Oh, Hello!
Oh, hello, said the daisies. Let's try to be cheerful today, shall we?
The Resilience Project
Untitled, Jamie Black
Resilience is a National Billboard Exhibition Project taking place from coast to coast in Canada this summer. This extraordinary exhibit promotes the work of 50 Indigenous women artists and the voice they give, collectively and individually, to First Nation history, identity and art.
Read MoreA Hero For Our Times
Photo Credit: Yashar Ali
What would you do if, while out for a fun evening with friends at a restaurant, a clearly mentally ill person walked through the door, pulled out an assault weapon and started shooting? The level of terror that rises up in my heart just contemplating that scenario is enormous. The impulse to flee, to hide, to panic would, I think, overwhelm me.
Which is what makes the extraordinary courage and presence of mind exhibited by James Shaw Jr. all the more amazing.
Read MoreToday's Lesson
Meet My Friends, The Flowers
"Nature is not only a source of spirit; it also has soul. Spiritually, nature directs our attention toward eternity, but at the same time it contains us and creates an intimacy with our own personal lives that nurtures the soul. The individuality of a tree or rock or pool of water is another sign of nature's soul. These intriguing natural beings not only point outward toward infinity; more intimately, they also befriend us. It's easy to love groves of trees or mountain ridges, to feel related to them as though by blood, and to be secure in their familial protection."
- Thomas Moore, "The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life"
These Spring beauties befriended me on my walk with the dogs this afternoon. So stunning, so fleeting, how could I not stop and take notice?
The Freedom of a Butterfly
"It is hard to know whether to laugh or cry at the human predicament. Here we are with so much wisdom and tenderness, and - without even knowing it - we cover it over to protect ourselves from insecurity. Although we have the potential to experience the freedom of a butterfly, we mysteriously prefer the small and fearful cocoon of the ego."
- Pema Chodron, "The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times"
Remembering Mom: Lessons in Becoming Beauty
"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.
Read MoreMorning Light
There is a certain time of day when the sun rises high enough in the sky to fill the kitchen, patio and backyard with a warm, golden light. At this time of year it's between 7:30 and 8 AM.
It's so ordinary, you could miss it.
Read MoreSnowfall
Last night after I went to bed, it started to snow. There was no sign it was going to snow the day before. In fact, it had warmed up to 40 degrees and rained most of the day, and the dirty vestiges of the last snowfall had all been washed away, leaving behind a dormant brown landscape.
When I woke at 5 AM and looked outside, yesterday's lifeless landscape was now a pristine, shimmering white. I thought, How beautiful! The world has been transformed overnight while I slept. It's kind of like God's grace, falling silently with no one noticing, yet quietly remaking everything from bleak to beautiful.
Read MoreMessage From the Universe
You are loved, and your purpose is to love.
Signed,
The Management
Notes:
Quote by Marianne Williamson, "The Law of Divine Compensation"
Image: My own, morning walk in Brooklyn, November 2017