messenger

My work is loving the world.

Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —

equal seekers of sweetness.

Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.

Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?

Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be 

astonished.

The phoebe, the delphinium.

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.

Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart

and these body-clothes,

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy

to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,

telling them all, over and over, how it is

that we live forever.






~ Mary Oliver
from Thirst

willing to be

Nobody told us that what we are is a point of awareness, or pure spirit. 

This isn't something we're taught. Rather,

what we were taught was to identify with our name. 

We were taught to identify with our birth date. 

We were taught to identify with the next thought that we have. 

We were taught to identify with all the memories 

our mind collects about the past.

But all that was just teaching: all that was just more thinking. 

When you stand in your own authority,

based in your own direct experience, 

you meet that ultimate mystery that you are. 

Even though it may be at first unsettling

to look into your own no-thingness, you do it anyway. Why? 

Because you no longer want to suffer. 

Because you're willing to be disturbed. 

You're willing to be amazed. 

You're willing to be surprised. 

You're willing to realize that maybe everything 

you've ever thought about yourself really isn't true.

 ~ Adyashanti

with thanks to whiskey river

the beauty of music

~ John O'Donohue

finding understanding with the other

~ Elizabeth Lesser

freeing expression

~ Cristina Domenech