25 Sept 2015

spiritual grit


There comes a brave moment on a soul's journey, where one is presented with the profound opportunity to regard themselves, their life, their entirety as essentially good, worthy and worthwhile.  No longer do the tugs of the 'shoulds' of the world nag at our consciences.  The light from our own being is now enough.  It is enough now to trust that, to walk forward as we were always meant to. 
This does not make for an easy journey - that was never the promise.  The world is full of should-shouters, insecure, judgmental, fearful people who have not yet found their own space of personal peace and spiritual grit.  So the call is great.  It is to be brave and courageously yourself.  To be the expert in 'you' in this world.  To shine and create with all the courage you can muster.  And when you fall, to get back up and do it again.  This is what Cheryl Strayed called the call of the "wild."  It is what Elizabeth Gilbert calls "coming home."  It is returning to that place within that knows that you KNOW, and committing to walking that path.  Bon Courage!

22 Sept 2015

call of the wild

After an anxious ridden week and a late Friday night, I woke up this morning feeling surprisingly light and refreshed. I opened my curtains to a bright, dewy morning sun and felt a very strong urge to be outside immediately. I dressed, threw on my runners and headed to a large, wild, local park right by my house. It was like walking to heaven. Warm sun, kiss of crisp autumn breezes, dancing grasslands, brilliant wildflowers, hawks, black birds, beetles, grasshoppers met me with their brilliant aliveness. I caught myself in silent awe around each new bend and summit. I am alive and surrounded by utter, endless beauty. How is it that we forget this so often? (It comes as no surprise that my doctor friend recommends all his patients spend 30 minutes outdoors each day. The healing in that act alone is more significant than most of us realize).
So, I relished this morning in the hills. I picked wildflowers. Sat and stared. Walked slowly. Ran up hills. The bigness of the world holding my being in gentle caress.
I brought home my lightened, joyful spirit and a bouquet of wildflowers to set on my kitchen table. Now for breakfast - another human act that can heal us so well, if only we took the time to notice. Today - Lemon Coconut Quinoa Pancakes with local, organic peaches with a side of chamomile tea. Thank you coconut. Thank you lemon. Thank you chamomile for counseling so well. Thank you beetle for your vibrant scuttle. Thank you grasslands for your bold dance. I am lighter today because of you all.

1 Apr 2015

could there be more clarity than this?

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about your despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting --
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.


~Mary Oliver

6 Feb 2015

bon courage

The world doesn't wrap dreams up like gifts to
give away. Rather than wait, she stretches her
arms toward the things she wants. The future:

an intersection with too many street signs.
She makes her own road map; she goes
fearlessly, shamelessly. The secret


recipe is, Put one foot in front of the other.
Don't stop. She is doing it. The password
is, Work hard. Be kind. She wants to make,

so she does. She doesn't count those
who take note. She was born with all
the keys already in her hands. Imagine:

creating because it's possible, not because
it's profitable, clearing the path for others
gaining the boldness to follow behind. Her

spine is a braid of steel; her hands, open. She
has what the world needs, so she births more
and gives it, until her arms are overflowing.

12 Jan 2015

it flows

Were we ever to go
digging danger
up from the springs
of world's edge?

The mountains whisper
sweet nothings
or was that you?
No matter

the wind beckons
constantly, always
and the wings of my hair
rejoice in dance

Where or where have
you taken me
under the garnet sky
of hope and darkness

can there even be more
than what is?

I am dripping with
abundance, and now
gratitude