Soul Motive…Beauty Pursues Me

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Have you ever really taken notice of your life? Have you ever really paid attention to the mundane, the profound and the disturbing moments as they arise and retreat into all the minutes of your day? To be a noticing being, is to be an awake being; an alert human; a person of awareness…a person of endless inquiry, wonder and amusement. Have you noticed how much you pay attention to your surroundings when you become lost? Have you ever discovered yourself lost, with nothing familiar around you on which to anchor yourself?

“Your attention is one of the most valuable things you possess.” – Austin Kleon

Since moving to a new city in 2024, I have felt a little unmoored. But this is to be expected, is it not? It is often the novel things in life which may jolt us awake…and into the awareness of our life as it is right now. Over the past year I have changed…my places, my habits, my activities, my people. Being in this new place has given me new eyes; new dreams; new interests. Perhaps it is the novelty of this new place which continues to generate for me a continued sense of delightful possibilities.

“Ask yourself about the kind of life you want: What would you do day to day, and with whom, and where? Consider the life you have. Do one thing today, however small, to close the gap between the two.” -Dame Maggie Smith

Have you noticed, how all things (the good, the bad, the ugly) seem possible in the raw freshness of new? This is soulful vulnerability, to behold possibility with open arms and a hope filled heart. But it is this very tenderness of soul which keeps me in gentle awareness. At least this has been my experience to date. And the more I notice the new, the different, the uncomfortable, the disappointments…I also notice a quiet, still over-coming. What is this? This quiet, gentleness…it is a thing of beauty and it is everywhere I am. Beauty pursues me!

The stunning, awe-filled beauty of the life I am living, it is a gift…given to be lived to the full. Nature, the created environment and the beauty of things which soul creates (art, music, relations, etc.), all these things pursue me relentlessly…whenever I cease the hamster wheel of thinking and give myself permission…I notice!

A Work of Soul

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I’ve just begun reading Anam Cara by John O’Donohue, and I am not new to O’Donohue’s work, but within the first few chapters of this book, I had highlighted more sections of text than any book I’ve read in the recent past. This book of poetic Celtic mysticism has stunned me to the core with its deep, soul stirring message. Anam Cara means soul friend in the Gaelic language, and the text clearly instructs the reader to look within rather than without to discover one’s soul friend. Since I have not completed the book, this post will not discuss nor review the contents. However, I want simply want to draw a line in the sand, to create something of a remembrance for myself and for anyone else who might read this post. I want to officially capture those words and sections of text which resonate clear and dear to me. I hope the following quotes from the text will intrigue and awaken in you a desire to read O’Donohue for yourself. I am certain if you do, you will soon meet yourself as beloved friend and soulmate.

“Real friendship or love is not manufactured or achieved by an act of will or intention. Friendship is always an act of recognition.”

p.30

“Your body is in the soul, and the soul suffuses you completely. Therefore, all around you there is a secret and beautiful soul-light. This recognition suggests a new art of prayer: Close your eyes and relax into your body. Imagine a light all around you, the light of your soul. Then with your breath, draw that light into your body and bring it with your breath through every area of your body.“

pg 46

A Blessing

May the light of your soul guide you.

May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the secret love and warmth of your heart.

May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.

May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light, and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.

May your work never weary you.

May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration, and excitement.

May you be present in what yo do.

May you never become lost in the bland absences.

May the day never burden.

May dawn find you awake and alert, approaching your new day with dreams, possibilities, and promises.

May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.

May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected.

May your soul calm, console, and renew you.

pg 112

Winter Solstice Welcome

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Winter solstice, you are welcome here today;
you remind me to embrace this time,
the primal requirement for all nature to go long into the dark.
There is no fear or regret in these hours of primitive night;
only the embrace of your holding space for us;
for the breath and the light of life in us…
Heart space invites us to abide in the womb of mystery…
In the quiet spaciousness of unknowing.
Because peace ripples here…gentle echoes of love song,
resonate in the places of long shadows;
and soul’s shoreline welcomes its rhythmic pulse;
perfect…timeless…waves of serenity…
breaking onto the shore of our awareness.
Awakening will come soon enough, but first…
let us rest in the shortest day of great darkness…
for the renewing of body, mind and spirit.

