all things connect

#prisma

"Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect."   ~ Chief Seattle

earth day play

It's a day late, but I had some fun over at magneticpoetry.com and created this little poem for yesterday, Earth Day 2016. 

© Nan P

looking outside and inside too

"You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer."

--Thich Nhat Hanh

skyward thoughts

You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.

~Pema Chodron

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - 9/2015

Pema Chodron has become one of my favorite life's teachers. She imparts so much wisdom in even small snippets of her writing on compassion, gratitude, living with uncertainty (and we all are, whether we acknowledge it or not,) and coming into harmony with whatever is presenting in our lives. I really like this reminder of hers: “Pain is not a punishment, pleasure is not a reward.” I find it really helpful to remember that each of us is not what is necessarily present in our lives - fortunate or unfortunate. We are the sky - each of us. Unchanging, essential, and present for all kinds of weather.

I am experiencing mild early December weather - in so many ways. With a heavy white frost on the ground this morning and degrees in the 20s, the temps will rise to 50 degrees F today which is really warm for this time of year. It has been a busy weekend. Matt and I went to get the tree yesterday. Lights are on and decorating will take place today. We are then off to a quick shopping pick up and a concert with my sister who we will pick up along the way just over an hour from where we live. Then, I am hanging onto the reigns as I head into a busy week ahead. No complaints. Trying to stay healthy as I am feeling a bit tired this morning. Today's Sunday quote helps to center me, and I hope it does the same for you. Peace out!

autumn beauty

Last Sunday we went on a hike to the Labrador Hollow Unique Area in Tully, NY and I snapped a few photos. Since this current weekend is full of "to do," and there will be no hikes to enjoy, I am posting the photos as a way to remember. Peace out.

“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, 

to the small things hardly noticeable, 

those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.” 

-- Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

mindfulness and nyc

W. 81st St.

Central Park - Shadows and Light

Central Park Reservoir

Gothic Bridge Central Park 

Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest

Here are a few photos from my jaunt to NYC this past Thursday/Friday. It was a quick trip with a lot packed into about 31 hours. The purpose of the trip was to hear Jon Kabat-Zinn talk about the healing and transformative potential of mindfulness. The lecture was held at Symphony Space on the upper west side of Manhattan, and I found a cool hotel for my friend and I to stay at that was within a 20 minute walk to the theatre. We had a very smooth trip into the city (with a stop at a great diner in Goshen, NY) and had time to walk around and have a light dinner before getting in line for the 7-10 p.m. event. We were near the beginning of the line and were lucky enough to be sitting in the fourth row dead center of the lovely 765-seat theatre. I can't do justice to describing how amazing the event was. I didn't look at my watch one time (and even if I had, as Kabat-Zinn joked, it would have still been "now.") He incorporated meditation practice into the lecture and wove in poems by Rumi, Dickinson, Rilke, Keats, Machado, Oliver (quoted my favorite... The Summer Day), and one poet that I really want to remember, someone I didn't know, whose poem wrecked me. Daniel or David perhaps with a double surname - who wrote with a Buddhist theme of not missing your life now by thinking about the future or past.

After the show, we had a glass of wine at the hotel bar and rested amazingly well. We decided that our due diligence would be to take a relatively silent walking meditation of as much of Central Park as we could walk before needing coffee and a bagel. We walked for about 90 minutes on a warm, sunny and breezy morning, covered a lot of ground, and I worked really hard to keep photo-taking to a minimum in order to be truly in the moment. I couldn't help myself a few times, but that's okay.Now I have a few souvenirs/ reminders of good practice. Afterward, we had the best bagel and coffee, and then we headed back.

There is so much diversity in New York City. The past few years with my old job, I would go to the busier part of Manhattan and to Brooklyn every November. I love the relative quiet and beauty of the upper west side. I imagine living there for a year. It would be really nice. 

Oh! And I almost forgot! On the car ride down, I got to see an enormous bald eagle perched in a tree on Route 17 heading east. It was unbelievably beautiful.

So that is my last couple of days. I am off to work the concessions stand at the high school this afternoon while the school hosts a state soccer tournament. We had a dusting of snow this morning that has now melted, but it is still pretty cold out there. Hoping for no injuries on the field. I am ready to serve some hot chocolate and hot dogs. Ciao!

miracle

"The Zen master Ling Chi said that the miracle is not to walk on burning charcoal or in the thin air or on the water; the miracle is just to walk on earth. You breathe in. You become aware of the fact that you are alive. You are still alive and you are walking on this beautiful planet . . . .The greatest of all miracles is to be alive." 

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

remembering

I believe I will forever pause on September 11th. I will light a candle of remembrance and support. One of my favorite sites is gratefulness.org. To see the candle flicker for the next 48 hours, you can visit this link: http://www.gratefulness.org/candle/136221/. Screen capture below...

This doesn't mean that healing doesn't occur. Over time it does. 9/11 is a birthday for many. It will be a day of celebrations as well as remembrances, because life does go on. I re-read some of my previous September 11th posts this mornig. I re-read layers of ash. And I move to the rest of the day ahead, and fun plans in the evening (a birthday gift to go see a band in Ithaca tonight). Part of my heart keeps those pebbles of pain tucked away for safekeeping, to pull out and polish when I need to. The majority of my heart is reserved for the capacity for joy.

light

Brian Andreas - storypeople.com 

breathe

I found this incredibly beautiful and moving video over at Sabine's place. I couldn't not share. The breath... worth contemplating. Ahhhhh.

hidden waters, divine bliss

"Feel the hidden waters of Spirit trickling through all material life

. . . . Feel the divine bliss of Spirit within you and all things."  

