In this corner of the world, nature is waking up with a stifled, slightly embarrassed yawn. Winter has overslept its welcome and the ground is buzzing with the stretch of new greenery while tiny fists have pushed out of the barest of branches overnight. A tip of the hat to the tip of the clock for yesterday was the Spring Equinox.
And with it energy is spiraling up through my brain like vines climbing beyond the roof. My thoughts are spinning, swinging from one puffed up cloud to the next on a verbal trapeze, uncatchable. While at times that makes me smile at the folly, I also feel strongly the need to focus towards something centered at the root.
Do you have a meditation practice? I have always danced around one, just as I have with my pick and choose spiritual beliefs. But at this time in my life, it seems like the biggest gift that I can give myself, along with healthy doses of self-care and kindness. So I am taking a cross-legged seat, closing my eyes and focusing on my breath, that greatest of gifts, never to be taken for granted.
My mind will only calm for mere moments and so I listen to Jack Kornfield‘s instruction to treat those rollicking ideas as I would teach a puppy to stay, gently. Over and over, I come back to just being. At times that feels like it is all that I do. Start over, start over…reconnect. But it is wonderful to be able to peak around a new corner with a taste of hope untarnished in my mouth…
…so ripe for this time of year, here…and now. A beginning.
As today is World Poetry Day (thank you, Edgar!),
I thought that I might share a poem that I keep coming back to from Mary Oliver’s new collection called Felicity:
The World I Live In
I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house of
reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what’s wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn’t believe what once or
twice I have seen. I’ll just
tell you this:
only if there are angels in your head will you
ever, possibly, see one.
Whether you are winding up or down, please know that I am sending my best thoughts to you as we enter another season, one ripe with opportunities.
Thank you for being here,
Heather
I agree, Lorrie. Being amidst the natural beauty of the world is one of the great shortcuts to the divine for me. Music and art are two others but not as reliable as the most simple acts of our world…
Joyeuse Pâques,
h
Thank you Karena and to you too! Yes, let's hear it for the miracle of beauty and nature, so important to us today…
This is the second post today (three days after you wrote) where I've read a new poem by Mary Oliver, one of my favorite modern poets. She has such a lovely way of stringing words together.
When I am in the forest, by the ocean, or in the garden – it's then that my thoughts ramble for awhile, then focus on the gifts of sunshine on my back, the smell of the earth, the satisfaction of pulling out weeds, and the sight of emerging green. And I give thanks to God. That's meditative for me.
Beautifully said Heather! As I watch the Spring bulbs pop up out of the ground, the ivy spreading and all of the flowering trees; I think of new life and new beginnings. It IS a miracle!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend!
xoxo
Karena
Featuring Artist Scott McBee
I am thinking every day of her…
I am too, Maria. The sadness is all the heavier for the contrast with nature, one that knows far better than we…
Thank you so much for this beautiful response, Mary and for the wishes of clarity of peace as I am very ready to welcome both. There are options for release in many forms it would seem.
Sending my Best Wishes to you…
I think that we are all ready for a bit of "prime time" deep in the beauty of nature's renewal right about now, Charlotte…
This has made me cry every time that I have read it, Rebecca…with something like relief if that makes sense. Thank you so much for giving this beautiful gift during a time when it was greatly needed.
And also for making me laugh. Something tells me – I could be way off here – that your mantra might need a tiny bit of tweaking. 😉
I love your image of leaving behind all your troubles in the pool. We forget the importance of water…
Merci Julie! And to you too!