Start Here…It’s Never Too Late

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Today is the day; Now is the Time, To Begin Again.
If you breathe, you have everything,
Everything you Need, Can you Feel it?
It’s true, tomorrow may never arrive.
So, Waste Not Any Thing, especially,
This moment, This NOW.
Let the Rising and Setting of the Sun,
Instruct us towards Wisdom.
It is our one and only wealth, Now!
Breathe in – Breathe Out.
Gather, curate, luxuriate!
Moments, strung one after the other,
Suspended animation, wondrous vapor,
For the curious of heart and mind,
To Those who Embrace the Wind,
And Dance with the Fleeting,
Fragile Moments of Being.
To those Brave enough,
To Be Fully Human, Holy, Wild,
In The Eternal World of Now.
Every Heart Beat Pulsing Awareness,
Beating on the shoreline of each life
Oceanic waves of Joy, Suffering
And Unfathomed Mystery.
Receive it or not, the choice is always ours,
Start Here…It’s never too late…to Embrace,
The Gift, The Present, Is Real, It takes form,
When we stop believing it’s too late.
Now is the time to engage, because,
We do not know how much breath,
Is left to breathe. Remember,
Please, won’t you: Today,
Today! Is A Great Day to Be Alive!





Help! We Need Somebodies!

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This past weekend I just finished reading a very funny and inspiring book by Susan Latke (Life’s Too Short To Go So F*cking Slow: Lessons From An Epic Friendship That Went The Distance). I highly recommend this read, especially if you think you are not an athletic person and eschew those whom you are acquainted with who enjoy individual sports like running, biking, swimming. This book is a testament to the life-giving, life-changing power of an enduring friend/mentor relationship.

I think it is not a coincidence, that I happened across this quote this morning. It strongly iterates the beauty and vital importance of the connectivity we need from each other.

In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Just a little reminder for all of us. If I had a wish that could be granted, I would wish to be or have a friend like Carlos Nunez was to Susan Latke. Such a friendship can change the the world…

Help! by the Beatles (lyrics below)

[Intro]
(Help!) I need somebody
(Help!) Not just anybody
(Help!) You know I need someone
(Help!)

[Verse 1]
When I was younger so much younger than today
I never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self-assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors

[Chorus]
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me?

[Verse 2]
And now my life has changed in oh so many ways
My independence seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before

[Chorus]
Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please help me?

New Things

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I am of the opinion that the hype and celebration of the incoming new year is perhaps, a tiny bit overrated. Is it not just another occasion to excel in over-eating, drinking and merriment? On the other side of all this festivity, what do we have to show for our annual exuberant abandonment of decorum? Well, I’ll give you two weeks, three weeks tops, to answer that question for me. And then I am certain that life will settle itself into its dull, mind-numbing routines.

Now isn’t that a dreary opening! I wouldn’t blame you if you stopped reading this post right now! So I’m going to get right to the guts of today’s post.

Regardless of how I feel about it, the NEW YEAR 2023 has arrived. And in its wake, I see on the horizon the forecast of things to come. Yes on the horizon, brooding and heavy with winter’s cloak I see dawn breaking. I see the rays of hope beaming through clouds of gray; I see ripples in the fabric of sky and sea casting buoyant expectations for new ways, new days. The possibilities for change, for new peace, and new meaning is abundant. This is the stuff of January! And I want to drink deeply of its sentiment; I want to soak and luxuriate in the potentiality of its fresh aliveness. Yes, it is a time to celebrate…it is a time to embrace and activate a new way of being. If not now? When?

“The world is for newness, not for oldness. New, new things we have to create. Then only the world will progress. If not, we will come to feel that there is nothing new under the sun. We have to create new things to keep our joy. If there is no newness, how can we have enthusiasm? And if there is no enthusiasm, do we make any progress?”

Sri Chinmoy

So without further adieu, I would ask you to do this one exercise with me this month; to stop and think deeply about this question: What NEW THINGS do you want this year? What would you like to change? What do you want more of? Less of?

Like so many things in life, these questions are simple, but the answers are NOT. Because to acquire new things for ourselves always requires us to change; to let go, to empty, to clean out and drop old things, old ways of being. To become an updated version of ourselves this year will require us to be open-minded so we may embrace new thinking and new thoughts; overused and worn out beliefs about ourselves need to be reduced, recycled and reused as the overlays of our continuing personal evolutions. Ridding ourselves of worn out beliefs about ourselves will unshackle us from the old versions of being. Remember, old things cannot continue to live in us unless we continue to feed them with our attention; the old ways only become fodder for wisdom when we let those things die which no longer serve our well-being. It’s time my friends…it’s a NEW YEAR…it’s time for us all to do NEW THINGS!

“So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.”

Neil Gaiman

START CLOSE IN – by David Whyte

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Start close in, don’t take the second step, or the third,
start with the first thing close in,
the step you don’t want to take.

Start with the ground you know,
the pale ground beneath your feet,
your own way to begin the conversation.

Start with your own question,
give up on other people’s questions,
don’t let them smother something simple.

To hear another’s voice,
follow your own voice,
wait until that voice
becomes an intimate private ear
that can really listen to another.

