Hundreds of open flowers
all come from the one branch.
Look, all their colours appear in my garden.
I open the door, and in the wind
I see the spring sunlight.
Already it has reached
worlds without number.
Sekiso, Worlds without number
Category: Make the most of life
Keeping our view of life fluid
Spring cleaning, uprooting, not looking back, new growth….
Some thoughts, prompted by having to queue to get into the déchetterie – the recycling depot – this morning, which are in the same vein as some of the quotes over the past few days. The good weather motivates people to tidy up their houses and garages after the enforced restricted time that is winter. I was working in the garden yesterday, digging up the plants that did not survive the winter and cutting back those which will now grow more strongly in the Summer. Getting rid of the old and letting the new grow stronger or in different directions. And all around Nature is budding now, revealing what has been going on unseen and underground for months. In our own life path it is the same. We get rid of elements that no longer accord with who we are now, or let go of that which we can no longer hold onto. While waiting in the queue I listened to “Don’t Look Back” by Van Morrison which prompted these thoughts. Maybe the words will speak to someone this evening. If not, any excuse to play early Van the Man is good….
We often do not like just being with ourselves
Sometimes in our lives we have to let go of things which once seemed important in order to allow the space to be filled with new things. However, this requires courage, and we often avoid it by preferring to be occupied, to fill up empty space and time.
Emptiness is the pregnant void out of which all creation springs.
But many of us fear emptiness.
We prefer to remain…surrounded by things…which we imagine are subject to our control.
Wayne Muller
On being true to ones nature
Another poem by Mary Oliver, about a flower that blooms in Springtime. It is a lovely affirmation of love for life, and the willingness to open and stand firm in one’s own purpose. To share with others, and to shine.
All my life, so far,
I have loved more than one thing,
including the mossy hooves of dreams, including’
the spongy litter under the tall trees.
In spring, the moccasin flowers
reach for the crackling lick of the sun
and burn down. Sometimes,
in the shadows, I see the hazy eyes,
the lamb-lips
of oblivion, its deep drowse,
and I can imagine a new nothing
in the universe,
the matted leaves splitting
open, revealing the black planks
of the stairs.
But all my life – sofar –
I have loved best how the flowers rise
and open, how
the pink lungs of their bodies
enter the fore of the world
and stand there shining and willing – the one
thing they can do before they shuffle forward into the floor of darkness, they become the trees.
And letting go of good and bad
When we train in letting go of thinking that anything — including ourselves — is either good or bad, we open our minds to practice with forgiveness and humor. And we practice opening to a compassionate space in which good/bad judgments can dissolve. We practice letting go of our idea of a “goal” and letting go of our concept of “progress,” because right there, in that process of letting go, is where our hearts open and soften — over and over again.
Pema Chodron
Mindfulbalance 