Just Pondering...

It's amazing how many people will not return a smile, and the special joy when someone DOES. Unexpected energy between strangers, happy to have a momentary connection. Faces alit with the shine of our brotherhood.

Reflecting

Reflecting on my Christmas tree. Twinkling lights and so many ornaments of meaning. God, I am so thankful for this contented heart, in this moment, in the center of much discord in my life. I give thanks for the many blessings of reason and love and friendship that show up in perfect timing. I give thanks for this feeling right now, which allows me to see past the sadness, offers strength when I am so weary, walking on to a new day. All is well, all is well, all manner of things are well. TYG!

Heartstring

Happy carefree friends
Even if but a moment
Sharing joyful song.

Inside

I see me in you
Greater still to seek the place
I see you in me.

Lazy Sunday

Rain is pattering
Lightning crackles arc the sky
Time for books and tea.

Again

Oh, insomnia
Brain bubbling, toiling, wakeful
Go on, hamster, run.

In the Air

It whispered to me
The wind, it told me it's tales
Of cold nights to come.

Distance

I can allow people in my life to distance themselves from me, without automatically assuming that it's about me and something I did wrong. That just makes room for more GOOD to flow into my life! The actions of others do not define my self-worth. I am loved always. ♡♡♡

Focus

So much to get done
Working hard to finish this
OOOH! Something shiny!

Engaged

Cheers to your love, dears
Celebrate your life, full of
Possibilities.

Finally

Frosty in the air
My breath a sigh of relief
YES, Friday is here!

New Beginnings

The light comes anew
Pure potential unfurling
Spangled with rainbows.

Soon

The leaves, tipped in red
A prelude to glorious
Autumn explosion.

SMH

Can't open that box?
Honey, don't use a dog bone
Here are some scissors.

What are friends really for??

We talked like normal
There it was, RIGHT ON MY FACE
You said not a word.

Mr. & Mrs.

Radiant, she smiled
Sun illuminated them
As they said, "I do."

Preparation for a Wedding

The hour, nearing late
Bedtime, it comes too early
Still much left to do.

Food for Thought

"If the words you spoke appeared on your skin, would you still be beautiful?"
-Unknown

Hi! :-)

Finally

The breeze swept cooly
Across the back of my neck
So thankful for Fall.

Anniversary

A dragonfly lights
A smile on my face for us
And our special day.

Grateful

I'm just so grateful. My life ain't perfect, but it's filled with people and moments that just make me sit back and say, "Thank You God for all the Good that flows into my life."

Too often, I take it for granted, getting focused on stuff that really just isn't that important ("do these pants make me look fat?"), or distracted by things that are "off my yoga mat" (meaning: out of my control or not mine to do.)

I have LOVE, and that's all that really matters in the end. So, here I am, just being me, loving you just being you, and just saying THANK YOU for all the many blessings. Too many to count.

*hugs and love*

Relief

Muggy summer night
Happily then, I realize
Fall comes next, Thank God!

Humbled

I'm just so grateful. My life ain't perfect, but it's filled with people and moments that just make me sit back and say, "Thank You God for all the Good that flows into my life."

Too often, I take it for granted, getting focused on stuff that really just isn't that important ("do these pants make me look fat?"), or distracted by things that are "off my yoga mat" (meaning: out of my control or not mine to do.)

I have LOVE, and that's all that really matters in the end. So, he...re I am, just being me, loving you just being you, and just saying THANK YOU for all the many blessings. Too many to count.

*hugs and love*

Reach

With stars in her eyes
She reached for the distant skies
And found her own heart.

Possibilities

Waiting for magic
And new friends, I’ve not yet met
Just around the bend.

Thali Plate

Lunch, at first so YUM
Rumble, grumble in my gut
Now reaching for Tums.

Blessing

B - Believing
L - Love
E - Enfolds
S - Surely
S - Supports
I - Incarnating
N - New
G - Goals

Within

Reach now, dig it up
The truth tucked in the darkness
Light. There all along.

You... Yes, YOU

Hi. You are loved and special and radiant and beautiful and unique and a dynamic force to be reckoned with... go take that awesomenesss and put it all in today's face, mkay? Consider yourself hugged!!

