beginnings

 

 

 

“Someday you're gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You'll see that you were in mourning and your heart was broken, but your life was changing...”

“Well, now
If little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you
Little by little
If suddenly you forget me
Do not look for me
For I shall already have forgotten you

If you think it long and mad the wind of banners that passes through my life
And you decide to leave me at the shore of the heart where I have roots
Remember
That on that day, at that hour, I shall lift my arms
And my roots will set off to seek another land”
Pablo Neruda

center

teacher: throw the ball hard onto the bat.

me: then what?

teacher: try and get it centered.

me: how will i know when it's centered?

teacher: you will feel it but most artists spend their lives centering.

me: me too

coastal croonings

we are not always ready 

and must wait.

must endure and be smoothed and shaped 

so we can enter something new.

we cannot see what will happen because

then we will be focused on that and not on where we are.

times in the midst of fog

where one feels lost and uncertain of what lies ahead

even uncertain of taking steps

stand still.

learn to sit with this uncomfortable moment.

remember

moment-moment-moment-moment

there is movement happening that you cannot see.

all is happening as it should.

 

 

thoughts in this moment

 

leap into the boundless and make it your home. (Chung Tzu)

shedding

enlightenment is not something you achieve.

it is the absence of something.

it takes courage to sit well.

when the mind becomes clear and balanced 

and is no longer caught by objects,

there can be an opening and we can realize who we really are.

how do we let go of thoughts?

we don't

 we let them wear out.

 notice the thought.

acknowledge, don't judge it, return to clear.

be patient

might take 10,000 times.

return the mind into present

over and over and over

embark

being in the moment is a constant practice.

you cannot grasp the past, future, or even the present.

we are this very moment.

(everyday zen)

 

happiness

tonight as i drove through the mist

down the puddled streets of town

 a man illuminated by the street lights 

caught my eye.

he was walking tipsy turvy

on this lonely, wet, dark, road.

as i slowly crept by i peered out to see

this blind and crippled man

with a jankity walk and a white cane bouncing out to the side.

in his left hand he held a newly purchased jug of o.j.

his eyes were closed, his head tilted toward the sky

and his face wore a smile like one i have never seen.

unaware of the darkness, unaware of the drunken traffic

unaware just how vulnerable he was.
a smile when one is in the moment.
a smile of sheer joy of being alive

and i was reminded that happiness

is a choice.

growing roots

the hardest plant to root

was grown inside of me

the blossom of discovering 

that inside 

i'm always free

the most difficult mountain i climbed

i did with one strong leg

reflected in its mountain stream

was a hill instead

the saddest note i heard

once played inside of me 

but silence overtook it

when i high up in my tree

~michelle

( i needed to repost this one as a reminder to myself)