“We are evolving  – from survivors to visionaries-so the world can express itself in ways like never before.”

-Scott Stillman

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?

Have I endured loneliness with grace?

I say this, or perhaps I’m just thinking it.

Actually, I probably think too much.

Then I step out into the garden,

where the gardener, who is said to be a simple

man, is tending his children, the roses.”

-Mary Oliver

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

by an invisible force

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

“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

-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

-Robin Wall Kimmerer

My religion is love.

Every heart is my temple.”

~Rumi