Behind a Looking Glass – The Fall, and Hope to Rise

The fall… Down

A deep hole…
Plummeting like Alice
But there are no wonders there
The paint is shit smeared on the wall.

Your fingers curled up in arthritic agony
A crippled grip on the heart
Squeezing out the beautiful riotous red of love and life
Leaving only a grey dirge where there once was cheerful song.

A scythe as wide as the horizon, wider than the world,
Wider than the UNIVERSE cuts a path of pain
You try to shut your lidless eyes against the needling sight,
Because the grain that falls is the hope that feeds your world.

There is no sun there, no light to lead the way home
What is “home”?
How long since you’ve had somewhere soft to land
Somewhere safe to rest your head
Somewhere to be a child again (if you ever were one).

At rest? There, at the bottom of the paradoxical abyss
When you’ve hit and been swallowed and there’s nothing more to miss
When you’re mired and you’re strangled by your blankets and your breath
How do you begin to untangle this deep and mournful mess?

Up?
Up is a distant memory
A treasure you forgot you buried
Like it never existed at all.

Oh yes, maybe, yes
The world shifts on its axis
And once again, as if for the first time
UP is a possibility.

The hope to rise… Up

The darkness is spangled with starlight
The echo in the emptiness is love calling your name
The warm rain promises spring after an endless winter
Everest fades, and the rocky road widens.

Icicles begin to break from your bones and your being.
The chain that bound your lungs, unlocked, now falls away
A heart beats, like a little bird, in your chest once again
Yes, Up, you remember now? Remember who you ARE.

New breath, dawn illumined
New day, the path is yours
By love or God or friends or
By your own hard-won and granted grace.

You are here NOW.
Breathe.
Ask.
Say YES.

Robin Williams - His Death & a Reflection

I can't stop thinking about Robin Williams. I know we must honor the paths of others and that we don't know what lessons we came here on this grand playground called Earth to experience. Still, he was such a funny soul, and so many of his movies touched me so deeply.

I wish I could have hugged him and said, "Stay - you surely have so much more to give." But, that's me being selfish. Although, whe...n I wrestle with my darkness, I would want someone to remind me of the light I have to share.

For a man who brought smiles to so many, you wouldn't think he struggled with such demons. Goes to show, you don't know the battles that someone might be facing.

   
 (Read onward, for something to consider...)

Union

Union

We all came willing
Eager, open, wondering
Strangers left as tribe.
 

 

Sorry (NOT sorry), must post again.Still buzzing and processing the energy of the workshop yesterday... I turn to the afternoon sun, and a daydream of yesterday bubbles up and POP - there we are... tearful, joyful, fearless, dancing, laughing, digging deep and MAKING SHIT HAPPEN. (The good kind, of course.)

"How bold one gets, when one is sure of being loved." -Freud.

Grateful, grateful, grateful.

New

Keep walking... the sun
Lies warmly in wait, dear one
There, beyond the bend.

An Exceptional Day...

Jennifer Pastiloff is a strong, dynamic, soulful person and an amazing writer. I've been inspired by her work for some time. She led a yoga-tastic-heart-expansive-beauty-hunting-excursion within today, a workshop punctuated by sweat, tears, dancing, and interlaced with love. It was just what I needed - of course, the Universe's perfect timing.

She gave us an assignment to write ourselves a letter in the voice of someone who loves us. It was wonderful to hear this beautiful group of people read their letters, the celebration of the beauty of how WE ARE ALL WORTHY AND LOVED.

My letter, happened to be from my dog Guinness. Those who know him, probably can't help but smile. For those who don't, maybe you'll smile anyway.

I was honestly floored that Jennifer wanted to film this and post it on her page - but I'll take it as a message from the Universe (and from Jennifer) that I shouldn't pooh-pooh my writing.

Expansion

The space where pain lives
Is the place your heart's edging
Out into greater.

Today

Today, I give thanks - because I have the brain to think it, the tongue to speak it, the heart to hold it, and the loved ones to hear it. All is well, all is well, all manner of things are well.

Prayer

God, grant me the clarity to stay focused on and grateful for the good, when the good seems hard to find. If life is like an easter egg hunt in a metaphorical landfill... there may be some smelly slime on my shoes and flies trying their best to go up my nose, but by golly, look at my basket full of pretty eggs.

