Monday, September 30, 2019

Welcome, new day!


Welcome, new day, and may we bask in the light
Of acceptance, of grace, and community.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

So many paths to Oneness


So many paths to Oneness —
Some curvy, and some direct...
Let’s not obsess on who chose which,
Or which is best: just appreciate
the beauty of the journey.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

A vast, refreshing stillness


As you focus on the waves of your thoughts,
Learn to rest in the gaps between the waves.
There is a vast, refreshing stillness
That lies beneath and beyond the waves:
Open to that, and let it fill your heart with love.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Glow your brightest


In autumnal defiance, my dahlia lifts
Her drowning face to the light:
The cold and wet will not overcome
Her determination to bring color into my garden.
Glow, your brightest, most colorful self,
though the world around you darkens.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Depends on your perspective



 Whether situations are positive or threatening,
Welcoming or scaring you away
May often just depend on your perspective.
Could it be the things that worry you most
Would prove to be less ominous
If you could change the angle
From which you approach or view them?

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Head out into the deep


Don’t be afraid to set off on your own;
to explore the depth and height of possibility.
You’re as prepared as you’ll ever be,
and younger than you’ll ever be again,
So now’s the perfect time to muster up your courage.
Take a deep breath, take up that paddle,
 don your life vest (whatever that looks like),
and head out into the deep.

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Celebrate the harvest of Now


Take a moment today
To set aside your worries
About what’s been and what’s to come,
And just celebrate the harvest of the season;
The rich and complex glory that is Now.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Calming perfectionism


What if you took that child in yourself —
The one driven to perfectionism
By her desperate eagerness to please —
And held her, reassured her,
loved her til she calmed and fell asleep.
What wonders might you accomplish
While she slept?

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The light of presence


Though dark skies may be looming,
Let not your fears for the future
Keep you from appreciating
The light of presence that is here, that is now.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Heaven unzipped


Some days it feels like someone unzipped the sky
And a little slice of heaven fell down
To envelop you in wonderful.
And then there are those other days...
How can we learn to walk through both with equanimity?

Friday, September 20, 2019

Ripening, not aging


Don't think of yourself as aging;
Think of yourself as ripening!

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Peace in isolation


There is a certain peace to be found in isolation:
When we insulate ourselves
from the press of urban cares,
And steep ourselves in nature’s quiet beauty,
We can more deeply contemplate
What we might be called to contribute to humanity.
But we also need to spend time with humanity
If we hope to understand what it might need...

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Drop those defenses


These huge internal edifices we build,
Hoping to protect our hearts,
Only serve to isolate us more
From the very things we need to feed our souls.
Perhaps it’s time to take that risk;
To drop those adamantine defenses
And let the fragile, imperfect soul within
Be seen and held; embraced and welcomed
In love, in light, and in community.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Still making waves


We forget that when we’re paddling happily,
Playing in our own pond,
We’re still making waves.
How does what we do affect the lives around us?

Monday, September 16, 2019

Why wait?


As yet another autumn rolls around,
We contemplate once more
The harvest of the year, the fruits and flowers
Of past work and present sowing;
Resolutions kept and dropped;
The things we swore to change but haven’t yet.
Good news! We still have time and opportunity
To accomplish all the things we’d hoped to achieve.
Start now. Why wait another day?

Sunday, September 15, 2019

What will you appreciate today?


Light and shadow, color and form,
A stillness humming with the potential for motion...
What we create says so much
about who we are, where we’ve been,
And what we’ve learned to love.
What will you appreciate today,
And how will you express your gratitude?

Saturday, September 14, 2019

When the clouds come rolling in


And though the days grow shorter
And the clouds come rolling in,
Still we continue on our journey,
Moving toward whatever new ports lie ahead.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Moving into the light


I know the world seems dark right now.
Let me walk through this with you,
And together we will move into the light.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Not why or how but Wow!


There’s almost always something big
Looming over almost everyone’s lives.
Death, divorce, disease, or loss —
a litany of possibilities.
But whether you’re heading toward it
Or leaving it behind,
You’ll travel far more safely —
And quite possibly more peacefully —
If you keep your focus on this moment:
This here, this now, not then or when;
Not why or how, but Wow!

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Live awash in gratitude


We go through life with basic expectations:
The car will start, the switch will turn on light,
Our friends will show up for a coffee date —
But there will always be surprises:
An unexpected failure or disease,
A startled bear, or a plane crashing into a tower...
Will those events teach us to live in fear,
Or to live awash in gratitude
for what good we do enjoy?

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Harvesting the days


As the summer draws to a close,
We gather in the harvest,
And marvel at the surprising shapes
Our days have taken...

Monday, September 9, 2019

The pool of stillness within


Find the pool of stillness within you,
Then look beyond to find the inexhaustible
source that continues to feed it.
Feeling, seeing, holding that connection
Will bring peace.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

New Opportunities


There are always new opportunities
Waiting just beyond our reach,
But it may take courage, strength, and ingenuity
To open and push through that door —
And who knows? What’s on the other side
May simply be more of the same...

Saturday, September 7, 2019

Love lapping at the shores of your heart


As the hills cradle the water
that flows through all,
Our bodies cradle the spirit
That flows through all.
Take a moment to center, and feel the love
Lapping at the shores of your heart.

Friday, September 6, 2019

Who, what and where we're meant to be


Birds are at their happiest
Soaring through the sky;
Fish, when they’re swimming in the sea.
Where are you your happiest?
Who would you be with,
and what would you be doing?
Answers to these questions help discover
Who, what, and where we were meant to be...

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Sail safely


May all who travel in its path
Sail safely through the storm...

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Life is a waterfall





Life is a waterfall:
Something is always giving way or being lost;
Something is always replenishing and restoring.
It’s easy to get lost in the terror of the tumble;
More refreshing to step back a bit;
To take in the beauty, the power,
The infinite resourcefulness of the whole...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Breathe in light and hope


It’s in the air: keep breathing —
Let light and hope replenish your lungs
and lift you back into the world of possibility.

Monday, September 2, 2019

Your ripest self


Don’t be afraid to be a little different.
By being your ripest self,
you bring much-needed color into the world.

Sunday, September 1, 2019

Another one slips away...


Despite all of our efforts
to support, reach out, hold on,
another loved one’s slipped away
and we must trust their passage to that other shore,
and the future that awaits them
to welcome them with open arms
when ours can no longer hold them close,
but some days it’s hard not to rage
against the dying of the light...