Tag: Joy

Keeping space in the mind

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Blue grapes in vineyard.jpg

Another Monday morning. For some the beginning of a work week can come too soon, the weekend not allowing enough time to relax and wind down. Even from early the mind starts to speed up and get sucked into the details. To balance this, the wisdom and faith traditions place our daily and weekly activities in a wider context, allowing us to see beyond the dramas which play out in our minds,  with us at the center. They remind us that to hold a bigger, slower,  perspective, and to notice little moments of wonder as they present themselves to us, this day.

The sun,

with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it,

can still ripen a bunch of grapes

as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.

Galileo

Beautiful (Saturday) morning instructions

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Fruit for Breakfast (3994802719).jpg

1.

 Japanese teacher says:
At first light, rise.
Don’t hover between
sleep and waking,
this makes you heavy,
puts a stone inside your heart.

The minute you drift back to shore,
anchor. Breathe.
Remember your deepest name.

2.

Sometimes objects stun me,
bamboo strainer, gray mug,
sitting exactly where
they were left.

They have not slept
or dreamt of lost faces.

I touch them carefully,
saying, tell me what you know.

3.

Cup of waves,
strawberry balanced
in a seashell.

In morning the water seems
clear to the bottom.

No fish blocks my view.

Naomi Shihab Nye, Breaking the Fast

photo thor

No matter what

Karl Duffy1 Comment

IMG_2565 (1)

I heard a man say a poem once,

he said,

‘All that lives is holy.’

John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

Simply…one step at a time

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Steps theatral area Phaistos.jpg 

As we go through our daily activities, we frequently get lost in thoughts of past and future, not staying grounded in the awareness of our bodies. A simple reminder that we’re lost in thought is the very common feeling of rushing. Rushing is a feeling of toppling forward. Our minds run ahead of us, focusing on where we want to go, instead of settling into our bodies where we are.

Learn to pay attention to this feeling of rushing  — which does not particularly have to do with how fast we are going. We can feel rushed while moving slowly, and we can be moving quickly and still be settled in our bodies. Either way, we’re likely not present. If you can, notice what thought or emotion has captured the attention. Then, just for a moment, stop and settle back into the body: feel the foot on the ground, feel the next step.

Joseph Goldstein,  A Heart Full of Peace

Moving on

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Flying swallow (6965069292).jpg

The swallows are gathering in the evenings now, and look as if they are getting ready to depart. Their natural freedom lies within us,  not something outside that we need to attain or become. It is often our fears that prevent us from accessing it, and we choose to stay safe rather than risk the journey:

Look at the birds.

Even flying
is born
out of nothing.

The first sky
is inside you, my friend, open
at either end of day.

The work of wings
was always freedom, fastening
one heart to every falling thing.

Li Young Lee, One Heart

photo Takashi Hososhima

Sunday Quote: Wake up

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

tree light

Awake, my dear.

Be kind to your sleeping heart.

Take it out into the vast fields of light and let it breathe.

Hafiz

photo Mullaghrellan Woods Kilkea