And let me be thankful for the pressure that's in my life that's gonna make me into a beautiful diamond (even if I crap myself first). Amen.

Broken in Darkness

You don't see the space
where I'm shattered, here inside,
picking up pieces.

You don't see the place
where my limit reached its end
hiding in plain sight.
...
Could you love the cracks
Could you honor my limits
Could you, would you... friend???

Leavened Heart

Stretched and I found it
Bound tight and dark inside there
Ready for the sun.

Definition

Constructive procrastination: When you're amazed at the end of a busy day at how much you've accomplished that had absolutely NOTHING to do with what you really needed to do.

Stress

Whenever I am really stressed about work, I have nightmares about waiting tables. WHERE ARE MY FRIES? Why are these burgers burnt? Syrup needs to be changed. How do I ring in these salads?

Because...

Written just now, because it had to be said:

Thanks for being my friend. Your voice of calm and reason is what I needed. I'm getting this same crazy, constricted panic feeling, like when I tried to hike the Appalachian Trail and only made it one night. "WHAT HAVE I DONE TO MYSELF."

Like I've stuffed an entire bagel in my mouth and am choking on it a bit as I chew. There are crumbs flying everywhere, and my jaw hurts, and I know I'll get it down, but I'm grateful for friends like you to give me an energetic heimlich every now and again.

Disregard this message if it makes no sense. LOL

Love and hugs and love,

d

Breathe...

Woke up, crying. Left for work, praying. Here now, hoping. God, I ask that you use me as a vessel of your GOOD. Let Divine clarity and focus filter through all I put my hands to today. Let me be bolstered by faith and your Love, that I see the signs everywhere I look. "All is well, all is well, all manner of things are well." And so it IS.

Birthday

The next trip has come
Another dance 'round the sun
With a grateful heart.

Lightin' Bugs

Bellies a blinkin'
Just nature's slow flameless sparks
Lazy summer show.

Last Day of 38

I will have a life unique for me, unique in the world, a note only I can sing in the oceanic symphony of Soul. The song within carries me home.

Monday

Stomach all jumbled
Dog ate my favorite new shoes
Off to a great start.

Anticipation

Tired, but hopeful.
Today is almost done, soon
A new day revealed.

Life is Practice

As I stretch and bend
I honor myself, and then
judgment falls away.

Dreamless

The rain patters down
Adding to the thought ocean
Keeping me awake.

Yoga Lotto

Poses not perfect
But I'm still a winner, yes
Because I showed up.

Hangry

Looking forward, then
Waiting while blood sugar drops;
Want to cut someone.

Movement

Constipated heart
Holding onto too much "stuff"
Better to let go.

10,000

Steps, easy with friends
There's the stairway to Heaven
Arrived just in time.

Amazing (Haiku for Laura)

Feel another's joy
Let it swell in your own soul
A blessing for all.

Unfair

Sleep, it eludes me
My thoughts thunder so loudly
Yet, he snores in peace.

New Day

This heart is so full
Optimistic, wide open
Today, I say yes.

Beacon

Turn on your bright light
Remove the bushel basket
You are only love.

A Writer Writes (Again)

I mentioned to someone recently, "In my head, I fancy myself a writer." She then asked what I had been writing... I had to admit: NOTHING. She responded with respectful truth, and said, "Well, dear if you're not writing, you're not a writer." SO... This is from whence the haikus now come, the desire to BE a writer, rather than just talk about it. Getting the juices flowing, albeit 17 syllables at time.

Yes, a writer writes
Syllables dance in my brain
Arranged now, just so.

Life

Road trip, windows down
Sometimes the breeze is cut grass
Others, chicken poop.

Funny

Relaxing by the pool at my Mom's, enjoying the sun and birds spontaneous songs. Woke up to find bird crap on my shoulder. Nature = awesome, with a side of funny, just for me.

Flow

Get a grip, they say
But a closed fist can't receive;
Let love move on through.

Meteor

Tired eyes, too late
The meteor shower comes
Streaks blessing my dreams.

Yoga

Downward dog tremble
In the plank pose, drops of sweat
I do love myself.

Ode to Cheetos

Cheesy goodness crunch
Bag bottom found much too soon
Orange-fingered shame