Category: Be fully present

Fail better

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Chalciporus piperatus LC0182.jpg

One of the biggest challenges in life is how we deal with disappointment:

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.

Samuel Beckett, Worstword Ho, 1983

So what I’m saying is: fail. Then fail again, and then maybe you start to work with some of the things I’m saying. And when it happens again, when things don’t work out, you fail better. In other words, you are able to work with the feeling of failure instead of shoving it under the rug, blaming it on somebody else, coming up with a negative self-image — all of those futile strategies.

“Fail better” means you begin to have the ability to hold what I call “the rawness of vulnerability” in your heart, and see it as your connection with other human beings and as a part of your humanness. Failing better means when these things happen in your life, they become a source of growth, a source of forward, a source of, “out of that place of rawness you can really communicate genuinely with other people.” Your best qualities come out of that place because it’s unguarded and you’re not shielding yourself. 

Pema Chodron

photo jorg hempel

Special moments

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mary-oliver

What will it be for you today?

It could be a meeting, a walk in nature, even just a cup of coffee…

To pay attention and be fully present is the key

Every day has something in
it whose name is forever.

Mary Oliver, Everything That Was Broken

Just reflections in the moon

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File:Supermoon From Washington.jpg

There was a very clear super moon last night.

In Chinese philosophy, the “10, 000 things” is a shorthand way of talking about all the experiences –  good and bad – which arise and pass away in our day.

This poem reminds us not to give too much substance to all the things which arise today:

Sitting alone in peace before these cliffs
the full moon is heaven’s beacon
the ten thousand things are all reflections
the moon originally has no light

Han-shan, 9th Century legendary Chinese figure.

Sunday Quote: Spacious

Karl Duffy1 Comment

sunrise

The world is vast

and the body and breath are spacious

when we are at ease with ourselves and others

Michael Stone, from his lovely book, Awake in the World

photo of early morning sun in Glendalough, on a beautiful Saturday in October which reminded me of Rilke :

I would like to step out of my heart

and go walking beneath the enormous sky.

Saturday in October: Loosening

Karl Duffy3 Comments

File:Caldon Canal Near Endon - geograph.org.uk - 317647.jpg

When things in work start to overwhelm me and cause a struggle, or when someone does something that causes fear,  I notice that two things tend to happen – I get a type of tightening or contraction in the body  and a feeling of speeding up in the mind. So this poet’s petition is a nice one to echo on this Saturday morning: Let the day begin gently, and let space enter in, expand and slow me down. Let the leaves fall one by one, and may their letting go permeate into my bones. 

We do not have to learn how to contract; we find it easy to turn away, to freeze and to blame…

We do have to practice letting go and holding the heart open, to learn how to soften:

O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!

Robert Frost, from October.

photo david mastin

Morning rituals

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Ceremonial Tea in Japan.jpg

In our daily activities we often get caught up in a rush from one thing to the next. The morning is a good time to develop slow habits where we can pause and reflect, before the activities of the day begin. In the cup of tea we take time for ourselves. We can pause, and as Tuesday’s post said, hear the song and remember the lake:

In my own hands I hold a bowl of tea;

I see all of nature represented in its green color.

Closing my eyes I find green mountains and pure water within my own heart.

Silently sitting alone and drinking tea, I feel these become part of me

Soshitsu Sen XIV, 1893-1964, Japanese Tea Master

photo hyougushi