Enjoy the Ride!
The video was made by the safety council in Perth. It speaks eloquently of slowing down, breathing deeply and taking time for life’s exquisite moments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rRwfwyaHXDk
Tag Archives: Sweet Breathing
Whitefish at Night – A Gallery of Photos
Living in the woods, our little town proves itself a nearby haven of good food, community, gatherings, parades, celebrations, galleries, farmer’s markets, the Depot, and even night life! It is a sweet, rustic, western, town that provides a warm, lively, hub of activity for locals and visitors alike. For me, the simple life is tremendously enhanced by this small town, so full of unique personality.
A few black and white photographs of Whitefish at night are in the gallery below (slideshow will load below).
“In the great cities we see so little of the world, we drift into our minority. In the little towns and villages there are no minorities; people are not numerous enough. You must see the world there, perforce. Every man is himself a class; every hour carries its new challenge. When you pass the inn at the end of the village you leave your favourite whimsy behind you; for you will meet no one who can share it. We listen to eloquent speaking, read books and write them, settle all the affairs of the universe…..
― W.B. Yeats, The Celtic Twilight: Faerie and Folklore
Spring!
Oh, sweet Spring, welcome.
She brings her volatile mix of winds, snow, rain, gropple, melt, growth, buds, fawns, raven babies, and the bright greens of new grass in the meadow, aspens and larch.
Rebirth and sprouting and earth’s bounty are bubbling with heated passionate energy to be expressed.
Bring it! Bring it all!
“It was such a spring day as breathes into a man an ineffable yearning, a painful sweetness, a longing that makes him stand motionless, looking at the leaves or grass, and fling out his arms to embrace he knows not what.”
-John Galsworthy
“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
Once You Start to Awaken
Spring’s sweetness is so close! We awaken again to this glorious season of rebirth.
Time again to nourish our true self.
This poem by John O’Donohue eloquently expresses the longings that come with the unfolding of Spring.
Now, I am Impatient….!
Once you start to awaken, no one can ever
claim you again for the old patterns.Now you realize how precious your time here is.
You are no longer willing to squander your essence on undertakings that do not nourish your true self; your patience grows thin with tired talk and dead language.
You see through the rosters of expectation which promise you safety and the confirmation of your outer identity.
Now you are impatient for growth,
willing to put yourself in the way of change.You want your work to become an expression of your gift.
You want your relationship to voyage beyond the pallid frontiers to where the danger of transformation dwells.You want your God to be wild
and to call you to where your destiny awaits.
-John O’Donohue
Listening in the Silence
Living in San Francisco many years ago, I often spent time in Rev. Cecil Williams’ Glide Memorial Church to hear his inspiring message, and to get absorbed in the uplifting voices of the choir. What soaring voices they have! The choir’s immense talent and passion took me for an exhilarating ride on an uplifting wave of gratitude. Those moments brought patches of peace during a difficult time.
Rev. Williams starts his message very quietly, with the words; “listen, listen, listen”…..
long pause.
Just that reminder put me in a quiet, reflective, tuned in space.
There is so much to hear when we listen! The silence. Our inner voice. Guidance. The wind…
True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment.
~William Penn
With the same letters of the word LISTEN another word can be formed… SILENT. We must be silent to listen.
Listen to silence…
…listen to the guidance, listen to the breeze, listen to your heartbeat, listen to your heart’s song, listen to nature’s beauty, listen to peace unfolding.
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don’t go back to sleep!”-Rumi
Treasures of the Day – Choices of Focus
Each day has its treasures, each hour its wonders. When I find myself in the mind swirl of things to do and stuff to worry about, I am choosing more often to find something wondrous to put into focus instead.
That wondrous thing/person/feeling is always there.
Always.
Refocusing is possible with….
-a long, sweet breath of thanks-giving, of gratitude for being here, alive, at this moment;
-absorption in na
ture while saying thank you out loud. Wait for it… The raven will grace you with a low fly-by, the trees will rustle and sing in the breeze, the sound of silence will illuminate the moment;
-a peek into a treasured book while watching for the uplifting words that will shine forward and then into your be-ing….
