"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention." ~ Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way
Soul Candy
Saturdays and Sundays with more time to ponder the deep questions! The Heart, Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Health of the Psyche.
Mystified by the Ways of Your Heart
This is a Tribute to the Lovingest Person I ever knew: Phyllis Extraordinaire!
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It is well
Especially if they are ordinary, common words, but dancing on the page in a way that sweeps me up and pulls me into another sphere, that is a gifted writer. And I will stop, and hold the book to my chest, and sigh, and hold onto the moment for a moment.
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Body in Motion
My mood is always more settled, almost nestled in and snug and happy, when I am tending to the needs of my soul.
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In the Silence
And it dawns on me. The lesson. These things happen sometimes when something someone says intrigues me so, that I want to ponder it, mull it over, hold it in my hand and carry it like a talisman until its wisdom breaks open for me.
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Nature’s Cathedral
We talked about the power of nature to heal our souls, to refresh them, and cleanse them from the dust of every day life.
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“Days of Soup and Holler,” ~ My New Book!
It's available wherever you purchase books online - Amazon and Barnes & Noble to name a couple. "Where can I pick up your book?" you ask. Here are some happy links for you - it's available online wherever you would normally order books (most likely). Bloomsbury Books in Ashland - - Powell's in Portland - … Continue reading “Days of Soup and Holler,” ~ My New Book!
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Sunshine, Food and Medicine for the Soul
"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful, they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul." ~ Luther Burbank Oh, Spring is just around the corner - technically next weekend. We are seeing bright green grass in our field and these lovely daffodils are in full bloom over at my mother-in-law's house. I … Continue reading Sunshine, Food and Medicine for the Soul
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We could Hug More!
Another bad thing in a world of bad things. I have not become numb, that is not what has happened. I crumble with each new attack, with each new assault - foreign or domestic. And then I disconnect, and block out the media, and become absorbed in my kids' interests and the activities we can do … Continue reading We could Hug More!
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Easy, Now, Grasshopper!
It's Tao Tuesday! As always, I will refer you back to the original page, Tao te Ching Daily, and her series, Tao Tuesday. There, you will find rich discussion and articles from every chapter of the Tao, spanning I think a couple of years. I'm just starting over here, and relishing the discipline of looking … Continue reading Easy, Now, Grasshopper!
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Grey in the Greyness of Dawn
"Slowly, almost hesitatingly, the train moved on as if it wanted to spare its passengers the dreadful realization as long as possible: Auschwitz!"With the progressive dawn, the outlines of an immense camp became visible: long stretches of several rows of barbed wire fences; watch towers; searchlights; and long columns of ragged human figures, grey in … Continue reading Grey in the Greyness of Dawn
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Darkness within Darkness
Reflections on The Tao te Ching - Chapter 1: The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name. The unnamable is the eternally real. Naming is the origin of all particular things. Free from desire, you realize the mystery. … Continue reading Darkness within Darkness
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The Vanishing Point where Stillness Bellows
First there was a quiet that was deafening. My heart was washed of all the years of torment and bitterness, in an afternoon. Just gone. Daily anger, frustration, strife, vexation. Poof. And what remained echoed in its shiny cleanness. For a couple of days, that roared in my head, or maybe hummed. My thoughts … Continue reading The Vanishing Point where Stillness Bellows
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Roaring Quiet of an Open Space
How incredibly odd. My mind is still. I have been in constant conflict for so long, I don't know what to do with a settled, contentedness. I will learn. For so long, there was always at the back of my mind a battle raging. There was so much love, and yet so much disappointment … Continue reading Roaring Quiet of an Open Space
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Maybe I was Never a Heathen After All
"You know how sometimes you have a fight with me in your head, and I don't know anything about it," my husband asked me this morning. "What if that's what you have going with 'The Church' - what if you are mad at them, but they aren't even in it, and they're not mad at you … Continue reading Maybe I was Never a Heathen After All
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Stillness Shrinks Us to Our Own Size
There are three kinds of silence. the first is physical, the silence of the outer world. This quiet world is a precondition for the second silence which is spiritual, the silence of the mind. Which mind, purged of distractions, prepares one for the third silence, the silence of mystical meditation. "When thought stops, words … Continue reading Stillness Shrinks Us to Our Own Size
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The Sustenance of the Psyche
My father told me when I was young that "Thoughts untangle themselves when they cross our lips or pencil tips." We develop as humans when we discuss ideas with others, or when we wrestle them out on paper. When we are in dialogue - either with others or internally - we learn and grow and … Continue reading The Sustenance of the Psyche
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Mystics Hear Voices
Mystics hear voices. the question "Do you hear voices?" is used to sort the sane from the insane. And yet, as artists, we do hear voices and most insistently when we seek the guidance for our art. We are led. We are prompted. We are urged. We are called. ~ Julia Cameron, from The Complete … Continue reading Mystics Hear Voices
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The Soundtrack of our Lives
This morning I woke up with a song in my head, and it's a good one. It's the one I blast in my car on the way to Poetry Slam. It's the one I sing along to and throw little girl-power dance parties to in the parking lot outside the pizza place where the … Continue reading The Soundtrack of our Lives
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Soul Candy
As artists living with the drone of commerce, we have forgotten that "rest" is a musical term, and that to hear the music of our lives as something other than a propulsive drumbeat, driving us forward as the war drums drove men into bloody battle, we may need to rest. The ego hates to … Continue reading Soul Candy
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Words and Thoughts that Change our Molecules
I like Aha Moments. I'm an Aha Moment Junkie. I have them all the time, and revel in the ways my mind can become excited all over again about a new idea. And then another one, and another one. I'm like a kid in a candy store of thoughts. They're all so sparkly and shiny … Continue reading Words and Thoughts that Change our Molecules
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Such a Golden, Ruffled Dreamworld; Such a Blue, Blue Sea!
It was a Poet-Philosopher's Dream - to watch Life of Pi tonight with my family. To watch the beautiful interpretation of delving into oneself to learn about the great unknowns, the enormous out there, the big questions, the tiger, the vegetarian, the sea and the sky and the storm and the quiet. Oh, such a … Continue reading Such a Golden, Ruffled Dreamworld; Such a Blue, Blue Sea!
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I Have Been Waiting my Whole Entire Life for this Moment!
No, I cannot hide emotion well. I am a poet, for Pete's Sake. I feel everything deeply, I express what I feel in words or with tears, or with a face that says it all. I am easily read by those around me. My little Bean is old enough to want to read The Chronicles … Continue reading I Have Been Waiting my Whole Entire Life for this Moment!
