Category Archives: Sweet Breathing

Sweet Breathing

A Great Presence Stirring Beside Me

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In honor of this Winter Solstice… homage to the darkest of our days, as we welcome back the sun’s increased presence.

This Rilke poem and the beautiful art below by Sha’an d’Anthes were originally paired on Dreamwork with Toko-pa’s website.  Check out her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DreamworkWithTokopa/?hc_ref=ARTk9RUC0IRzfTgBfv6vMarLzO_YzVEPNZm3SHBE-xpONW_Y3tI7c-rh69H92c2fCEo&fref=nf&pnref=story

“You, darkness, of whom I am born —

I love you more than the flame
that limits the world
to the circle it illumines
and excludes all the rest.

But the darkness embraces everything:
shapes and shadows, creatures and me,
people, nations — just as they are.

It lets me imagine
a great presence stirring beside me.

I believe in the night.”

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Artwork below by Sha’an d’Anthes

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Sweet Breathing

Be Thanksgiving

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Be Thanksgiving
by Briana Borten

“This past summer I became really clear that my #1 prayer for my life is that I want to be living in gratitude all of the time. I asked myself “How can I be in every moment, action, and word, a walking thank you card to the Universe? How can I be in the spirit of Thanksgiving all of the time?”

It’s one thing to take a few moments out of the day and write down the things I’m grateful for, which can be a great practice for shifting perspective (and I do daily), but what if I lived every day like my only purpose was to express the immense appreciation I have to the Universe? That would be the ultimate Thanksgiving. How can we live in that feeling all the time? That is a question to examine in this holiday season.

Since I started asking myself that question and bringing more awareness to this idea I’ve noticed that I’m seeing the beauty everywhere and in everything more clearly. I’m taking the time to slow down and be grateful throughout the day. I give compliments more often as I’m seeing the light in others. I’m allowing myself to receive compliments fully. I’m being kinder to myself, and honoring my body with loving attention. I’m taking care of my family with joy and love and feeling more patient than ever. I’m regularly finding myself in awe of all Divine creation.

So even if it’s just for one day – what if we all tried to see the light, to be the light, and share the light with others?

To live as gratitude, in gratitude.”

-Briana Borten

Wild turkey picture taken from home…
Sweet Breathing

Peace

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“We shall find peace. We shall hear the angels, we shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.”

—Anton Chekhov

“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.”

—Baruch Spinoza

“Peace has never come from dropping bombs. Real peace comes from enlightenment and educating people to behave more in a divine manner.”

—Carlos Santana

“Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.”

—Jawaharlal Nehru

“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.”

—Malcolm X

“If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”

—Moshe Dayan

“Every day we do things, we are things that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our life…, our way of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment, we are alive.”

—Thich Nhat Hanh

“First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”

—Thomas Kempis

Sweet Breathing

With Love and Reverence

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“Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.”

-Henry David Thoreau

“Love they said burns you and builds you!

But with you, there is no ash,

Just Light.

-Kamand Kojouni

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.”

-John Milton

 

 

 

 

 

Crater Lake National Park, Inspiring Words, Nature, Photography, Sweet Breathing

The Untrimmable Light of the World

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“Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less
kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle
in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself
over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?”

-Mary Oliver

Sweet Breathing

Reflections on Autumn – A Gallery of Photos

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“Fall, the time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”

-Lauren DeStefano

You can click onto any of the thumbnail photos for a full sized version, then use the arrows for a full sized slide show.

“Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

-George Eliot

 

Sweet Breathing

Crater Lake – A Gallery of Photos

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You can click onto any individual photo to view a full size version – then use right and left arrows for a slideshow.

“A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable.”

-William Woodsworth

This lake certainly did carry me into impenetrable recesses of feeling!   It’s incredible depth carries an equal depth in peacefulness.  The blue is otherworldly, the reflected mirror of the sky and clouds serene and beautiful.

At 1,949 feet, it is the deepest lake in the United States, and 7th deepest in the world.  The caldera was created when Mount Mazama’s top quarter was blown off in a powerful volcanic eruption and over time it was filled entirely from rain and melted snow.  The purity of the water is felt as well as seen.

I loved the feelings accessed here, and just being absorbed by the tranquil quiet of this lake’s shores…