These are tiny movements that create immersion into a calm and gratitude filled space.
Each day brings more learning in taking an active role in moment to moment happiness.
Deepening into the simple life.
“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.”
-Mohandas K. Gandhi
“Smile, breathe and go slowly”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
Time out is a good thing. You can shift to Paradise in the next breath, and a sense of wellness and timelessness will be the wonderful result.
Cheryl Melody
Holding on to Winter
It snowed all day today, March 10th.
This event was met with dismay by every other human that I know – but not by me!
Why can’t I get enough snow? I’m not ready for winter to be over…
(I haven’t said this out loud to any other person).
The writer, Rick Bass
understands what snow can mean, does mean, to this human be-ing (me). I was reading his Winter (notes from Montana) this afternoon as the big flakes fell steadily and silently down.
Continually. Rhythmically. Silently. Magically.
Bass writes from his perspective as a native Texan of his first Montana winter and his immersion in snow:
“I’ll never get used to snow – how slowly it comes down, how the world seems to slow down, how time slows… I don’t mind the cold. The beauty is worth it”.
“I watch individual flakes; I peer up through the snow and see the blank infinity from which it comes; I listen to the special silence it creates.”
“I stand outside in the snow for long periods of time, in the middle of it, looking out: I cannot believe I am so rich, getting all this snow…. Everything’s so quiet.”
“It’s more like an afterlife. I never dreamed I would live in a hard country away from people, with such quietness.”
Re-reading, then typing his words, helps me to understand why I’m hanging on to winter and to snow. I crave more of that special silence, that feeling of richness, that comes in the sweetness of falling flakes and under the snow blanket they create. Even with the slowing of time, the season went so quickly, too fast.
Spring will come and I will relish the unearthing and the rebirth all ‘round. But not yet. For a few more days let me feel all the depth, serenity and solitude of winter.
Juxtaposition
“Words are a pretext.
It is the inner bond that draws one person to another,
not words.”
Rumi
“…as human beings we all need affection.
Warm-heartedness gives rise to the self-confidence
and inner strength
that supports a calm mind.”
Dalai Lama
The timeless words from Rumi, along with the recent words from the Dalai Lama, create a word tapestry for the photo from Bhutan that is featured at the top of this blog post. This spontaneous moment was caught in time as the foursome sat on the bench overlooking the peaceful valley below – two travelers and two young monks – not so far distant in heart – drawn to each other by the view and each other.
Ah…Bhutan, where “success” is tracked by virtue of happiness.
In thinking of a simpler life, Bhutan is ever present in memory from travels there.
Since, 1971 the country uses formal principles of GNH – that’s Gross National Happiness! Encompassing the citizen’s health in spirit, in body, in their communities, in social interactions and in the health of the natural environment, gross national happiness is fundamental and foremost to all decision making – material growth is not the focus.
Well Be-ing.
The sweet embrace of the people, the green verdant valleys, the beautiful carved wood of the homes, the matriarchal way of life, the unabashed celebration of life and fertility, the music and temples, all combined to imbue in me a deep and abiding love for Bhutan that I will hold close forever.
Simple life indeed.
Deeply satisfying.
The gallery below holds a few more photos from Bhutan that I hope will bring you a sense of peace, beauty and simplicity…
*Slideshow will load below. Hover in the black area below the photo to pause, or go forward and back.
Calm So Deep
“Here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving. . . .
Wonderful how completely everything in wild nature
fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us.
The sun shines not on us but in us.
The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling,
vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies,
making them glide and sing.
The trees wave and the flowers bloom in our bodies as well as
our souls, and every bird song, wind song, and tremendous
storm song of the rocks in the heart of the mountains is our
song, our very own, and sings our love.”
John Muir
Winter Zen
“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear”
“No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place”
These are Zen proverbs that I could endlessly revisit, falling ever deeper into meaning.
Meditative absorption.
Direct understanding.
The Zen of Winter.
“To the mind that is still the whole universe surrenders”
Lao Tzu
“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe”
“To attain knowledge,
add things every day.
To attain wisdom,
remove things every day.”
Lao Tzu
