“There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.”
– Milan Kundera
“May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong, may you stay forever young.”
Bob Dylan
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”
– Satchel Paige
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.”
“Give me everything mangled and bruised, and I will make a light of it to make you weep. And we will have rain & begin again.”
-Deena Metzger
We will. Begin again and again and again. I’ve thought a lot about this lately as our country spirals… every single unkind, uncaring, without compassion, without empathy, without inclusion and without love action/word/thought must be immediately transformed by light. With kindness, caring, compassion, empathy, inclusion and LOVE. Immediate and constant.
These too are resistance.
For anyone feeling mangled and bruised, we have you. I have you. Embraced, cocooned, blanketed, sheltered. Loved. We begin again as many times as we need to, each day, each hour. We will continue to make light in the darkness.
“When darkness surrounds, even the smallest spark can guide the way. It’s not the size of the light that matters, but the courage to hold it through the night.”
Dipendra Tamang
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
“Why would I want to cede any kind of emotional sovereignty to anyone in the ceremony of my everyday life?“
– James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
I don’t. I choose not to. In this climate of unease and lack of basic civility, kindness, inclusion and honor – of grace – some days this is difficult. I want to react, to explain, to cry, to rant… I have learned better though. These things, these actions, do not one iota of good and change nothing. Better to live the authentic me in these times and not let my energy be dimmed or diminished. Love with fierce passion. Act don’t react my Father always said.
So here we are. And we still, always in all ways, have each other, so much LOVE, and a bounty of blessings of beauty in northwest Montana and all over this magnificent planet. We maintain who we are and celebrate the ceremony of our everyday lives. We honor each soul, and know there is no “other”.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
As these summer days evolve, unfold, manifest the very essence and depth of life in radiant, brillant, big love, I am touching the ground with reverence, and looking around with eyes seeing abundance, with my heart feeling awe, breathing in my belonging. Thank you Jess Housty for expressing these feelings into words that resonate on this rain filled precious new Summer day.
“Go out into the world.
Stand or sit or hold your body like a precious thing: hold as much of your body as you can exchanging gentle touch with the ground.
When you look around yourself, name all the ways you see thriving mapped onto your surroundings.
Now, name all the ways that you map the abundance onto what’s around you.
You are intrinsic to the good work happening around you; breathe in your belonging; breathe out the question,
How can I build kinship and community in this moment?”
“Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue”.
-John Muir
The fog is a shimmering silvery mist. Electric. Alive. The greening earth below dancing to meet it. A dancing electric alive celebration of Spring as this second day of May dawns.
