Why do we strive at all?
Is it not because we are trying to escape from what is?
But if you begin to understand what is, then all striving ceases.
Then there is no effort, only pure observation.
Jiddu Krisnamurti, The Book of Life
no effort needed
Month: June 2025
Instruct myself in joy
It was what I was born for –
to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,
the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant –
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,
the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar, I say to myself,
how can you help
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these –
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made out of grass?
Mary Oliver, Mindful
Sunday Quote: as you go
To be a pilgrim is to notice the way the light changes the color of the hills,
to listen for the stories embedded in the path,
to let the journey rewrite you
Rebecca Solnit, The Blue of Distance
Cherish the present
Impermanence is not something to fear, but a great teacher.
It reminds us to cherish the present, to cultivate goodness, and to avoid wasting our lives in meaningless pursuits.
When we truly understand impermanence, we live with greater purpose.
Master Sheng Yen
the turning of the season
The soul’s ripening happens in its own time, like the slow turning of the seasons.
We cannot rush the fruit to grow, only tend to the conditions that allow for its flourishing.
Sacred time is cyclical, not linear. It invites us into the grace of waiting, into the mystery that unfolds when we release our grip on urgency and lean into the rhythms of earth and spirit.
Christine Valters Paintner, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
Rest
When we rest, we are not doing nothing.
We are allowing the wisdom of the body and the soul to catch up with us.
We are resting in the arms of spirit, keeping company with the soul, listening deeply to the voice that whispers softly in our ear: ‘You are loved. You are enough‘
Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives
Mindfulbalance 