Start right now, take a small step
you can call your own,
don’t follow someone else’s heroics,
be humble and focused,
start close in, don’t mistake
that other for your own.

Start close in, don’t take the second step or the third,
start with the first thing close in,
the step you don’t want to take.

START CLOSE IN ~ David Whyte : Essentials
Many Rivers Press © David Whyte
…

A New Year’s poem, if ever there was one. Carrying that certain air of self-admonition we all need to go in the right direction, and do the right thing. This piece was inspired by my growing familiarity with Dante’s ‘Comedia’, particularly the first lines, written in despair after being exiled from his beloved Florence. It reflects the difficult act we all experience, of trying to start again when everything has been taken away; the necessity of stepping bravely again, into what looks like a dark wood, when the outer world as we know it has disappeared, when the world can only be met and in some ways made again from no outer ground, but from the very center of our being. The temptation is to take the second or third step outer step, not the first inward one, to ignore the invitation into the center of our own body, often into the source of our grief and our reluctance: an attempt to finesse the raw vulnerability and the absolutely necessary understanding at the core of the pattern, to forgo the radical and almost miraculous simplification into which we are being invited. For a better, truer New Year – the invitation is always, always, always, to ‘Start close In.’

…

Woman Walking
Yorkshire Dales
Photo © David Whyte
December 2015

Exercise Challenge: Week 52 – 2022

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Wall Sit – The last Exercise Challenge of 2022

Challenge: perform as many repetitions as possible while maintaining good form. Do this exercise for at least four days of the week. Keep track of your repetitions on your calendar or journal. Which day did you perform the greatest number of repetitions? Celebrate your improving strength and share your outcome with a friend or training partner.

This Winter’s Invocation

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In less than two weeks we will be flipping the last page of our 2022 calendars. And this is the time of year when the cold winds of winter blow and cause us to shutter to the interiors. To the warmth of the home-lands; to the inland of the heart-lands; to the solace of winter’s wonder-lands. It’s the magical time of year when I spend a little more time on my innermost world; and since the chilling temperatures drive us to seek warmth and safety among kith and kin, it is a fitting time to be drawn to the glowing embers of reflection and contemplation as another new year approaches. So it is in this spirit that I post this winter’s petition for the new year.

Gratitude…this is what comes to mind as I contemplate the blank, white pages of the new year approaching. The calendar behind me is overflowing with activities: work, play, joy, sorrow…there is much, too much, to hold and appreciate. Life is an abundant, on-going menagerie of experience. I wish only to become more proficient in allowing the fullness of life (the beautiful and the obnoxious) to move me (nudge me please, no shoving) towards a greater love of living; so that I may appreciate the gross and profane to be as necessary as the beautiful and profound. It is the yin and yang, the both/and paradox which I am learning to embrace without the need of certainty. It is gratitude I feel most deeply; and living this life without preconceived ideas about what it should look like lends more life for the living. This life is like one grand, ongoing research project…for my continued growth and evolution.

I had rather live and love where death is king, than have eternal life where love is not.

R.G. Ingersoll

Love…this is the foundation which gives meaning to everything I feel and do in the hours of my days. If I had only one wish for the new year it would be that LOVE would reign front and center in the hearts and minds of those who walk the earth with me in 2023. Love is the language which created the universe. It is the mystery of life which is encoded into every cell, every atom of the cosmos. There is no need to translate our native tongue for the other; we must only learn the dialect of love and take it to all the places we go, whether we are home or abroad. We are not strangers or aliens to ourselves when we love, truly love one another.

True love always involves renunciation of one’s comfort.

Leo Tolstoy

The weakness of love, if there was a weakness, comes from our inability to express and communicate love clearly to our loved ones. It is our ineptness to express love in a manor or language that is recognizable to the beloved. If the oft quoted saying that ‘Love conquers all’ is true, then it can only be false because of human shortfall or failing. The way I see it is this: Love cannot ever lose because as long as the universe exists, Love is! Love is Being without end. And as every beloved knows without fail, true love is felt and known as such. True love conquers all because it does not expect or require reciprocity…true love is a burning bush that does not consume itself. True love is infinite and inextinguishable.

Love has a thousand varied notes to move the human heart.

George Crabbe

Oh, how I wish to ignite true love in my world in 2023! Oh, how I wish to be LOVE, true love, for all who come across my path in 2023. That is my one and only wish…that Love would heal the wounds…the wounds I have created, the wounds others have created…it matters not, who did what…Love being love is the only thing which matters. Yes! May Love be my rule and guide. With an undivided heart, loving into one life at a time. That’s all I hope for…and this will be my anthem for the new year! I will work it out at home, at work, in the gym, on the road, in the community center, in the choir, in the work details and endless appointments yet to fill my days. Yes, I want more of this Love…for all of us…let there be no end.