Some moments
–perhaps this very one! Is it?–
make all the rest of them worth it
and blanket the past with peace.
Whisper it to yourself: Yes.
Some Moments
The Scent of Autumn
It’s a day of contrasts, summer and autumn
vying for center stage. The warm sun
tangos with a cool wind.
Green grasses sprout red seeds.
Late flowers open while the first leaves fall.
But it’s the scent that tells the tale.
This is an autumn perfume, musky, ripe and dry.
It catches you by surprise,
and you breathe it in deeply
to confirm it is what your memories recall.
Something about it makes you want
to fly down the path in joy,
as if something wonderful is waiting up ahead.
And so it is. So it is.
Aspirations of a Joy Warrior
I dream of nothing more than this:
to be completely alive, to hurl myself
into each vibrant moment
with all my heart and mind and soul.
I want to feel starlight
crackling down my nerves,
and salty oceans pulsing through my veins.
I want to hear the grass laughing
as I walk barefooted through the morning dew.
I want to cry at the softness of skin and fur,
and to be startled by the depth of eyes.
I want to shiver at the sweetness of bird calls
and to feel the echo of spoken words
in every cell of my body.
I want to lose all the labels and stories and maps,
all that classifies and judges,
anything that says no, or can’t, or should,
anything that separates or shrinks back.
I aspire to nothing more.
I will settle for nothing less.
Children of the Flame
We come for a brief season, sparks
of the Inextinguishable Flame,
to bring its light, to show its glory.
We do the best we can, never knowing
how far our light will reach,
how many hearts will hear our song.
Oh, we may preen and boast,
but deep inside we bow to love,
seeking to give it, and to receive its blessing.
And however brief our stay,
however soon our passing,
our songs sing on. For we,
each of us, are children of the Flame,
written across eternity, remembered forever,
and forever alive in its unfathomable, holy fire.
Flow in Grace
Deep in the core of your heart
lives a knowing, something
surer than eye or word can tell,
a fixed reality, transcending
all illusion. Trust in that,
and flow in its grace.
Painting on the Rocks
The leaves fall to the creek floor
like careless drops from the brush of some artist.
Splattering the rocks with rust and bronze,
pale yellow and shades of green, they and the creek
make a painting of their own. But this is no accident.
There’s nothing careless here. It took eons
to produce this scene, time beyond measure.
All for this moment, this one breath of a day,
when the light and the air were just so,
and it was early September.
Where Reality Happens
“Time has a way,” I sometimes tell my friends, “of doing things in the right order.”
That’s not always an apparent fact, nor is it always easy to accept. But if you look back at your life, you’re likely to discover that decisions you made in the past put you exactly where you needed to be a couple years farther down the road.
Everything that happens is for our enrichment in one way or another. Everything leads us to the fuller knowledge of ourselves that only experience can bring. Understanding that lets us relax a little. It lets us settle more fully into the present and to appreciate whatever is unfolding in our lives right now.
I’ve been thinking about time this week, as summer morphs into fall. After the long green days of warmth and light, I’m eager for a nip in the morning air and for the blaze of autumn’s crimsons and golds. But while I’m enjoying the delicious feeling of anticipation, I’ve been reminding myself not to let it so overpower me that I miss what is happening right now. It’s as easy to get lost in anticipation as it is to get lost in reliving the past.
It’s fine to savor sweet memories from the past, to anticipate the joys the future may bring, to dream and plan for the way we would like our lives to unfold. These, too, are enriching parts of our experience. But it’s right now where our real living takes place.
Right now, after all, is where our power is. It’s the only moment in time when we can act, and feel, and love. It’s the only moment in which our senses are alive, where sound and sight and taste and touch are real.
The present is a refuge, too, from the pain of the past and the error of dread. Right here, right now, we’re okay. We’re alive and breathing. Right now, we can choose. We can choose to be here, to notice how we are —and that we are. We can choose where we will direct our attention and how we want to respond to whatever life is presenting to us right now. And it’s in the choosing that we create the quality of our lives.
As for me, I’ll choose openness and joy. I’ll feel the tingle of anticipation that September’s winds bring. I’ll revel in the winds themselves, and in the fragrances they carry, and in the bold and joyous colors of the leaves that ride them.
Time has a way of doing things in the right order. Trust tomorrow to to be tomorrow, and let the past rest in the place where days gather at their close. Do that and you are free to make today a day of genuine happiness and peace.
Warmly,
Susan
Petal by Petal
Petal by petal, life unfolds,
a mystery, unfathomable, its beginnings
unknown, its destination the source
of countless words and whisperings
swept across the centuries. Choose
what your heart sings as your guide,
for it knows truths beyond what words
can tell. Trust what feels most loving.
The moments are here for your experiencing.
Drink of their nourishment deeply
and with joy, opening yourself
petal by wondrous petal.
Early Signs of Autumn
The first leaves color and fall.
The light comes later and fades
all too soon. But in the heap
of wild foliage at the roadside
pale purple asters begin
their autumn dance. And oh,
the luscious fragrance
in the air!
Shine Out Your Light
Let your eyes see beauty.
Hear life’s song. Meet the eyes
of a stranger with a smile.
Dare to sing, if only to yourself.
Allow yourself to savor
the pleasures of the moment,
even though the world
is filled with fear and pain.
Your one courageous act
of joy lessens the weight
of suffering that the world
has to bear. Be bold.
Shine out your light.