Saturday: Getting a break from the thinking mind

Don’t you wish they would stop,
all the thoughts swirling around in your head,
bees in a hive, dancers tapping their way across the stage.
I should rake the leaves in the carport, buy Christmas lights.
Was there really life on Mars? What will I cook for dinner?
I walk up the driveway, put out the garbage bins.
I should stop using plastic bags, visit my friend
whose husband just left her for the Swedish nanny.
I wish I hadn’t said Patrick’s painting looked “ominous.”
Maybe that’s why he hasn’t called.
Does the car need oil, again? There’s a hole in the ozone
the size of Texas, and everything seems to be speeding up.

Come, let’s stand by the window and look out
at the light on the field. Let’s watch how
the clouds cover the sun, and almost nothing
stirs in the grass.

Danusha Lameris,  1971 – American Poet, from The Moons of August

Saturday rest

I have dreamed of the morning

coming in like a bird through the window

not burdened by a thought.

Wendell Berry, The Design of The House: Ideal and Hard Time

Being captivated by a song

We hear the birds sing,

and THAT
is the source of all
we see and
touch.

Hafiz

 

Life on your own terms

Give yourself permission not to be not good at something.

Quietly and softly carve out a life on your own terms. Stop apologizing.

Forgive that sometimes things take a while.

Forgive the low-level, near-constant fear.

Celebrate the small successes.

Perhaps joy is its own body of water, wade out into it.

From the blog of Meg Fee,  Author of Places I stopped on the Way Home

(Photo from Bray Head, Valentia Island with Skellig Island on the horizon)

Not hardening the heart

Anytime I go to the West of Ireland I am always struck by the vastness of the horizons and the wildness of the ocean.  This photo comes from Valentia Island, a beautiful,  enchanted, place off the South West coast, with peaceful walks and windy beaches, seals, puffins and seabirds. But it is from the movement of the ocean that we can learn most, how to remain spacious and keep the heart soft, open and fluid. 

May there come across the waters 
A path of yellow moonlight 
To bring you safely home. 
May the nourishment of the earth be yours, 
May the clarity of light be yours, 
May the fluency of the ocean be yours, 
May the protection of the ancestors be yours. 
And so may a slow 
Wind work these words 
Of love around you, 
An invisible cloak 
To mind your life. 

John O’Donoghue, Beannacht

(If you are ever tempted to visit this beautiful place, I would highly recommend this airbnb, run by Tom, a deeply thoughtful man and the perfect host. He runs a lovely house  with well-stocked bookshelves, ideal for a reflective break.)

His house can be found at https://www.airbnb.ie/rooms/32330925 

 

Knowing when to let go

Don’t push the river,

it flows by itself.

Chinese Proverb