Cultivating Kindness, Wonder, Laughter, Meaning & Other Essentials of Life
Jen [zhuhn, ruhn]
–noun (in Chinese philosophy)
That which brings the good in others to completion; a compassionate love for humanity or for the world as a whole.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
When I find myself
between a rock and a hard place
I must remember this.
The serene beauty
of this magnificent oak
finding a crack between two boulders
for roots to set down.
And from there
persisting upward
toward the sun and the stars.- Margaret Doyle
Today is the first day of fall. Here in Northern California, you have to look very closely to discern the traditional signs of autumn. The days are still warm, and it will be a few more weeks before the deciduous trees start to turn their brilliant shades of orange and red and drop their leaves. Of course the daylight hours decrease and the evening shadows come more quickly.
But if I hadn’t seen this beautiful poem from Mary Oliver in my newsfeed this morning, I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to reflect on this marker of our days.
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Photo Credit: Indranil Mukherjee/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Yes, I know. There is so much bad news these days, at times it can be overwhelming. But there are also pinpricks of light, events and news that will lift your heart. Here are a few stories from this past week that fall into that category.
Read MoreFrom wildlife photographer, Will Burrad-Lucas, "a simple time-lapse video of the Milky Way galaxy rotating over an ancient baobab tree. This sequence was shot over a period of almost 8 hours last month at 'The Island of Lost Baobabs' in Botswana's Makgadikgadi Pans."
A Monday morning reminder that there is so much magic and beauty in this world.
"It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty."
- Navajo Chant
"Beauty is a deeply spiritual experience. It shouts to us always, "More. There is yet more.' We cannot hope for fullness of life without nurturing fullness of soul. We must seek beauty, study beauty, surround ourselves with beauty. To revivify the soul, the world, we must become beauty."
- Joan Chittister, Aspects of the Heart
Seeking solace and wisdom, this morning I decided to turn to this gem of a book by Joan Chittister. Opening to a random page, I found the passage above. It's exactly what I needed.
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Even though I’ve lived in California for over a decade now, I continue to be amazed at the transformation even the smallest amount of rain creates. Seemingly overnight, formerly brown hills spring to lush new life, and in the morning you awake to discover them transformed.
On my drive to San Francisco this morning, the landscape is a gorgeous, luminous green. Over the last few days, we’ve had torrential downpours. And more are predicted for later today. Right now, though, the sky is crystalline blue. As I drive through the Open Space Preserve that borders I-280, the the hills are green, green, green and even the air seems to glisten, thanks to that abundant rain. So beautiful. It makes my heart sing a little in gratitude.
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Photo Credit: David Kanigan
A murmuration is a collection of starlings that come together for a spontaneous 'dance' in the sky. So far, I've not been lucky enough to see one in person, but videos and photos of this phenomenon abound online (thank you, interwebs).
They are mesmerizing, transcendent, beautiful.
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