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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Listen and Learn



Listen to the ache of two strong feet
The drooping of eyelids in the morning wide awake
Trust them to tell you that it’s time
Time for feet to go up and eyes to completely close ~
As soon as you’re finished…...for today.




“A trembling in the bones may carry a more convincing
 testimony than the dry documented deductions of the brain.” 
~ Llewelyn Powers



Friday, September 4, 2015

Passages ~ 1

Leaves
once green and full
nourished by sun, soil and rain
as seasons change
fade and dry
finally drift to earth

Trust
becoming solid and true
nourished by kindness, honesty and love
as decades pass
grows stronger
bonds gentled with time.

“Where is your water? Know your garden.”
~ Hopi teaching

Thursday, September 3, 2015

A Peaceful Float

Theodore Turtle rested in the sunshine on the long log floating in the shallow water. 
Reginald Turtle was beside him, and then Louie, Stephan and a couple of feathered newcomers that he hadn’t met yet. 
Underwater, Theodore felt free and agile but while clambering on the log he felt heavy and awkward until the sun warmed his shell.
Sunning each morning in this little group, he had begun to trust even the newcomers because no one crowded in too much or pushed to get a good spot.
Theodore sighed a great turtle sigh, closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

“Try to be like the turtle ~ at ease in your own shell.”
~ Bill Copeland



Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Brighter Still

When one is lying on a gurney~ given instructions not to move and that if coughing or sneezing creeps up: say STOP.
Uppers arms tucked snug and close to your torso
A cheerful, focussed physician in surgical scrubs and mask by your side preparing a sterile field around one eye ~
eye and eyelid earlier numbed with local anaesthetic
A thin, translucent drape, sticky side down, placed gently across your face
The too close sight of hard metal instruments ~ tiny, but hard and metal ~ unsettling.
Information about the next procedure is questionable reassurance.
Bright lights illuminate the glistening orb taped wide open
Trust floods the room brighter than the operating room lights

“Sometimes we must yield control to others 
and accept our vulnerability so we can be healed.”
~ Kathy Magliato,  Healing Hearts: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Deep Waters




Truthful
Respect
Understanding
Sincerity
Thoughtful






“In the end you have to choose whether to trust someone.”
~ Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic & Baby




Monday, August 31, 2015

Keeping It in Perspective

Of all the challenges that entered my life this month, it has been a month for much gratitude. 

Housing ~ For the past two years I have been living in a suite that I have loved ~ one or two minor details that have troubled me ~ but in general this suite made me happy each time I walked through the door. My lovely suite was sold, creating a real need to move. Finding a suite in this beautiful, but expensive, town that suited my lifestyle and bank account was the real stressor early on in the month.

Work ~ nursing work ~ I’ve had more shifts this month than most months since last fall. Long hours and little time for extracurricular activities! I have not even gone to a movie this month.

Vision ~ I’ve been dealing with a sort of double vision this month.  Had my right eye cataract removed and replaced in July and the right eye will be done two days from now. Consequently, I have popped out one lens from my glasses just to have good vision. Few people noticed, unless I went out in the sunlight with my one transition lens! More than once I quickly took my 'one glass' off or covered it with a pair of sunglasses.

RealEstate ~ Years ago, I had purchased a small bit of Texas.This year I decided to sell it. That seemed easy enough until the process started. A referral from here, to an agent there and then innumerable text messages, emails and phone calls was the mode of business transaction, along with the kind help of a good friend, the deal was made. Signed and sealed, the final delivery has not yet arrived.

Writing ~ Not really a challenge! In the early days of learning to write prose and poetry, I did a lot of reading. One statement that I keep in mind is: ‘Be willing to write badly’. Unfortunately for you, my readers, I have shared it with you.  

Challenges ~ Each day, sitting down to write about challenges, I really had difficulty finding any real, meaningful challenges in my own life. If I am hungry I can eat, if I am tired I have a place to lay my head, if I need to talk with family, friends or colleagues I do so. The challenge has not been in the task to be done, but in burgeoning fear of my own abilities. When I set that lack of confidence aside, and it is seldom easy, challenges are puzzles to be solved.

Thus my gratitude. I have witnessed the challenges of others making my ‘challenges’ pale in comparison. For each of my challenges, I have gained much ~ in vision, in independence, in relationship and in creativity. 

“So you have to get used to your circumstances, complain about them as 
little as possible, and grasp whatever advantage they have to offer: no condition is so bitter that a stable mind cannot find some consolation in it..”
~ Seneca, On the Shortmess of Life

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Hands

A tiny hand fisted and soft
Challenging the new air
Outside of the womb
Reaching for something solid
Gentle touch of a wondrous parent
Instinct wraps the tiny hand around finger and heart

My adult hands were once soft and reaching
Stretching into life for meaning and connections
Learning and growing into real world ways
Instinct deep inside the bones waiting for expression
My adult hands have worked many tasks with nuanced meainings

One hand a rudder to steady and guide
The other, a grip for the tools of the task
The challenge to me has been how to use my hands
These appendages we are born with that stretch into open air
And grip a giant finger with our tiny soft hands

Our hands, like antennae into this strange new world
Instinct and intuition are like two hands
Coming together to express emotion, applaud in wonder
In our deepest sorrows or in marvelous joys
Our hands join as one in Namaste.

“Sometimes, reaching out and taking someone’s hand is the beginning 
of a journey. At other times, it is allowing another to take yours.”
~ Vera Nazarian,  The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration.