When experience is viewed in a certain way,
it presents nothing but doorways into the soul.
Jon Kabat Zinn
photo Bjoertvedt
Tag: Present moment
Speech and silence
I’ve been thinking about something for a long time, and I keep noticing that most human speech – if not all human speech – is made with the outgoing breath. This is the strange thing about presence and absence. When we breath in, our bodies are filled with nutrients and nourishment. Our blood is filled with oxygen, our skin gets flush; our bones get harder – they get compacted. Our muscles get toned and we feel very present when we’re breathing in. The problem is, that when we’re breathing in, we can’t speak. So presence and silence have something to do with each other.
Li-Young Lee
photo epSos.de
Running
We are so engaged in doing things
to achieve purposes of outer value
that we forget the inner value,
the rapture that is associated with being alive
is what it is all about
James Campbell
photo adam Diaz
Being pulled away
In our world we are constantly pulled away from our innermost self
and encouraged to look for answers,
instead of listening to the questions.
Henri Nouwen, Reaching out: the Three movements of the Spiritual Life
Happy to be alive
I heard a bird congratulating itself
all day for being a jay.
Nobody cared. But it was glad
all over again, and said so, again
William Stafford, News Every Day
photo Magnus Manske
Taking people for granted
Day and night, gifts keep pelting down on us.
If we were aware of this, gratefulness would overwhelm us. But we go through life in a daze.
A power failure makes us aware of what a gift electricity is; a sprained ankle lets us appreciate walking as a gift, a sleepless night, sleep.
How much we are missing in life
by noticing gifts only when we are suddenly deprived of them.
David Steindal-Rast
photo: forS
