Tag Archives: Simple Life

Sweet Breathing

Live! (And Run Away From Sensible Advice)

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“You start dying slowly

if you do not travel,

if you do not read,

if you do not listen to the sounds of life,

if you do not appreciate yourself.

You start dying slowly when you kill your self-esteem,

when you do not let others help you.

You start dying slowly if you become a slave to your habits,

walking everyday on the same paths… if you do not change your routine.

If you do not wear different colors or you do not speak to those you don’t know.

You start dying slowly if you avoid to feel passion & its turbulent emotions, those that make your eyes glisten & your heart beat fast.

 

You start dying slowly if you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love, or with your surroundings.  If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain, if you do not go after a dream,

 

if you do not allow yourself,

at least once in your lifetime

to run away from sensible advice.”

-Pablo Neruda

The photos below speak to me of these themes of LIVING:

 

Sweet Breathing

One Vast Awakened Thing

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“I have lots of things to teach you now, in case we ever meet, concerning the message that was transmitted to me under a pine tree in North Carolina on a cold winter moonlit night.

It said that Nothing Ever Happened, so don’t worry. It’s all like a dream. Everything is ecstasy, inside. We just don’t know it because of our thinking-minds. But in our true blissful essence of mind is known that everything is alright forever and forever and forever. Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-ends drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside the illusion of the world, and you will remember the lesson you forgot, which was taught in immense milky way soft cloud innumerable worlds long ago and not even at all. It is all one vast awakened thing. I call it the golden eternity. It is perfect.”

-Jack Kerouac

Sweet Breathing

Goodbye 2017 (and thank you); Welcome 2018!

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As 2017 comes to a close at midnight, my heart is full with memories.  I know more with each passing day that the sweetness is in awareness. Awareness of all of the magic, majesty and wonder all around, in every single second.  In the trees, the wild ones, the big night sky, the wind, every snow flake, the fragrance of pine, my dog’s intent gaze, the eyes of a stranger, the touch of my beloved…  The moments of wonder stitch together in a tapestry of hours, days,  weeks, and thus this year was made.   Moments of awareness, of being here now, slowly weave together our lives.  There is so very much to treasure, absorb, experience, and be with. How beautiful.

It leaves me breathless for all that 2018 may bring…  It is a precious thing to be alive in this world.

So…goodbye 2017 and thank you!

And to 2018, sending heartfelt wishes for all of us to write on our hearts, pause in the silence of the forest, visit the area of the soul where words don’t penetrate, be peaceful and wild, and Love, Love, Love, in the wondrous moments that will create our new year!

“Write it on your heart… that every day is the best day of the year.”

-R. W. Emerson

“Pausing to experience the silence of the forest during winter months is a gift of presence.”

-Andrea Fereshteh

“Some events are in the area of the soul where words cannot penetrate.”

-Neil Cassady

“There is peaceful. There is wild. I am both at the same time.”

-Nayyirah Waheed

“What is done in love is done well.”

-Vincent Van Gogh

Sweet Breathing

Christmas at Midlife

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Christmas at Midlife by Mary Anne Perrone

“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

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

 

 

 

 

 

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Song of the Trees

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“Trees are poems that Earth writes upon the sky.”

-Kahlil Gibran

“Go outside and don’t go to a special place. Just go into your neighborhood and repeatedly, over and over again, open your ears and harvest the sounds all around you. Whether those are tree sounds or car sounds or bird sounds. Without judgment, just be present for the physical experience of sounds flowing into our consciousness. Do that over and over again and the trees will befriend you — or come into your consciousness and teach you some of what they’re saying.”

-David George Haskell

“Come to the woods, for here is rest.”                                                                                                                                                                                                   -John Muir