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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