Tag Archives: Photography

Sweet Breathing

Door to the Temple

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Mary Oliver.

A treasure, a poet, a conduit to wonder…

“I could not be a poet without the natural world. Someone else could. But not me. For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.”

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“For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”

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“Today I’m flying low and I’m not saying a word.

I’m letting all of the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must, the bees in the garden rumbling a little, the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten. And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off. Quiet as a feather. I hardly move though really I’m traveling a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors into the temple.”

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All above quoted words by Mary Oliver

Thank you Mary Oliver for the ropes let down when I was lost.  You inspired and lifted me up, reminded me of the always verdant, wise, and loving absorption available in the natural world.  Your words were and are a respite.  You will be so deeply missed, but your rich deep poetry, music really, will remain – always.

Sweet Breathing

Walk Slowly Into the Mystery

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“It only takes a reminder to breathe,
a moment to be still, and just like that,
something in me settles, softens, makes
space for imperfection. The harsh voice
of judgment drops to a whisper and I
remember again that life isn’t a relay
race; that we will all cross the finish
line; that waking up to life is what we
were born for. As many times as I
forget, catch myself charging forward
without even knowing where I’m going,
that many times I can make the choice
to stop, to breathe, and be, and walk
slowly into the mystery.”

-Danna Faulds

 

Sweet Breathing

Welcome the New Year!

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“And now we welcome the new year,

full of things that have never been.”

-Ranier Maria Rilke

Each of these snowflakes have never been before. Each new crystal is a unique expression of wonder! Light filled, every one. These are a few of the many many reasons that I am completely enamored of snow!  The peacefulness, the beauty, the calm, the quiet, the sweetness, the meditative stillness, and that unique expression of wonder – it all embraces me completely.

And aren’t we all like this too, unique expressions of wonder?  Light filled crystals of being? Yes, I think we are. May we all be filled with this light and wonder, knowing our unique expression of being this New Year…

It is very softly snowing on this dawn of the newest year and all of these feelings are very present – as am I. And in stillness I am listening to what my heart prays…

“Sit in stillness and listen to what your heart prays.”

-Ruth Jewell

Sweet Breathing

Just This Breath

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“Settle in the here and now.
Reach down into the center
where the world is not spinning
and drink this holy peace.

Feel relief flood into every
cell. Nothing to do. Nothing
to be but what you are already.
Nothing to receive but what
flows effortlessly from the
mystery into form.

Nothing to run from or run
toward. Just this breath,
Awareness knowing itself as
embodiment. Just this breath,
awareness waking up to truth.”

-Danna Faulds

Sweet Breathing

Precious Present Moment

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I am here, now, present.

Celebrating. Each day a new birth – day. Each moment precious.

“Nothing is more precious than being in the present moment, fully alive and fully aware.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

 

“If you have your attention on what is, see its fullness in every moment, you will discover the dance of the divine in every leaf, in every petal, in every blade of grass, in every rainbow, in every rushing stream, in every breath of every living being.”

-Deepak Chopra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Women get more beautiful as they grow older. Not less.
Female youth is only prized in modern culture because it doesn’t represent as much of a threat spiritually to anyone who is frightened of divine feminine power.

As women grow and mature, they call in stronger forces of sacred feminine wisdom. They vibrate with the creative power of their stories.

They are more of a force to be reckoned with.

They see more, know more, feel more. They put up with a lot less bullshit.

When women are trained into thinking there is something fundamentally wrong with getting older, and are coerced into spending money, energy and power investing in ‘slowing the signs of ageing’, an enormous vault of divine love is lost.

Just think what would happen if all the women in the world started loving themselves even more with every year that passed.

Perhaps a total revolution would occur.”

-Sophie, Yogesh Kumar

Life at Midlife

“I am no longer waiting for a special occasion; I burn the best candles on ordinary days.
I am no longer waiting for the house to be clean; I fill it with people who understand that even dust is Sacred.
I am no longer waiting for everyone to understand me; It’s just not their task
I am no longer waiting for the perfect children; my children have their own names that burn as brightly as any star.
I am no longer waiting for the other shoe to drop; It already did, and I survived.
I am no longer waiting for the time to be right; the time is always now.
I am no longer waiting for the mate who will complete me; I am grateful to be so warmly, tenderly held.
I am no longer waiting for a quiet moment; my heart can be stilled whenever it is called.
I am no longer waiting for the world to be at peace; I unclench my grasp and breathe peace in and out.
I am no longer waiting to do something great; being awake to carry my grain of sand is enough.
I am no longer waiting to be recognized; I know that I dance in a holy circle.
I am no longer waiting for Forgiveness.
I believe, I Believe.”

-Mary Anne Perrone

 

Sweet Breathing

Precious Stillness

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“Ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for awhile and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space…”

-Edward Abbey

“May we not neglect the silence printed in the center of our being. It will not fail us.”

-Thomas Merton

“Let us accept the invitation, ever open, from the Stillness, taste its exquisite sweetness, and heed its silent instruction.”

-Paul Brunton

 

Sweet Breathing

Patient Waiting Love

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“The song of the wind softened, gentled. Behind the violence of the birthing of galaxies and stars and planets came a quiet and tender melody, a gentle love song. All the raging of creation, the continuing hydrogen explosions on the countless suns, the heaving of planetary bodies, all was enfolded in a patient, waiting love.”

-Madeleine L’Engle

“Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen”

-Bernie Taupin

 

 

“Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.”

-Hafez

Sweet Breathing

Someone

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“Right now there are Tibetan Buddhist monks in a temple in the Himalayas endlessly reciting mantras for the cessation of your suffering and for the flourishing of your happiness.

Someone you haven’t met yet is already dreaming of adoring you.

Someone is writing a book that you will read in the next two years that will change how you look at life.

Nuns in the Alps are in endless vigil, praying for the Holy Spirit to alight the hearts of all of God’s children.

A farmer is looking at his organic crops and whispering, “nourish them.”

Someone wants to kiss you, to hold you, to make tea for you.

Someone is willing to lend you money, wants to know what your favorite food is, and treat you to a movie.
Someone in your orbit has something immensely valuable to give you — for free.

Something is being invented this year that will change how your generation lives, communicates, heals and passes on.

The next great song is being rehearsed.

Thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth.

Millions of children are assuming that everything is amazing and will always be that way.

Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. From where they are, they just can’t see it .

Someone who is craving to be partnered, to be acknowledged, to arrive, will get precisely what they want — and even more. And because that gift will be so fantastical in it’s reach and sweetness, it will quite magically alter their memory of angsty longing and render it all “So worth the wait.”

Someone has recently cracked open their joyous, genuine nature because they did the hard work of hauling years of oppression off of their psyche — this luminous juju is floating in the ether, and is accessible to you.

Someone just this second wished for world peace, in earnest.

Some civil servant is making sure that you get your mail, and your garbage is picked up, that the trains are running on time, and that you are generally safe.

Someone is dedicating their days to protecting your civil liberties and clean drinking water.

Someone is regaining their sanity.
Someone is coming back from the dead.
Someone is genuinely forgiving the seemingly unforgivable.
Someone is curing the incurable.

You. Me. Some. One. Now.”

-Danielle LaPorte via Mary Standing Otter