Stone Poetry

The ranger at the entrance station for Bryce National Park provides a brochure that explains the science behind the majestic spires, cathedrals, layers of colors, sculptures… but the facts can’t prepare you for the wonder of it all. The scale, the quiet, the sacred feeling that pervades – all are immense. Travelers talk in whispers. We glance at each other with a sort of shrug that says, “How can we take in all this?”  It is sacred, it is all encompassing, it is peace.

Bryce, HooDoos4

“If a man knew enough he could write a whole book about the juniper tree. Not juniper trees in general but that one particular juniper tree that grows from a ledge of naked sandstone near the old entrance to Arches National Monument.”
-Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire, A Season in the Wilderness

Bryce, HooDoos

 

 

Traveling the Inner & Outer Roads

“I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless, as it extends into the world around us, it goes an equal distance into the world within.”

-Lillian Smith

Bryce, Mom on Bench

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.”

-Anatole France

Sky View

“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they’re going.”

-Paul Theroux

 

“Not all who wander are lost.”

-J.R.R. Tolkien

Idaho Road

 

 

A New Way of Seeing Things

A journey begins… traveling south away from these northwest wonders and into new ones.  Open to each and every experience and opening.

Big Rock, Mountain Range

 

“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

-Henry Miller

Big Sky Montana

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights;  it is a change that goes on deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

-Miriam Beard

 

Bridal Vail with Prisms

A Handful of Sand

“We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the world.”

-Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

There is SO much more to be aware of!  Take a minute.  Allow several long sweet breaths.  Notice the depth that is possible in this moment.  Be aware of the wonders – the possibilities – the connections – the expansion and the deepening….

Explore the endless landscape of awareness.

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The Treasure is Inside You

“The treasure that you are seeking, is inside you.
The beauty of the sound is that it opens doorways for you to go inside…
to make contact with that which you already have”.
~Tom Kenyon

Light Writing - Heart (2)

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”

-Carl Jung

…”Your still, quiet waters run deep. Go to the water.  Ask. Listen. The advice you seek is in YOU.”

-Kris Carr

 

The inner world is a big, ever and all knowing universe.   As huge as the expanding cosmos, a lifetime of exploration contained there.  The vibration of atoms and quarks and bosons constantly moving and creating.   As the movement of the Milky Way, constellations, star nebulas so the movement and vibrations of particles that make up everything.  We are made of stardust!

Human Body

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The cosmos is within us.                                                                        We are made of star stuff. We are a way for the universe to know itself.”

-Carl SaganPrayer Flags

 

Earth Mother

“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.”

-Chief JosephGlacier Greens

 

Storm Brewing

“Happy day to all those who mother- whether or not you have ever given birth. Some of the best mothering I have received has been from friends, some of whom do not have children. They have fed me, held me, listened to me (endlessly! ) & given me strength. I bow to all those who tend & befriend. And I bow to our shared Mother, the Earth- who supports & sustains us.”

-Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Clean Mess

 

Nature’s Art – A Gallery of Photos

“What is art but a way of seeing?”

-Saul Bellow

“What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility.  This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.”

-Albert Einstein

 

 

Seeing the Spring Come In

“One attraction in coming to the woods to live was that I should have leisure and opportunity to see the Spring come in.”

-Henry David Thoreau

Sidewalk Patterns

“Sit quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.”

-Zen Saying

 

“The force of Spring – mysterious, fecund, powerful beyond measure.”

-Michael Garofalo

 

Walking Meditation

Ferns in the LightWalking, rambling, wandering in nature, creates an absorbing meditative state.  Interconnections are felt as a natural presence and awareness is sharp but relaxed and calm.

Cultivating a mindful state too while walking is restful and peaceful.  A day begun in this way sets the energy for all that will follow.

The Willows, Tree Detail

 

In this calm, meditative state there is also stimulating brain benefits.

 

Your brain after a walk!

brain-on-a-walk-e1399039790379

“Wildmind” provides resources for walking meditation.  Learn the “how to do it” and the “whys” of walking meditation’s benefits by checking out the link below:

http://www.wildmind.org/walking/why

Driveway in Fog

“In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.

Beautifully will I possess again.
Beautifully birds . . .
Beautifully joyful birds

On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.

With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.

It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.”

A Navajo Indian Prayer of the                                                       Second Day of the Night Chant (anonymous)

May you walk in beauty and calm attention today, breathing sweetness and wonder with every step.

Enjoy the Passage of Time

Chateau St. Michele, Tree Roots“The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time.”

-James Taylor

The hurry sickness has left me.  The ease of the morning to contemplate life, nature, the day, fulfills a longing to sit with the purity of being here now.  Hearing those words, there is a knowing, a real knowledge, that being fully present, attentive, focused, and aware truly does bring peace.  The gift of life is acknowledged in these moments – and these moments expand to hours and inform the days.

The house still needs to be cleaned, bills paid, the plants tended… with the awareness of the morning extended, these small tasks take on a sacred feeling.  Every movement a prayer.  This is not a constant state of course – for me.  The periods of time though are extended more and more….  I need so much less to feel full.  Less activity, less doing, more be-ing is a grace filled way.

Leaf with Two Suns

 

“Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”

-John Lennon