-- Paramahansa Yogananda

messages

Can the New Year really be a New Year?

Or will it be just a repetition of the old year?

It depends very much on us.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

Every New Year's Day I look forward to listening to the message from Thich Nhat Hanh. This year, he is still gravely ill, so we have to find our own message. I will try to listen to/ read a few messages from past years for starters.

being attentive

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. 

-- Thích Nhất Hạnh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

selkie

What are the best parts of each day? A glimpse of beautiful sky . . . the smile of your child . . .  the comforting embrace of a spouse or friend . . . a laugh or smile . . . a treasure of a poem . . . or sometimes a beautiful song like this one (thanks FUV and YouTube and Tori Amos with Selkie).

It is the seeming little things, the in between moments, that turn out to be the best parts of each day, each month, each life. Fill your jar. Collect moments in your heart. Fleeting awareness can be stored up, and we can tune in any time we choose so that it lasts and is present.

laws of karma

“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.” 

― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Image by Cristina McAllister, via Google Images

I finally got to yoga this morning after many weeks away . . . body and spirit are refreshed! The thoughtful parting words today had to do with the laws of karma. What you do has an effect. What you say has even more of an effect. What you think has the greatest effect of all. Watch what you are doing, saying, and especially thinking!

I am thinking SPRING! (Actually, why stop at spring? I am thinking SUMMER!)

climbing the mountain

Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top - 

 it is the willpower that is the most important. 

 This willpower you cannot buy with money or be given by others -

 it rises from your heart.

-Junko Tabei, after becoming the first woman to climb Everest in 1975

Like many people, I am fascinated by dreams. I go through long periods of not being able to remember my dreams at all. Sometimes, if I have had a few glasses of wine in the evening or if I have had too much caffeine before sleeping, I have chaotic and odd dreams. Occasionally I will have very vivid recurring dreams. The past two nights would qualify as a sequence of two anyway, vivid, mountain climbing dreams. I don't know that I can attribute these dreams to alcohol or caffeine -- although in full disclosure I had a pint of Guinness at a Pampered Chef party on Friday night (and you know I could have used two pints to get through that) and last night I had a large black coffee and stayed up late at a fund raiser at our local coffee house.

Dream 1: Friday night. I am driving a bus -- a school bus type bus -- up the side of a rocky mountain. I have passengers - good people and families. I am traveling at a fast speed and feel that I don't know what I am doing. The bus is barely under control. I am on rocky and pointed ridges and mountain spines, and I recklessly keep climbing to the top - not certain how it is possible that the bus tires can stay on the mountain. I know I must get to the top and then make it back safely again, with all my passengers, bouncing here and there in their seats, untethered, in one piece. If I were to stop the bus, it would fall down the mountainside. In the first seat back is Mr. Snyder. He is in his 90s. He tells me I am doing fine. That I can do it. That he used to drive this bus and I am doing it just right. [Mr. Snyder, by the way, is my friend Kate's father. He passed away this fall. He was in his mid 90s and a smart, clear-thinking, dear man whom I admired. He was a man of tremendous faith.]

Dream 2: Saturday night. I am hiking up a snowy mountain, with a child on my back, who is sleeping and getting heavier as I climb, but I know I must carry the child. I am leading a group of two or three others trudging through the snow on the gradual incline up the mountain path. We know we must get to the top. I notice to my left, three huge and ferocious looking sleeping mountain lions. I do not speak for fear of waking one up and I silently hope the others see the danger also and hope that they too will refrain from speaking. One mountain lion is barely awake as we pass but seems to not want to be bothered with us and we continue on with strenuous effort.

I either do not remember the ending of either of these dreams or they end before I reach the top. Both dreams have struggle, and perseverance. What do they mean? I think I know that for me, the mountain represents life, journey, obstacles, challenges, struggles, striving -- with the danger of falling. (For others a mountain summit might mean some achievement, but I have taken a hiatus from ambition, and my goal these days is to have fewer goals and more mindfulness.) I guess I do feel responsible for others, and sometimes that weighs heavy. I take on leadership roles even when I am not certain I know what I am doing. I just keep going. And I don't know how it all ends.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how I should be living my life, and I have not been as disciplined with my thoughts as I need to be, which can lead to uncertainty. I have struggled a bit with my willpower, ordinarily pretty solid, and I have decided that to cut down on these mountain climbing dreams and the unsettled waking thoughts... adding 10 minutes of meditation into my day - each day - is something I really need to do. As the wise quote at the top of this post suggests, willpower is not something you can get from others -- it is something that rises from your own heart.

Off to meditate right now. Tamboura CD, thank you.

pie jesu

Inspired by a beautiful prayer over at Pauca Verba, I went seeking Pie Jesu videos on YouTube and I found one of the loveliest voices I have ever heard singing this beautiful work. This is Norwegian soprano Sissel.

Pie Jesu is pronounced "pea-ay yay-sue" and it translates as devoted (like to a family member) loving, tender, affectionate Jesus. I was raised in the Christian faith, and while I no longer consider myself to be exclusively Christian (because I do not see most religions as mutually exclusive and I certainly find myself resonating with aspects of Buddhism, Kashmir Shaivism, and Judaism,) the idea of a playful, familial Jesus Christ blessing every day life rings very true in my heart. WJPP here, keeping it eclectic.

focusing on the singing

Well said (and presented), Storypeople.com.

Nothing More (remix)

©2014 Brian Andreas

happy new year!

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

adapted from - ancient gaelic runes

peace and good tidings . . .

As much as possible, tune into the beauty and serenity of the season. Happy Winter Solstice!!