Yesterday I was at our local native plant nursery, a place to be with sculptures, fountains, plants, and bees.
Robin Wall Kimmerer:
Paying attention is a form of reciprocity with the living world.
Reverence
Our Planet
I’ve been with the words of William Shatner and his experience venturing into space. He, too, like others, looked back at our planet with wonder. It’s such a precious jewel.
I’ve been meditating outside these days, inside, too, but this morning was outside wrapped in fog, with the hooting of an owl leading to caws of crows and the shriek of a hawk. Somebody scrambled up the redwood tree.
More and more I find myself settling into the wonders of this world of which I’m part and whole, form and non-form, life and death.
Chief Crowfoot:
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
Autumn
Yesterday, before time with my grandchild, I stopped at Filoli Gardens to celebrate Fall. The name comes from the motto of the former owner, Bourn. FIght for a just cause, LOve your fellow man. LIve a good life.
Meanwhile today, the Blue Angels are thundering overhead while birds circle in the sky proclaiming a quiet superiority.
Centering
The sun is directly over the equator today. I balance on a ball that invites me to put my arms out and twirl, centered in what answers and calls.
Fall Equinox
It’s a time of balance.
Pumpkins, gourds and winter squash shine vibrantly orange as we nourish on foods filled with vitamin A to refresh our eyes to see in the dark.
It’s a time to sink into the sensations of breathing, to notice more clearly the stimulating and calming movement of air in and out.
The morning darkness invites us to light a candle and begin the day with a meditative ritual. I begin with this.
Exhale energy down the left side of the body; inhale up the right. Do this three times.
Then exhale down the front and inhale up the back – again three times.
Next bring energy up the feet through the center radiating from the top of the head like a fountain and back down to the feet. Do that as long as you wish.
You are your own playground.
Serenity
Today I pause and knit patterns of presence. I reflect and integrate what shapes and informs intention, honoring reception.
I’m with these words of Wendell Berry:
It may be that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.
Waves of light flow through. Like trees and flags, I receive the wind as it moves, patterns generous in weaving change.
My mother, who passed in 2005, was born a year after Queen Elizabeth II. I remember her talking about playing with paper dolls that were the young Margaret and Elizabeth. I think of how we each have our own path, both imposed and created. Elizabeth was born into a role, as are we all, and then we have choice in how we respond and flow, give and receive, move and pause.
As a child, I cut out paper dolls with my grandmother. I would be impatient and sloppy. Though she wouldn’t comment directly, she would example by holding her scissors precisely and cutting carefully around the curves, and say words that repeat in and out of me these days.
“The way we do one thing may reveal the way we do all things.”
Memories slide in and out; gentle guidance weaves the day.
Climate Change
We’ve been experiencing record breaking heat. The sky this morning offers the possibility of change.
A Beautiful World
I was outside last night with the moon and stars, and now this morning the sky was still bright with stars. Light comes and the birds sing and flit joyfully these late summer days.
This morning I read Garrison Keillor on his experience at the Mayo Clinic. He exclaims over the care he’s receiving and how many of the nurses these days are male, a vocation carefully chosen, appreciated, and enjoyed.
I remember my mother’s care from a male nurse, and the care I received when I went through radiation treatment. The male nurse who handed us our gown, always made sure they were newly warmed. He prayed for us each day.
Celebrating the dedication of teachers and medical workers, male, female, and evolving choice is a way to deal with challenges in the news.
Today I dance with the words of one of my favorite authors: A.A. Milne:
“What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today,” squeaked Piglet. “My favourite day,” said Pooh.
Nature’s Gifts
Yesterday Monarch butterflies accompanied my walk and today birds were out enjoying the early morning marsh. I saw avocets, willets, egrets, ducks, gulls, and smaller birds. The special treat was a Heron in the reeds.
September
These last four months of the year go together as beginning, harvest, fruition, celebration, and rest.
I feel myself in the pause as though just being is enough. Last night I sat outside with the stars and crescent moon. During the day, I sat under a maple tree looking up. This morning seeing light arrive later, I light within. I am candle, illumination, trust.
Rumi:
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.
