Tag Archives: Uplifting Words

A Richness

“The cost of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it”
 ~ Henry David Thoreau
Wanting and needing less.  Understanding the true cost of things as they relate to expenditure of life force and time.  These are pursuits of this stage of the journey in my life.
Being immersed completely in the sounds of the ocean,
Half Moon Bay, Beach, Ice Plants
and the forest.
Spring, Reflection, Trees, Puddle
Being aware of the raven’s call.
Bryce, Raven, Straight On
Observing the wild ones with an honoring.
Mountain Goat, Stream, Looking Up, Goat Lick, Spring
Noticing the nuances of spring’s unfolding.
cropped-First-trees-buds-of-Spring.jpg
Feeling the energy of life all around.
Forest, Fog, Trees, Road, Spring
Being immersed and aware of life.  Is enough.  Is “free”.  Is freeing.
These are the riches that enhance, build up, and do not deplete your resources.
Yes, there is a richness.
A deep and satisfying wealth of experiences in these gifts.

Breath of Life

“Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life.

Nine Pipes, Pond, Mission Mountains, Teepee

Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe, breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside.

Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth.

Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself”

-Morithei Ueshiba

Home in the Mountains

Do You Ever Get the Feeling?

“Do You Ever Get The Feeling…?

Do you ever get the feeling
that you live on the threshold
of pure possibility?
That you are life itself,
and the power that creates galaxies
moves through you?
And you are that power?
And every thought, every sensation,
every feeling, however intense,
however uncomfortable, however fragile,
is itself an expression of the same power?
That no thought nor sensation is against you?
That you are vast enough to hold it all?

North Lake McDonald, Yellow Sky

That you are not a person becoming conscious,
nor a seeker seeking that which seekers seek,
but consciousness itself pretending to be
a person becoming conscious,
seeking itself and delighting in the seeking?

That the wave cannot be divided from the ocean?
That you are the destination and the origin?
That love is closer than the next breath?
And infinite peace is your nature and birthright?

Do you ever get the feeling
that you live on the threshold
of pure possibility?
And all the wonders of the universe
are already yours?”

– Jeff Foster

Seven Sacred Principles

In a class I’m taking on line, a video featuring Doniga Markegard of Markegard Family Grass-Fed, explains how the seven sacred principles of the Lakota nation were taught to her as a child by her mentor Gilbert Walking Bull, and how these principles continue to inform her life and her approach to business.  Her family farm in California, her commitment to these principles, to teaching, to connections, and to community are an inspiration.

Sunset, Bitterroot Mountains, Stevensville, Cows

The Seven Sacred Principles:

 Sacred Silence

 Compassion

 Deep Caring for All Creation

 Taking Action

 Being Fully Alive

 Joy Of a Child

 Connection of Mind, Body & Spirit

Flathead Lake, February, Islands, Blues

 

A Strange Idea

View from Big Mountain

 

“How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us.
If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man.
The white man’s dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man — all belong to the same family.”

-Chief Seattle