“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”.
“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy.”
I was asking these very questions and Mary Oliver (as she so often does!) quenched my thirst for answers. It is enough to find the essential overwhelming ecstatic joy in LIFE itself, in witnessing the wonder, in absorbing the sounds, smells, feelings, taste and touch all around us. Acknowledging and bringing presence to the the privilige of the breath, right here right now – always in all ways, enough. Thank you Mary. Thank you World. Thank you LIFE. Thank you breath. Ahhhh….
“Have I lived enough?
Have I loved enough?
Have I considered Right Action enough,
have I come to any conclusions?
Have I experienced happiness with sufficient gratitude?
“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.”
