My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
“We rush through our days in such stress and intensity, as if we were here to stay and the serious project of the world depended on us. We worry and grow anxious; we magnify trivia until they become important enough to control our lives. Yet all the time, we have forgotten that we are but temporary sojourners on the surface of a strange planet spinning slowly in the infinite night of the cosmos.”
John O’Donohue, Eternal Echoes
Awe and Wonder…
With eyes fixed on the horizon
mws
I realize how small, insignificant
I am in this vast universe.
Yet, within me there’s a sense I am
a part of all this, of being connected,
even though a small part.
I cannot define, comprehend or
name this sense within me but at this
moment I feel this huge mysterious love.
May we be the gift we were meant to be,
created to be. May we never lose the
awe and wonder of living this life!
Good morning. It is misting and at 25 degrees a fine layer of ice is covering everything. As I took in the view from my bedroom window, I thought this would make a decent image that expressed the mood of this morning.
“Let’s work to enjoy every sunrise and every sunset
Beth Frates
to the maximum degree possible,
soaking it all in, mindfully.”
I believe each day is a chance for gratitude, not that I do that each morning. It’s progress I’m after. This morning started out with a red sky in the east but has been cold and overcast with a chance of snow. So that red sky offered a moment of gratitude. I am also grateful for this small little condo I have. It is a cozy one bedroom, one bath place of about 760 square feet. It’s just right for a slothful bachelor to keep “sorta” clean. I am grateful for the wicker rocker I’m sitting in that looks out from my bedroom bay window. This window faces south/southeast so with morning sun coming in I have a place for quiet time in the sun. Yes, feeling some gratitude this morning. Stay warm!
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
Winter means more time indoors. Winter time means longer shadows. Winter means more crockpots of hot soup. Winter means dressing warmer for the bus stop and morning walks. Winter means crawling between the sheets at night with cold feet. Winter means reading more books. There are more but…
When we begin to listen with our hearts rather than our heads,
our whole world changes and becomes softer.
This is another view of my quiet corner and my meditation chair. It’s taken from my bed where the previous image was from my bedroom door. I am grateful for having this condo. Even though it is small, it really works for me. Hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Wisdom begins in seeing how much we do not know .
When I wait and look and listen I make different photographs than when I scurry around looking and searching with a proactive approach.
Brooks Jensen
“Churches are good for prayer, but so are garages and cars and mountains and showers and dance floors.”
Anne Lamott
As the sun moves more to the south it begins to rise between the two buildings on the opposite side of the pond. I like this time of the year when I sit in my wicker rocker and have quiet time before beginning the day. The sunrise adds to the day. I am also grateful I have a warm house to wake in, some people don’t. Hope you have an Awesome Day!
This quilt was made and given to me over 8 years ago by a good friend, Judith. She was in the final stages of melanoma cancer and died a few weeks after giving me this. It now sits on my rocker and is part of my sanctuary. It was part of her process of letting go and passing along a piece of her. That makes it more than just a handmade quilt.
After 21 months of having a daughter and two teenage grandchildren living with me, I now have my condo back. I have a small one bedroom one bath condo and adding three more people it became much smaller. My daughter and granddaughter slept in my bedroom and my grandson and I used bunk beds in my living room. It was nice to sleep in my own bed in my own bedroom. They really did not bring that much stuff but when all of it is this little condo it seemed like so much more.
So, now we all have moved on to anther phase of life. These months were a stress on all of us. We learned a lot about each other. Some issues we dealt with and some we didn’t. This time allowed me to discover a few things about myself and them that I did not about before. It’s a change not having them here but pretty sure I will adjust in couple of hours. I’ve already noticed it’s quieter and peaceful. I no longer find dirty dishes in the sink or shoes laying around on the floor or curling iron sitting on the bathroom counter or someone in the bathroom.
I missed that bedroom. I was not aware of how much of a sanctuary it was and how much time I spent there. It’s a simple bedroom: a full size bed, a dresser, a small desk and a wicker rocker. I now having quiet mornings, and evenings, in that rocker with my latte, again.