Our life is not defined by its experiences
but by the heart that receives them
Stephen Levine
Tag: Joy
It is in front of you
Frequently on Mondays we wish we were somewhere else. We have difficulty realizing that the only moment for us to be alive is this one. We wish our lives away, and they pass us by without us having seen the opportunity that lay in front of us.
All of our listening brings us home. This is what the teacher-soul keeps saying to the student-self in each of us: To accept our place in the miracle before us, to listen to our experience, to our bodies, to our pain, to our wonder, to our place in the mystery, until we land and sing – this is what all birdsong calls us to remember. Try as we will to fly away, all flight leads us to land where we began, different but the same. Try as we will to get out of here, life simply and harshly returns us to the heart of here, which, if listened to, opens us to the heart of everything. What the teacher says to the student who complains is that there is no lesson plan for living but to live. And all our dreams and plans and strategies are necessary detours to the brilliant reality of the life we already inhabit.
Mark Nepo
Sunday Quote: Both and
As for life, I’m humbled,
I’m without words
sufficient to say
how it has been hard as flint,
and soft as a spring pond,
both of these
and over and over
Mary Oliver, Long Afternoon at the Edge of Little Sister Pond
Simple advice for mental health: pause and notice
There is often a harmony between ancient stories and modern psychology. Yesterday’s reading in the Catholic liturgy reminded us to “stay awake“. When the Buddha started to teach, he met some who, recognizing something special in him, asked: “Are you a god?” He simply replied: “I am awake.”
So…. staying aware of what is around us, pausing and noticing – not taking small things too seriously or getting submerged in the worries of this Monday – seems to be related to psychological health.
Goethe gives us a simple practical way :
A man should hear a little music,
read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful
which God has implanted in the human soul.
Goethe
Sunday Quote: Part of something deeper
No matter how small we feel in our daily situation, we are always part of something greater.
Even for the simple flight of a butterfly,
all of the sky is necessary.
Paul Claudel, 1868 – 1955, French poet and dramatist.
Même pour le simple envol d’un papillon, tout le ciel est nécessaire.
A letting go practice
November is the month of letting go of what is no longer needed or has fulfilled its purpose, just as trees now release the last season’s leaves. In China, an old proverb speaks to this: “Give away, throw away or move 27 items for nine days and your life will change.” The practice of letting go teaches us about non-attachment. The process of releasing or emptying provides room for new possibilities, opportunities, and blessings to enter our lives. In November we can readily see how much we have to be thankful for compared to our troubles and dissatisfactions. As we extend gratitude for the bounty and goodness that are present in our lives, any pockets of ingratitude that once seemed large in our imaginations become dwarfed- nearly nonexistent.
Angeles Arrien 1940 – 2014, Cultural anthropologist.
Mindfulbalance 