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Saturday, July 1, 2017

Where There is Abundance

I didn’t want to wear black today on this day of celebration. My tunic did have red flowers on it though. Oh, and I had red earrings. So black jeans and my tunic it was - with the red earrings. 

On the streets all day were people celebrating Canada Day, many wearing red t-shirts bearing a white maple leaf. After work, a friend and I sat on the porch of a busy local coffee house. Families with children and dogs. Cars and motorcycles filled the street. Some of the cars were classic cars all repaired, shiny and polished. The sun shone, the breeze stilled and summer had brought it’s abundance to the Cook Street Village.

Abundance. When my friend and I were visiting, we talked about the abundance of the country and time that we live and work in. We do not have to experience war and it’s effects. Most of us do not have to experience hard poverty. I have recently chosen to rely on my two feet and the transit system. Many only have their feet.

I didn’t want to wear black today but I did choose between the several pair of jeans that hung in my closet and the tops that were folded neatly in my dresser. 

“In the modern world we are surrounded by 
so much abundance that we cannot see it.”
Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

Friday, June 30, 2017

Unstung

This is a followup to yesterday's couple of lines. I was surprised to see 'sadness' as a reflection of my few words. It is always sad, and annoying, when I take a sudden dive into my perception of inadequacy. That comes from old messages and beliefs that have not been valid for many, many years. It's a gremlin that rears it's ugly head at the strangest times. It is my challenge to undo those old messages, have them fade and become just innocuous whisperings. Never ignored, however. This piece of poetry is a fuller description of this recent experience, as well as confronting and changing old messages and beliefs.

             Unstung

My heart swirled in the midst of
animated conversation picking apart
thoughtful ideas
Grand vocabulary
poetic structure stacked haphazardly

stung by my own inadequacies
I silently retreated within
but not before 
questioning, opining, observing
stuffing all quickly in my back pocket

My heart swelled in the middle of
reflective picking apart of
thoughtful ideas
Grand vocabulary
polite company stacked haphazardly

Open to my own abilities
I stepped forward with faith in myself
but not before
discussing, opining, discerning
planting all in my soul for new growth.

“Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.”
~ André Gide

Thursday, June 29, 2017

Stung






Stung by my own inadequacy
Faith in my ability to learn
removed the sting.






"Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother."
~ Kahlil Gibran

Author's note: Quotation was missing! Added today; edited: February 08, 2024

It's All About Self-Doubt




It’s all about self-doubt

Self-doubt creeping up and in
whispering inaudibly
a tendril of acrid smoke curling,
settling in
pushing against internal faith.

Faith standing still slowly, 
slowly winning the day
self-doubt wafting away
(but still a fading whisper).


“Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good
 we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.”
~ William Shakespeare,  Measure for Measure

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Heart and Mind

Techniques
Mind games
ignoring the truth that
bubbles up from the heart
until there is only
Technique and mind games

Belief
Mind games pushed aside
with faith in the truth
that stirs within the soul
until there is only
Belief, faith and truth.

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart 
that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Monday, June 26, 2017

Memories in Stitches

The beginning of memory 
~ this old green afghan ~
flickering memories
like old home movies 
the reel spinning too fast
easily torn
by intrusive thoughts 
before memories
come a bit more clearly ~
the movie reel slowed until
faithful flashes of memory
hold sway and open the past.

This old green afghan
woven and crocheted
nimble fingers steadily
nibbling the yarn
speaking silently to brain cells
'Wake up. Wake up.'
How many afghans followed? 
Miles and miles of multicoloured yarns ~
afghans strewn Saskatchewan to Texas and to BC
each stitch crocheted around a memory.

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”
~ L.M.Montgomery, The Story Girl

Sunday, June 25, 2017

Today's Smile

I looked at myself in the mirror 
I saw worry, wrinkles and age.
So I smiled at myself in the mirror

   ~ age stayed the same ~
wrinkles softened, 
lifted me up.

Worry remains if I lose faith 
in my strength to move on ~
so I smile at myself in the mirror
knowing change will brighten my day.

“Wrinkles are engraved smiles.”
~ Jules Renard