• coffee life,  coffee shops,  quotes

    Presence is wisdom!

    November 8, 2024
    Journaling with a chai latte, while watching it snow outside

    Wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the ten thousand things in a new way. I suggest that wisdom is precisely the freedom to be truly present to what is right in front of you. Presence is wisdom! Those who can be present will know what they need to know, and in a wisdom way.

    Richard Rohr

    It began snowing in earnest about 9:30 am, offering us big, beautiful moisture filled snowflakes. I met Jeff earlier for tea and conversation, then stopped by the Arboretum Coffee shop to journal for a while. The small chai latte was a perfect pairing with my journaling. This coffee shop is a nonprofit that is striving to “create a community where refugees and immigrants can rebuild their lives with dignity, gain essential skills, and form meaningful connections.” I come here because I want to support that ideal. So far my interaction with all these baristas has not given me a feeling of working with a criminal, the drug cartel or that I’m  in any danger. The only problem I’ve had is our language differences but that is improving! What’s cool about that is we don’t throw up our hands but keep at it until I get skim milk rather than whole. I’m finding my name is strange to them and love how they sometimes say it. If I remain open and willing to encounter wisdom, then these baristas have much to teach me, to enhance my life, and a chance to be present to each other. Seems there is more danger around the white privileged who think they think they know. I much prefer Rohr’s notion that wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the ten thousand things in a new way. I want to be a seeker of wisdom.

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  • fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    It is all a miracle!!!

    October 24, 2024

    The wind has blown hard today, gusting up to 30 mph. The blue sky is filled with an infinite number of yellow, gold, brown, red, pink, and multi-speckled leaves. And, all are being invited to dance and sing with the wind. Yet some hold on, not ready to let go, even though it’s an essential part of their journey. I must confess, I do love the music that they make together, this chorus after chorus of rustling leaves and wind. Their music is one of the primary reasons I enjoy this time of the year. This image is taken outside my front door where the wind swirls leaves into a delightful blanket of beauty just for me. It is all a miracle!!!

    A touch of pink

    Somewhere along the way, you realize that no one will teach you how to live your own life — not your parents or your idols, not the philosophers or the poets, not your liberal arts education or your twelve-step program, not church or therapy or Tolstoy. No matter how valuable any of that guidance, how pertinent any of that wisdom, in the end you discover that you make the path of life only by walking it with your own two feet under the overstory of your own consciousness — that singular miracle never repeated in all the history and future of the universe, never fully articulable to another.

    Maria Popova

    This quote by Maria Popova is from a wonderful blog post which you can read here.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes

    Symptom of Maturity

    June 20, 2024
    Another panorama before the rain

    The awareness of the ambiguity of one’s highest achievements – as well as one’s deepest failures – is a definite symptom of maturity.

    Paul Tillich

    Someone shared the above quote with me the other day that has me grappling with what ambiguity 1Ambiguity: the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness. really means to me. I’m also aware it may mean something different to others. I find myself saying “I don’t know” much more than when I was younger and smarter. I want to believe I say, “I don’t know” more often because I’m wiser rather than smarter. It also takes away the worry of being right or wrong. Maybe that’s a symptom of maturity.

    Well, the prep has begun as I stopped the eliquis Tuesday night and will start again Sunday morning. I begin the laxative today at noon then start my first cocktails at 6:00 pm. Colonoscopy Friday at 2:00 pm. Fun times at this age!! I know you’re jealous.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes,  sunrises

    True Wisdom

    April 17, 2024

    Of course, a great deal of our onslaught on Mother Nature is not really lack of intelligence but a lack of compassion for future generations and the health of the planet: sheer selfish greed for short-term benefits to increase the wealth and power of individuals, corporations and governments. The rest is due to thoughtlessness, lack of education, and poverty. In other words, there seems to be a disconnect between our clever brain and our compassionate heart. True wisdom requires both thinking with our head and understanding with our heart.

    Jane Goodall, The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

    A drive to Pineridge Natural Area this morning and a few minutes of computer crunching produced this panorama of 8 images (handheld I must add) over Dixon Reservoir. I missed a sky full of pink because I was late. But being late made no difference because being there for any part of sunrise with Mother Nature is the experience. Not only did I enjoy this view but the meadowlarks were in full concert in the open meadow. It was a wonderful way to start my day. I will meet my friend Mark for breakfast in about an hour. I resonate with Jane Goodall’s last line in this quote, “True wisdom requires both thinking with our head and understanding with our heart.” My comments on that statement could take another post or maybe a conversation with friends at the coffee shop. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

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  • clouds,  horizons,  landscape,  trees

    The Gift of Words

    April 4, 2024
    One of my favoritest cottonwood trees

    I just finished reading a second book by George N. Wallace. I mentioned his other book here, which was a collection of poems and essays. This book I just finished is all poetry, Enjoying the Work. I have found his writing humorous, while at times causing tears to well up in my eyes, and he does not use metaphors that cause me to wander off in stray thoughts as I try to figure out what he is saying. In his introduction he writes how poetry is therapeutic, helping him to see the beauty of an approaching thunderhead, it also mercifully dilutes the bile arising as one witnesses injustices, or ecological wounding, and hopefully permitting wisdom, love and clear-eyed resistance to prevail. I found it an easy read for me. He inspires me to write. I am thankful for his gift in words. I’ll buy his next book when it comes out.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  quotes

    Wimped Out

    February 11, 2024

    All nature is waiting for us to become conscious because there’s a particular quality of consciousness that only humans can provide. Nature needs that consciousness; cries out for it. And the process of deciphering Nature’s need, then discovering how to respond to it, is what’s called learning to become human.

    Peter Kingsley

    It’s Sunday morning with clear skies, sunshine and cold. I had no desire to stand in the cold for the sunrise so I made my way to the coffee shop. I chose an Old Town Mocha made by Emma and a cozy chair over cold hands and feet. Even forced myself to eat a glazed donut later. 😁 This image was taken two days ago before yesterday’s snowfall. This same scene would be much whiter this morning but I wimped out. Well maybe I’m getting wiser, more selective or learning to become human. Yea, that’s it, I’m getting wiser! Enjoy your Sunday!

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  • cattails,  Plants,  quotes

    Learning to let go

    February 7, 2024

    We let go of what we have been told to believe about ourselves. We listen to a different voice, one that comes to us from deep within our own soul. That is the voice of love. It is the spirit telling us we are worthy and that we can overcome our problems, even if those problems seem as overwhelming as darkness.

    Steven Charleston

    I believe Charleston is correct because over time I am learning to let go of what I was told about myself, what I told myself about myself and listen to a different voice. Some of those voices, including my own, were telling me things through a lack of understanding and knowledge while some were lies to control and manipulate. I have found it easier to tell someone “I believe in you” rather than say that to myself and believe it. However, I’m learning to listen and trust this voice of love that resides deep within me. I believe in this voice of wisdom. And, because I’m listening and trusting this voice, I’m beginning to experience life and all of creation in new and enriching ways. I see with a new set of eyes and see more each day. Life is much more beautiful when I began to understand how connected we all are in the many threads and fabrics of life we are. I wonder if love could be the thread that binds us? I kinda like this voice of love!!!

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