Daily Practice

The Knowing

2013-05-23T22:00:53Z

I can't tell you what it is - exactly - about the morning fog that I so love.

Perhaps - it's the sense of vast and endless possibility. That there is no beginning...and no end.

Perhaps - it's the stillness....the quiet.

Perhaps - it's that feeling of being all alone in the world. I can't see them...so that - surely - they can't see me.

Perhaps - it's that moment before the world has wakened and stirred. That moment when there is no one there to remind me of what is expected...of who I'm supposed to be.

Perhaps - it's in that state of somewhere between what was and what is yet to be...between yesterday and tomorrow...between the known and the not yet.

Perhaps it's here - in the foggy now - that I know just exactly who I am and what.

Plain. Simple. Easy.

2013-05-22T22:01:01Z

Some days the practice is about the 'allowing'...the 'letting go'...the 'releasing' into just what and how it is.

Ordinary.

Grey.

Uninspiring.

The 'noticing'....the 'appreciating'...the 'finding' beauty in the every day.

Plain.

Simple.

Easy.

The 'disovering' the new in the old. The 'breathing into' it..and finding that quiet space inside that reminds me that it's been here all along. All I needed was to look and see.

Hands and Hearts

2013-05-21T22:00:16Z

More than words ever can...or will - with hands and hearts reaching out and extending to those who have lost so much - this image says it all.

Funny....how some days - the just right 'thing' - appears.

Needing Nothing

2013-05-20T22:00:17Z

Of needing nothing. Of needing no actions or inactions or distractions. Of needing no 'thing' to fill and fulfill. Of finding passion and purpose in just this.

As I lay there in the sea of lavender...I thought it was that that I'd come for. The color so exquisite...it took my breath away.

But then - I quickly realized - it was not that that caught my attention....my focus....my gaze. It was a simple blade of ordinary grass....right there in the middle of all of that extraordinary color. A little piece of green. It wasn't the purple.

It reminded me those lessons. Of needing nothing. Of seeing and embodying and simply being - no one 'thing'...and all 'things' together. It reminded me of how simple is this practice - of needing nothing other than just this.

Just When

2013-05-19T22:00:04Z

Just when I think it can't get any more beautiful...it does.

Just when I think that the light can't be any softer or gentler....it is.

Just when I think it's not possible to find that quiet...I do.

I arrive in the space without expectation...without ever quite knowing what I might find...what I might discover...what I might experience and feel. My mind lags one step behind my body....as I wake to meet and greet the new day.

In the beginning - there's a tightness...a reluctance...a resistance. I never believe I'm quite ready...but then - there I am.

I prepare myself to look...and really see. I begin to find my ground...my center...my core. I listen.

A layer of morning mist...fogging my vision. I adjust the lens thru which I'm looking. There must be something...there always is. My eyes begin to focus. I begin to see.

Feet ground. Body softens. Mind stops asking those questions that have no answers. This is what. This is why. This is where I come to. It's where I arrive.

Just when I begin to wonder why it is I rise each day...I know.

Just when I can't imagine a scene more magical...there is.

Just Enough

2013-05-17T22:00:27Z

Just enough.

Not too dark...or too light. Not to big...or too small. Not too loud...or too quiet.

Simply...softly...silently...surprisingly easy.

Just enough - I decided. Must it be anything other or more than that?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Once and again - I'll be practicing quiet over the weekend. Will return and begin again on Sunday night.

Found Imperfection

2013-05-16T22:00:15Z

It need not be something that's never been seen...nor done - before.

It need not be unique...original...or truly special.

It need not - even - be perfect.

But what it does need - what I need it to be - is real....heartfelt and honest and true. It needs to be a reflection of my vision in that moment. It needs to be quiet. It needs to be authentic. It needs to speak not only to how it looks on the outside...but to how it feels within.

Surrounded by nothing other than chaos and mess....dying weeds...dewy grass...morning mist..and rising light - I thought it doesn't get any more imperfect than this...does it?

And in that - instant - I took one deep slow breath...knowing inside me that whatever it was that I'd been looking for..I'd found.

Time Suspended

2013-05-15T22:00:32Z

Because - for just one moment - time suspended. There was none of this or that...then or there...yesterday or tomorrow.

There was nothing that came before this...and there was nothing waiting to be done.

There were no fears...no worries...no doubts or questions. There were no words...

There was color. There was silence. There was the most exquisite slice of morning's first magical light. There was clarity in the blurr. There was stillness in the forward movement and momentum.

There was ease. There was simplicity. There was grace.

There was just this moment - wrapping its arms around me...blanketing me in its warmth. There was promise. There was hope. There was knowing that anything and all is possible. There was big...bold...beautiful...brave life.

At My Table

2013-05-14T22:00:30Z

Something - I thought - different.

Something - I hoped - new.

Something - that pushed me out of that zone that lately has become my default...my oh-so-everyday-familiar.

I wondered how it is that I might take what others call weeds...and transform them into flowers? I wondered how I might create somet'hing' special from no'thing' at all? I wondered just what it would take to transform nature's discards into this woman's art?

From disordered chaos..to order.

From complexity...to something simple and ordinary.

From un-invited intruders...to the most welcome of guests. So great to have them sitting at my table tonite.

That Simple

2013-05-13T22:00:38Z

In the end - it's so simple. Really. What we need - in order to survive and thrive.

A little water...and a lot of light. A little hope mixed in with a lot of belief and trust. A little seed from which will become.

Some days - it just is. Nothing special...nothing all that inspiring. Nothing - other than this. A little residue from the night's rain. A rise of the sun in the early morning. A tree - deeply rooted. A single blossom...aglow.

It really is that simple..isn't it? What we need in order to grow?