Author: Dena Eakles

For those who dare to feel the depth of sorrow within, I salute you.  For those who cry anguished tears and simultaneously feel the flower of hope blossoming in your breast, I commend you.  For those who reject the inhumanity with angry voices, I recognize you…

It would be oh, so easy to give up. It would be oh, so easy to doubt.

But the gift of Life demands much more from us. The gift of being human is still waiting to be opened. We have seen our riches in each other’s eyes, we have tasted the sweetness of victory in the birth of each child, in the laughter we share and in the joy embedded in our hearts. This is what it means to be human. This is what we need to celebrate in ourselves and in one another.

We cannot afford the luxury of confusion. We cannot afford to fight the battles the way we are expected to fight. It is time to fight differently. It is time for the heart to lead; it is time to win this war with love.

And what if it is simply about tipping the scales in the direction of love, for a change. What if it is about the recognition of one spirit, one people, and one earth?

What if we could take all the hopelessness and turn it into courage, like straw to gold. What if this is the moment that we rise up together, loving, honoring and respecting one another? There is much to heal from and some of us are in such pain that we misuse our power and some are in such pain that we strike back but I am speaking to those who can still love. Let your love be a beacon, let your clarity sing out. Give to one another. Don’t let this moment rob us. We are better than this.

Take time to calm your spirit. Take time to be clear and when you are, bring your goodness to the world. People say we need another Martin, but I know this is the time when we all must stand up and be Martin, be Gandhi, be Mandela. See the light in one another and support it. Find a way everyday. Let us please take back this garden.

We can.

I am beginning to see the importance of at least once each day surpassing what my mind tells me is a limitation. It doesn’t matter how grand or small a scale of action. To let the mind in on the big secret that I am the one who limits myself is a giant step towards freedom.

Here’s hoping you are enjoying.

photo compliments of Jannet Chang

Many decades ago someone told me to “touch every inch of this place with love.” I took it as a challenge and proceeded. This notion that we have the capacity for and ability to direct love is still one of the single most instructive and valid tips ever given to me.

And it is so simple.

There is so much to rally against. Social injustice, governmental collapse, scarcity of clean food and water…it is quite easy to forget the single most power each of us carries. Love.

I still believe this world could change in a heartbeat and all the dreams we dream could come true. I think it is up to each of us. Let Love find you. Touch everything with love.

The baby ducks were a bit confused at first. Their mother decided to “fly the coop” and left them with a sitting auntie…I had thought the auntie’s eggs were not going to make it. But auntie sat and sat day in, day out until she noticed the little ones gathered around her. You could almost hear the brain ticking, “Those babies need to get outside. They need good green grass; they need fresh running water. They need guidance.”

So one day as the mom left the coop, the auntie realized she had another task – raising babies. Up she went, calling the young to her and outside they all went to the green grass, to the clean water. She has mothered them impeccably, nervously at times, but devoted – and still ever hopeful – she goes back at the end of each day to the eggs that will never hatch. And the babies huddle beside her.

And I ask myself why did the mother abandon her flock? She was an impeccable mother last year, even taking on one that had hatched in my hands days after she had left the nest wandering around with her brood. So what is the difference this year?

And I have to think, it was an act of kindness to the young auntie. Somehow the mother knew what I finally figured out, the auntie’s eggs would never hatch, and the mother opted to share. Each night and sometimes during the day she checks in to ensure all is well. And so do I.

Some will tell me animals don’t feel kindness. That is not a debate for me. Suffice it to say, I do. And the actions I witnessed touched the cord within me that makes my heart sing: kindness.

New pictures will be added!

We are flying over.
Because we can.
The phoenix has flown.
No more need for burning.
Doubts that eat us in sleep
and stalk in the light of day
are not worthy opponents.
We are so much greater than this.
We are flying over.
Because we can.

photo courtesy of Noho

I have been enjoying communicating with old friends on FB. People I have not seen in over forty years. Our lives have taken different paths for sure, but there is a thread of remembrance of our youth that binds us.

Perhaps it is our common beginnings, perhaps it is our age, but it seems we are working towards holding a line of respect amidst our differences. When I write to them, I am thinking of youthful laughter and play, shared dreams and friends too soon gone. I am acknowledging choices that we have all made, some away from the ways we were expected to be, others in lockstep. Most of all, I am trying to hold onto recognition of their humanity and to listen to them – while not losing my own.

We are walking together down the road of communication which often has slippery slopes. And they are teaching me. I do not have to fear ideas. I do not have to fear conviction. The only thing I have to fear is my own silence when words are needed. It is far too easy to put labels on people and ignore their humanity. It is yet another thing to allow elbow room for people to learn, feel and direct their own course. And it is yet again another thing to, with kindness and with clarity, maintain a boundary that leads to reconciliation.
We owe this to ourselves and to our children, to love deeply and to find a way towards peace.

Today with great certainty I wrote: We are only one step away from making a bit of heaven here on earth – and it is called kindness and it has a form called respect.

May it be. Make it be.

The picture is from my current home in Wisconsin, much like the hills of Pennsylvania where I grew up. It has become a gathering place for people of peace. I love that it reminds me of my first home. Photo taken by Kasia Siemaszko.