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
#yogagirl 😉
– B xx
We've just arrived back at our Stone House on the Hill (amid a dust storm followed by a rain storm) but this week the sun has returned and I am seeing the same signs of spring that you've noted above. Some of my best meditation time is when I am working in the garden or gazing out over the grove and yesterday I simply took a few minutes and watched the clouds float past. . .Happy Spring!
Oh, you've tweaked your blog design, haven't you? Your gorgeous photography stands out so much more from white. Love it!
And it's SO MUCH MORE delight to come back again and again since my comments aren't eaten by blogspot 😀