My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees…or the silence and peace that is “heard” when the rain wanders freely among the hills and forests. But what can the wind say where there is no hearer?
Thomas Merton, THOUGHTS ON SOLITUDE
So maybe our task is to be present and listen or what Merton refers to as the hearer.
When you decide to walk the path of the mystic,
Mirabai Starr
the mundane shows up as miraculous,
the boring becomes fascinating,
and your own shortcomings
turn out to be your greatest gifts.
On my way to the library today I turned too soon and found myself in the Dairy Queen parking lot. Being the wise old geezer I am, and not wasting the opportunity, I bought and ate a mini Butterfinger Blizzard, my mom’s flavorite. After the deed was done I did find my way out of the parking lot, made it to the library and got in some journaling time. As I left the library a large thunderhead, a towering cumulonimbus cloud, was sitting out over the eastern plains in all it beauty. These clouds were providing some much needed moisture around the Pawnee Grasslands. So I grabbed a shot of the thunderhead cloud as I was pulling out of the parking lot. May you have a wonderful weekend and be safe!
Silence is one of the best ways to immediately reduce stress, while increasing your self-awareness and gaining the clarity that will allow you to maintain your focus on your goals, priorities, and what’s important for your life, each and every day.
Hal Elrod
Violence is what happens when we don’t know what else to do with our suffering.
Parker J. Palmer
My sister Sheree and I arrived home about 1:15 pm yesterday afternoon. We left Phoenix on Tuesday morning, stayed the night in Raton, New Mexico then finished the trip yesterday. It was a good day of travel. We had a near miss with a deer just outside of Raton, New Mexico yesterday morning and then one driver almost swerved into us somewhere in Denver a few hours later. Seems road construction was/is everywhere! Both of us were tired by the time we got home. My sisters keep different hours than I do, staying up later but on this trip I did also. So I was even more tired. I emptied the car, unpacked everything and then sat for some meditation and quiet. I slept in this morning. In spite of the fatigue, I had a wonderful time with my family.
It’s been a cloudy and cool with a 40% possibility for rain. Because of the possibility for rain I drove to coffee this morning. At the present time the possibility of rain has been about 23 1/2 drops of rain. Well, maybe 25. Guess I need to dance faster. The gray skies offered a day to relax, journal, and read. I have also been going through some of the things belonging to mom and dad that we brought back. I have already discovered some jewels and shed a few tears. All good stuff! I still pray for the end of violence!
“…the greatest reward for a creative life is not in what you create, but in how you live. It is in how you train yourself to view and respond to the world and internalize the many experiences and meanings and mysteries that come your way. It is about finding peace and satisfaction in a world rife with cynicism, violence, competition and greed.”
Guy Tal
I posted the above quote back on June 11, 2012, about 14 years ago. It spoke to me then and it speaks to me now in my photography, blogging and how I try to live my life. Pursuing a creative path is helping me find peace and satisfaction in a world that is rife with cynicism, violence, competition and greed. One of the things I do to live my life and find peace is spend time in nature. So, I spent some time this afternoon at Pineridge Natural Area. They made some changes on me by removing the bench up near the parking lot and putting in another one right next to the rocks I enjoy sitting on. It’s probably only three feet away from those rocks. It is a big, solid bench and just as hard as the rocks. But it has a back on it. It actually is a much more scenic view than where the previous bench was. That’s one of the reasons I liked sitting on those rocks. I approve of the change. You don’t suppose they put in that bench just for me???
Anway my sister, Sheree, and I are flying down to Phoenix in the morning to spend a couple days with my sister Marcee and brother-in-law, John. Then we will rent a car and drive back with some of mom and dad’s artwork. So I probably won’t be posting much the rest of the month. Hold down the Fort while I’m gone! I better finish packing.
The human soul is hungry for beauty; we seek it everywhere – in landscape, music, art, clothes, furniture, gardening, companionship, love, religion and in ourselves. No-one would desire not to be beautiful. When we experience the Beautiful, there is a sense of homecoming. Some of our most wonderful memories are of beautiful places where we felt immediately at home. We feel most alive in the presence of the Beautiful for it meets the needs of our soul.
John O’Donohue
What a beautiful morning for a bicycle ride along Spring Creek to Mugs for coffee and wonderful conversation. This is a good time of the year for images like this due to the timing of my ride and the rising of the sun. I’m sharing this image of what I get to experience on these morning rides. Alissia was my barista and an Old Town mocha was my drink. A few clouds have now moved in as a cold front arrives late tonight which I hope brings us moisture in the form of rain and snow early Friday morning. And, both Friday and Saturday nights could be below freezing. I will be okay with that if we also get moisture. May you enjoy this day!
“Here is a summertime truth: abundance is a communal act, the joint creation of an incredibly complex ecology in which each part functions on behalf of the whole and, in return, is sustained by the whole. Community not only creates abundance – community is abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed”
Parker J. Palmer
I have enjoyed this summer-like day. I sat on my porch and journaled this afternoon. A cool breeze blew and enticed the trees to dance with it. I watched two small robins, who I think were juveniles, chasing one another around the old tree stump. I watched two baby squirrels jumping from branch to branch in their game of tag. These simple games most young ones play. A blackbird sang its song from the far edge of the pond. And the geese continue to practice in their attempt at a song, unsuccessfully I must add. As I look up I see the blue sky with puffs of clouds silently and slowly drifting by. For me it was a cool summertime day with an abundance of community around me. I feel my day has been full. I hope your day was a full.
Solitude is important to man…
Margaret E. Mulac
It is his refuge when the very foundation of his life are being shaken by disastrous events.
I stopped and took this image of the predawn colors over the Lory Student Center on campus this past week on my ride to the coffee shop. Posting this late and hoping everyone has a wonderful weekend!
for the awakened heart
mws
two notes carried by the wind
the chickadees song