“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.”
Henry David Thoreau – Walden (1854)
Donna Ashworth’s words found my core this morning, expressing so beautifully what my soul was feeling.
“We exist on a 4.5 billion year old rock
floating in an unfathomable expanse
of nothing-ness
you and I
we are magnetically held in place
along with 8 billion other people.
every single thing that exists on this rock
is without doubt a work of art
so intricately crafted
we will never truly discover the scope of wonder within
we are made of the same elements
as everything that naturally surrounds us
just shaken up differently
and oh so magnificently
look at us, my friends.
we are breathtaking
our breath alone
the power in that act
is breathtaking
everything you are doing right now
reading, feeling, understanding
is fascinatingly complex
and yet we spend our days worrying about things
that are of no significance at all
big-picture
walk around your world today
with awe in your eyes
and really see what you are living.
every aspect of this life
is nothing short of astonishing
and this rock we are clinging to with ease
is astounding.
eyes open, reach out, breathe deep
take it all in
this rock, our home,
will know each of us
for only a heartbeat in its timeline.
leave only love
live with only gratitude
look with only wonder.”
-Donna Ashworth
These words by Silvatiicus Riddle resonated today. Of course not everything is terrible, not even most things, not even a large percentage of things. Perspective. Laying down the learned anger, the fear, the rhetoric, and remembering the love that permeates all, the overwhelming beauty, the magnificence of life, the privilege of it, are all at our fingertips, alive in our hearts,and available for the asking. In this little piece of the world we inhabit, yes, we have everything we need.
“Not everything is terrible.
Read that again. Say it aloud. Know that it is ultimately the truth.
Somewhere birds sing. Somewhere cats play and roll in the grass. Somewhere there is a brand new baby seeing snowfall for the first time. An ocean washes the tired feet of a grandmother with a lifetime of memories etched into her kindly face. Somewhere someone is deeply in love, and falls asleep with their lover’s face still in their eyes. Somewhere there are trees that have seen terrible men rise and fall, that have watched war planes flying overhead, that have felt in the ground and mycelium the distant strike of the ax, and yet…they dig their roots deeper. They reach up proudly for the sunlight, unashamed. They allow the world around them to fall away, or shift with time. Because sometimes, when it is difficult, when it is scary, that is the only way to live.
The flowers will grow. The storms will pass. Life will begin and end and begin again, because that is the way of it. It may not be okay in the whole world, but you can sing. You can pet the soft fur of your animals, you can feel the coolness or warmth of a comforting drink. The touch of a hand. You can recall the survival of an ancestor through trying times, call their strength to you. You can read a good story, or make one up. Tell one about a great adventure –a quest for the precious jewel that gives you life, and how the old witch helped you discover that you’ve carried it with you all along, that it exists inside of you, and you have everything you need right now, in this very moment. Because you do. You really do.
In the little piece of the world that you claim beneath your feet, it is okay. You carry your world with you.
Not everything is terrible.
Remember, and seek out the good.”
Silvatiicus Riddle
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?”
-Jess Housty (from Crushed Wild Mint: Poems (2023, Nightwood Editions)
“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.
Silver~
“How many years of beauty do I have left?
she asks me.
How many more do you want?
Here. Here is 34. Here is 50.
When you are 80 years old
and your beauty rises in ways
your cells cannot even imagine now
and your wild bones grow luminous and
ripe, having carried the weight
of a passionate life.
When your hair is aflame
with winter
and you have decades of
learning and leaving and loving
sewn into
the corners of your eyes
and your children come home
to find their own history
in your face.
When you know what it feels like to fail
ferociously
and have gained the
capacity
to rise and rise and rise again.
When you can make your tea
on a quiet and ridiculously lonely afternoon
and still have a song in your heart
Queen owl wings beating
beneath the cotton of your sweater.
Because your beauty began there
beneath the sweater and the skin,
remember?
This is when I will take you
into my arms and coo
YOU BRAVE AND GLORIOUS THING
you’ve come so far.
I see you.
Your beauty is breathtaking.”
~ Jeannette Encinias
The main photo at the top of this post is of my beloved Mom’s hands – age 91. The photo above Jeannette Encinias’ poem is of my Mom at age 90 in Bryce Canyon at sunrise, and the photo below is of my Mom with her Great Granddaughter Maddie at six weeks old. My Mom was breathtakenly beautiful.
Beauty at any age, at every age. Ages 90 and Six Weeks, Mom & Maddie
“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.”
-Robin Wall Kimmerer
“The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness”
-John Muir
“At the darkest moment comes the light.”
-Joseph Campbell
“I danced with my shadows until they became part of my light.”-Jodi Livon
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. “
Ernest Hemingway
