Monday, September 19, 2016

STILL AMAZED

"I know
Not these my hands
And yet I think there was
A woman like me once had hands
Like these."

("Amaze" by Adelaide Crapsey)
 ~*~

"The older we get, the more we lose; this is the law of impermanence.  We lose loved ones, cherished dreams, physical strength, work and relationships. Often it seems like loss upon loss.  All these losses bring up enormous grief that we must be prepared to embrace completely if we are to live with open hearts."

(Still Here by Ram Das ISBN 1-57322-o49-3)
~*~

"Not only does the Darwinian theory command superabundant power to explain. It's economy in doing so has a sinewy elegance, a poetic beauty that outclasses even the most haunting of the world's origin myths. One of my purposes in writing this book has been to accord due recognition to the inspirational quality of our modern understanding of Darwinian life.  There is more poetry in Mitochondrial Eve than in her mythological namesake"

(River Out of Eden by Richard Dawkins ISBN o-465-01606-5)
~*~

I am reminded today of everyone and everything I've ever loved, of the many actions these hands have performed over the past seventy three years, of the gardens Ive tended and the animals who've changed me, of the rituals I've witnessed and been a part of, of what I've given and what's been given to me. This river of life we're swimming in flows on past all obstacles compelled by it's function and destiny.

(South Street Seaport, New York, New York)
~*~

"Hang a branch, any other sign or even the word 'smile' on the ceiling or wall so that you see it right away when you open your eyes.  This will serve as your reminder.  use these seconds before you get out of bed to take hold of your breath.  Inhale and exhale three breaths gently while maintaining a half smile."


("The Miracle of Mindfulness" by Tich Nhat Hanh)
~*~

2 comments:

grace Forrest~Maestas said...

way back when, when the kids were young and getting opinions on
everything and everyone

i read Tich Nhat Hanh's words about wondering about american homes....
how we have livingrooms, dining rooms, recreation rooms bedrooms for
each person etc.....he wondered about what if we had smiling rooms?

my room then was large, the bed was a mattress on the floor with cushions, was a couch in the day, it was my art room too, work room
so once a week i designated it as the Smiling Room. The kids and i
and whatever collection of their friends who were hanging out were
"invited" in...actually, told to come in and we would sit in a circle,
a resistent little early teen circle until the moment when Smiling was
all we could do.
A smiling room. Wish i'd begun that when they were little. But TNH
was not in my life yet,

Anonymous said...

a smile practice! you have no idea how much I need this.