My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and asking deep questions.
There is a voice inside of you
Shel Silverstein
That whispers all day long,
“I feel this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.”
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What’s right for you–just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.
…I write to better understand myself and my relationship with everything else. If my writing does indeed influence the world in a positive way, either now or in some future time, I’m all for it. And if for some reason it doesn’t, I’m okay with that too. But before any greater analysis is made, it’s important to keep in mind that my work helps me understand who I am. What happens after simply happens.
Robert Lax
I practice my photography and writing to understand myself and the world around me. It’s interesting to think that we do not know just how many people read our blogs. Could be less than ten or over a hundred. I’m not actually interested in knowing those numbers. So, I write on this blog and I journal to better understand myself and my relationship with the world around me. If my writing touches someone or helps them understand themselves or me, then it has been worth the work.
We have had a nice gentle rain the past 24 hours providing much needed moisture.
Once we discover that the ‘book of nature’ is an ancient idea—that this really was God’s first way of reaching out to us—then it’s like we’re stepping into this giant prayer book when we step out into the natural world. This makes it impossible for me to be anywhere in creation, now, and not be aware of this God who is crouching down low, just waiting for my attention.
Barbara Mahany
Whoever you are, you are human.
Barbara Brown Taylor
Wherever you are, you live in the world,
which is just waiting for you to notice the holiness in it.
“The more you turn inward, the more available the sacred becomes. When you sit in silence and turn your gaze toward the holy mystery you once called God, the mystery follows you back out into the world. When you walk with purposeful focus on breath and birdsong, your breathing and the twitter of the chickadee reveal themselves as miracles…”
Mirabai Starr
Awoke to overcast skies, 100% humidity that you could cut with a butterknife and an overall gloomy feel. I also felt tired and didn’t want to get out of my warm bed. But, after crawling out from under my covers, making a trip to the bathroom, making my bed, I enjoyed my meditation time. As with most Saturday mornings I drove to Windsor to meet Eric for coffee and conversation. Makes my Saturdays special! I stopped at Riverbend Ponds on the way back to capture some of the overcast skies and the reflections.
Speaking of reflections, I was reflecting on my drive how much of our society wants to spend today the money from next week’s paycheck. That’s how I thought even 50 years ago. I always assumed that paycheck would be there but there was no guarantee then or now. I sure think differently today. I’ve discovered life is much simpler when I can live in the present and that includes spending only the money I presently have or don’t have. Back then I also believed that if money was short in my budget that my solution was to make more money rather than reduce my expenses. I sure think differently today. Have a wonderful weekend.
Radiometric dating suggests our Earth is about 4.5 billion years old.
That’s a lot of birthdays. It must be time for cake!
After two days of overcast skies, cold, rain and snow, the skies are clearing. And, the weather app predicts we are going to see warmer weather this coming week. A morning drive out to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area after coffee lifted my spirits. Loved seeing a touch of blue sky peeking out from behind clouds and listening to meadowlarks singing from the meadow. It was a moment to experience real life, cold and all, and grateful to be alive. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.
Barbara Brown Taylor