Options tested for
here and there,
why and why not,
for maybe and for sure
take up too much space
in a muddled head,
while ordinary tasks
get done. People say
‘you think too much’
and maybe so but I want
the goshawks and sparrows,
the robins and meadow larks
to know that their beauty is
part of life that lifts
‘too much thinking’ to the skies of
possibility for each tomorrow.
“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
~ Lewis Carroll
Things I didn’t understand ~
questions unanswered
asking why of no use because
the answer was ‘because’
But there were ideas
I just let float away
ideas stacked around my life
unopened books on shelves,
unused dishes in cupboards.
Ideas
about designing gowns,
about being a journalist,
about being a linguist ~
too big for this little girl
too far out of reach.
What I did not understand were
moods, emotions and
how to understand others,
why I learned differently
not as fast as others.
But I filled expectations,
like setting the table for a meal,
practicing piano or
getting cleaned up for church,
going to school.
I didn’t understand how to be,
but I understood how to do.
“Doing” carried me a long way
Today in retirement I can learn how to be.
“No one will understand you. It is not ultimately that important,
What is important is that you understand you.”
~ Matt Haig, The Humans
Here I am
on a blank page
wondering
which words go together
too many words come at me
all at once
not blocked
merely too many good ideas
or were they really good?
or just a disparate word
scribbled on the page with
the oomph knocked out of it,
maybe even the why of it vanished.
“The clouds don’t overthink; they just drift.”
~ Avijeet Das, poet and writer
I wonder about some strange things.
This morning it was:
what do we do when
walking from task to task?
After all, we’re a lot of doers ~
so what do we do in that space?
Is it the only down time
we get in this life?
We could be reading a book,
or scrolling on our phones ~
moving from here to there, or
scanning around to see what’s next.
At the end of the day
all I’ve come up with is:
A slow drift of ideas,
and what to do on a Saturday.
“Rather than being your thoughts and emotions,
be the awareness behind them.”
~ Eckhardt Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose
 |
| August 2024 |
Over a year ago, I began
a sourdough starter ~
bubbly and full of life.
Flattened and lazy,
On the watch for
mould or a flat taste.
no mould appeared
taste is sharp and sour!
What was I doing wrong?
Too long in the cold
fed once a week!
No reason to bubble.
~~~~~~~
So it is with spirit
Excitement in life
shrinks in the cold
flattens without life
stirred and kept warm,
danced and out of breath
What excites me?
ideas that beg for the written word
story that stirs my soul to laughter or tears
music to tap my toes and sway my hips
What excites your heart and mind?
“For here I hope begins our lasting joy.”
~ William Shakepeare
(Re: Sourdough restoration: I’m keeping it on the cupboard and feeding it once a day for a while until it’s back to it’s bubbly self. Maybe a week? In this cold weather, I’m not going far from home.A metaphor for life - it I keep my life in the cold)
Trying new things is not so hard.
There was a time
when the judgment of others
became door stoppers
and bolted windows.
Imagined boundaries not be be crossed.
As we pass each decade change occurs.
Returning to childhood wishes and hopes
with the maturity of age
opens the windows and doors.
Fresh air and new ideas swirl
with the wind.
Except ~ we live in our own ageism
until the excitement and fascination
with creativity, colours and play
take hold and let us enjoy life
as we want it to be ~
a design of our own choosing.
“When the image is new, the world is new.”
~ Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space
 |
| Revelstoke, B.C. August 2017 |
Reasoning has little to do
with pizza, cheese bubbling
beneath the rounds of pepperoni.
It was my supper tonight,
crisp and delicious from my oven.
Reasoning had little to do
with the foaming soap suds
that filled my washing machine
while the spin and turn of the drum
did its job for clean sheets tonight.
Reasoning, not rhetoric, takes me
into my own thoughts, my own ideas.
Thoughts of kindness and honesty.
Ideas born and grown from the myriad
of lessons from my growing up and living.
Reasoning has little to do
with friends that give us a lift
with laughter and visiting about
hairbands or the colour of the sky
at sunset before stars sparkle above.
Reasoning has little to do
with the noise of the world.
Balance between our homes and
the noise of the world can show us
the reasons to be at peace with it all.
“I don’t have to understand the reasons for
the colours of a rainbow to appreciate it beauty.”
~ Wayne Gerard Trotman,
Author of children’s literature, multi-genre
