five questions that Tiny passed on and I will answer:
1) If you could change something what would you change?
I would have become a teacher sooner in life.
2) If you could repeat an age, what age would it be?
This is two answers: 20 and 22. The first year was the year Kathy and I met and the second was the year we married.
3) What one thing really scares you?
I handle the loss of those close to me well, but still it is the thing I think that scares me the most.
4) What one dream have you not completed yet and do you think you will be able to complete it.
I would finish my PhD, start a school, and write.
5) If you could be someone else for the day, who would you be?
I would be interested in being Jesus, Buddha, or Mohammed for a day.
I nominated 20 different blogs I visit regularly. They include photography, poetry, prose, opinions, spirituality, etc. They are not the only blogs I visit, but I wanted to acknowledge a new group. I visit them and gain insight from their reality.
This award does not go with any specific “rules”. Instead each nominee can do whatever feels good to them, but I hope they will take the nomination as a sign of appreciation and encouragement.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 