Every Day Life

 

Eternally grateful am I 

for the winds of change 

that bring good fortune or bad. 

It may be that I am grateful

to be challenged to reach within 

to find the courage to live my days

as I’ve lived in the before times. 

Turns out that the courage is not 

challenging the wind, but my own 

fear of impending devastation. 

That fear trembles and freezes at 

the same time; the fear that threatens 

immediate destruction in everyday life, 

that fear that only I can deal with. 

The external is way beyond my abilities! 

My fear is where I live ~

where my feet are ~

where my home is. 

If I allow it to knock me over

then I’ll miss birthday parties, 

walks in the sun or snow, 

laughter with my family 

and all the every day

joys and sorrows of life.

“Courage is resistance to rear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.”

~ Mark Twain

Hangin' Ten

Cresting a wave of 

frustration and fear, 

it was ride the wave 

or drown. 

Never having surfed 

~ having little choice 

but to ride this wave ~ 

balance on this slippery 

surfboard keeps me afloat.

“I don’t want to not live because of my fear of what could happen.”

~ Laird Hamilton, wave rider

Colour between the Lines

Nuances that shape 

our lives, are in colour; 

the shading of our words 

slip between absolutes 

Right or wrong, 

black or white… 

forgetting the space 

between is filled with 

the creative human spirit.

“It’s partly true, too, but it isn’t all true. 

People always think something’s all true.”

~ J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Bend and Stretch

A vision of what is to come, 

~ seldom available. 

Speculations, ideas, doom, 

but no crystal ball. 

Spinning round and round 

in circles seeking why’s and 

wherefores of tomorrow and 

the next day and 

the next month and 

the next year……..

til I recall a simple maxim: 

‘Stay where your feet are’. 

Between mind and feet, 

it’s a long, long way but is 

one trip to put off til 

‘just the fact’s ma’am’ are clear.

Seems a bit short sighted, 

what about 

glorious plans and 

far reaching goals?

~ the vision of our desires!

So it’s steady on with 

plans that bend and 

timelines that stretch.

“Vision is the true creative rhythm.”

~ Robert Delaunay, French artist

24 Hours

Long days with a smile and a 

nod to time passing from 

right to left, or is it left to right. All I know is that time 

keeps pace with the steps I take. Some days 

zipping by, other days seem as though someone turned on the 

slo-mo feature in the universal clock. 

Today did not zip by, perhaps slowed a bit in 

the afternoon, but all in all, long or short, 

all days are 24 hours - no more, no less.

“The trouble is, you think you have time.”

~ Jack Kornfield

Colour and Balance

Artist: Ruth Van Egmond
Victoria, B.C.

Art works of the 

great or humble, 

adult or child arise 

from an inside 

space that no one 

can see even after 

colours dry on 

canvas or paper. 

Whether oil, acrylic, 

water colour or crayon, 

vision made real and

whole in brush strokes 

or bold stars and curves ~

art works to be cherished 

and hung on an office wall 

above a row of chairs

or mom’s refrigerator amid 

a collection of fridge magnets. 

Colour and balance lives.

“In art, the hand can never execute anything 

higher than the heart can imagine.”

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quiet Easy

 

Becoming a person 

in this world full of 

discord and aggressive voices, 

a person who wants 

the noise to be softened, 

is easy.  

Become the person 

who turns off the TV and 

all the social media voices, 

and steps outside where 

the juncos chirp and chat.

Maybe a squirrel chitters from 

his perch as a car splashes by. 

Becoming a person who enjoys 

life in the real world 

really can be a quiet easy.

“The lesson being that in life you control what you can.”

~ Michelle Obama, Becoming

Foot Work ~ Balance ~ Theme for April 2025

Becoming a……

Art works of……

Long days with…..

A vision of…..

Nuances that shape.....

Cresting a…….

Eternally grateful…..

“Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.”

~ Epicurus