“Today I am altogether without ambition.
Where did I get such wisdom?”
Mary Oliver
Wisdom
Category Archives: Nature
The Moon, The Earth, The Old Ones and The Fire Still Live in Me
On occasion, a Facebook post has the power to shine a brillant light, to offer a profound and even transformational moment – a needed connection… today that happened when I read these words from the Native American Heritage page.
“Do not chase every light
that calls your name.
Some lights only want
to see you burn.
Be like the moon.
Bright,
but never begging
to be seen.
Our grandmothers taught
that power is quiet.
It does not shout
across the valley.
It stands,
it listens,
it knows when to rise.
There will be people
who only love you
when you are easy.
Let them pass
like dry leaves in wind.
The ones meant for your circle
will honor your spirit
in every season,
when your hands are full of song,
and when your heart
is learning how to heal.
Do not be ashamed
of your softness.
The river is soft too,
yet it shapes stone.
Do not be ashamed
of your sorrow.
Even the night sky
carries darkness
so the stars can speak.
Remember this.
You do not belong
to fear.
You belong
to the earth,
to prayer,
to the old songs,
to the breath
that kept your people
walking forward.
Raise your arms
to the heavens
if you must.
Cry if you must.
Begin again
if you must.
But never forget
who you are.
You are not small
because the world is loud.
You are not lost
because the road is hard.
You are a living memory.
A flame with ancestors behind it.
A promise
the Creator did not abandon.
So walk gently.
Love deeply.
Speak truth.
Protect what is sacred.
And when life asks
who taught you
to stand in the dark
without breaking,
tell them:
The moon.
The earth.
The old ones.
And the fire
still live in me.”
From Native American Heritage Facebook page post March 12, 2026
In the Stillness of the Trees I Am at Home
“I will wait here in the fields to see how well the rain brings on the grass.
In the labor of the fields longer than a man’s life I am at home. Don’t come with me. You stay home too.
I will be standing in the woods where the old trees move only with the wind and then with gravity.
In the stillness of the tress I am at home. Don’t come with me.
You stay at home too.”
-Wendell Berry
The Work of Staying Gentle
From “Native American Heritage” Facebook post on Feb. 18, 2026, I savored these deeply felt words that resonated deeply…
“Under a full moon that holds its breath,
a bear folds the night into its chest.
Beads catch starlight like small prayers,
stitched into blue cloth, heavy with meaning.
A white wolf leans in, slow and sure,
nose to fur, heart to heartbeat,
as if the world can be repaired
by one honest touch.
There is no hunt here.
No test.
Only the work of staying gentle
when power could be easy.
The sky watches with cold patience,
clouds drifting like smoke that never lies.
The bear’s arms become a shelter,
not a cage, not a claim.
Fur meets fur,
and the old fear loosens its grip.
What is wild does not always mean alone.
What is strong does not always mean hard.
Let the moon keep shining without questions.
Let the grass bow in the dark wind.
Tonight, kinship is the only language,
and silence is how it speaks.”
Gentleness
This quote from ullie-kaye eased, calmed and buoyed my heart. I do see willows, tender whispers, quiet acres… and take time to see stars. And all things with feathers? I have them all around my home.
Gentleness, elaborate, simple, profound and rich. Powerful. Very very powerful.
“This world was not built for soft people. Everywhere I look, I see storms instead of breezes. Thorns instead of roses. Rocks instead of running water.
And I wonder where the willows are. The tender whispers. The delicate petals. The quiet acres.
I wonder where I can find the people who still long to slow down. To watch stars. To hold doors. To greet each other with a compliment.
I wonder where the weepers are. The keepers of every keepsake are. Where all of the things with feathers are.
And on a planet filled with skyscrapers, space travel and automatic everything – I still think the most elaborate things is gentleness.”
Yes. Thank you ullie-kaye. I read your words often, they always seem to appear when they are needed most. I always hold doors… I know you do too.
Where There is Great Love, There Are Always Miracles
- “Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.” —Lord Byron
- “The giving of love is an education in itself.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Love cures people—both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.” —Karl A. Menninger
“Where there is great love, there are always miracles.” —Willa Cather
On Becoming… Older, Loving the Life I Live
“Am I Getting Old?
People say I’ve changed. They say I’ve grown quiet, distant…not the person I used to be. But I don’t think it’s age that’s changing me.
I think it’s wisdom.
I no longer live to make others happy. Now, I try to be kind to myself.
I’ve let go of things that hurt me-memories, people, and place that made me feel small.
Not out of anger, but because I deserve peace.
I don’t chase loud nights anymore.
I spend my late hours learning, dreaming, creating.
I’ve traded makeup for honesty, and empty smiles for real joy.
I don’t need a glass of wine to feel alive-I find comfort in quitet sips of coffee.
I stopped pretending life is perfect, and started loving it just as it is.
It’s not age that slows me down.
It’s the wonder of seeing beauty in small things-a bird’s song, morning light, a kind word.
I wake up early now, not because I must, but becasue each day feels like a gift.
I stay silent more often not because I have nothing to say, but because I now choose words that matter.
No, I’m not getting old.
I’m becoming myself.
I’m healing.
I’m growning.
I’m learning to live the life I live-one quiet, beautiful moment at a time.”
–Victor Hugo
For Bambi
Your sweet abiding presence, serenity, calm and acceptance were always a bit otherworldly. Not completely of this world. One hoof in and one hoof out of this realm. You brought us gentleness, and you guided and nurtured us, even though you were the baby, the special foal.
The brief time we resonated with you belies your impact. Small but mighty. Never to be forgotten.
We will always feel your presence and remember your gifts. Of presence, of acceptance, of cuddly calm gentle sweetness.
You have moved on. Your unique destiny carved out and met.
We learned from you.
We loved you deeply and dearly.
And now we must let you go…
Unexpected Renewals
“Paradoxically, I have found peace because I have always been dissatisfied. My moments of depression and despair turn out to be renewals, new beginnings. If I were once to settle down and be satisfied with the surface of life, with its divisions and its cliches, it would be time to call in the the undertaker… So, then, this dissatisfaction which sometimes used to worry me and has certainly, I know, worried others, has helped me in fact to move freely and even gaily with the stream of life.”
-Thomas Merton
Gentle Work
“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love – whether we call it friendship or family or romance – is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”
-James Baldwin
These reflections in nature seem to speak of the delicate, steadfast, sweet, life-saving work that Baldwin speaks of in this profound quote. What is more important that mirroring a fellow traveler’s light back to them?
