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.
1. the process of coming into view or becoming exposed after being concealed
2. the process of coming into being, or of becoming important or prominent.
Trillium begins to unfold its delicate petals for all to see. The May apple hides its beauty to casual observance. Stinging nettles abundantly rise and there is oh, so much good packed into every bite, if you are willing…the beauty of spring… the dance of emergence.
And I marvel at my own willingness to shine. This is not a moment to cower in fear. This is the moment to celebrate. This is not the moment of doubt. This is the time of hope in action. This is not a moment of debate. Birth does not allow it. We are in a time of birth. We are in a time of emergence. That which has been concealed is made known. That which has been lessened is moving to prominence.
This is the time of the Good. It is not a time to waste in mediocrity. It is not a time to waste in the ignorance of old. This is now. This is new.
And it is oh, so practical. There is nothing more practical than peace. There is nothing more diligent than kindness. There is nothing more powerful than love.
Yes I am giddy with possibility. I am tasting the power of the human spirit and it is delicious. Please take away the plate of wrath. I have had my fill.
Today I know this: the seeds of good have been planted and are taking root. The shadow has no place in the sun. The spring rains are quenching the parched land and all will be well. In my heart and yours. In our lives and for our children, emerge.
photo compliments of Jan Kenyon
let kindness win 