mindful_contemplations

As It Is

There was a time, I looked back, like an explorer who seeks the river source; I sought to know the origin of my pain, my fear, my suffering.

There was a time, I looked forward, like a seer who tells the future; I sought to know where I was going, the plan, the purpose of this being.

There is this time, I look out, just as it is; I seek to live each moment as it presents—the pain, the joy, the will to be, the heart open, as it appears.

“Tomorrow is tomorrow.
Future cares have future cures,
And we must mind today.”
Sophocles, Antigone

“Every instant of our lives is essentially irreplaceable: you must know this in order to concentrate on life.”
Andre´Gide

“In a world myriad as ours, the gaze is a singular act: to look at something is to fill your whole life with it, if only briefly.”
Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

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Movement Slows

Seagulls stand at water’s edge,
in stillness, they look out to the gulf,
webbed feet tickled by gentle waves—
born from tranquil water. Unexpected peace 
after a week of wild roar. 

Within the calm,
sanderlings also cease their scurry, 
gather at water’s edge and appear to
cluster in quiet conversation, then,
rest in contemplation.

Movement slows,
lovers walk hand in hand, 
while nature ceases her uproar,
inviting us to stop and observe,
the sacredness, which is now.

“When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall; it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient.”
Margaret Attwood, The Panelopiad

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
John Lubbock, The Use of Life

“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.”
Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

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We walk the beach while waves crash and deposit Jellyfish on the shore. We stop, look, take photos, and admire the intricate beauty of this stinging swimmer. A fellow walker scoops with a net and flings the water filled beauties back to the ocean. I ponder in admiration for her thoughtfulness, creativity, and dedication, as she walks miles to extend herself to her ocean community: Jellyfish and barefoot children. I marvel at this world that offers itself to us, to see and to respond in the many ways there are of being of service.

“The end of all knowledge should be service to others.”
Cesar Chavez

“Great acts are made of small deeds.”
Lao Tzu

“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”
Rosa Parks

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The Kiss

Sun kisses ocean

as sparkling jewels adorn her

with adoration

“Lovers alone wear sunlight.”
E.E. Cummings

“Adoration is made out of a solitary soul occupying two bodies.”
Aristotle

…the sea…it is my favorite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.”
Anthony Doerr, All The Light We Cannot See

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When Prayer Was Magic

Once I thought prayer was magic: 

If I pray hard enough

God will give me what I desire. 

I was young and did not yet know

grief and despair. 



I grew in knowledge of sorrow and joy, 

and found no being who could 

change the course of the many things 

that bring us suffering, as was told, when

once I thought prayer was magic.



Nor did outward prayer give me

what I yearned for, which may 

conflict with another’s longing.

Who does this being listen to?

If I pray hard enough,



I am told, if I am good enough,

follow the rules, listen to authority,

learn to be pure like the saints,

deny myself,

God will give me what I desire.



Then I learned to go within:

to know prayer as silence, 

to focus, allow, listen, sit in peace, 

open to universal wisdom. Not taught to me when

I was young and did not yet know:



the connection is within the seed of the divine inside of me. 

All consciousness, open to love, forgiveness, and grace

changes me; I then join with others as 

we open to joy, and ease that which is our

grief and despair.


(Thanks to WP friend, David, for his teaching of a ‘cascading’ poem.

“It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without heart.”
Mahatma Gandhi

“Prayer is the inner bath of love into which the soul plunges itself.”
St. John Vianney

“God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer.”
Mother Teresa

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On To the Source

Seeking rest 

and renewal

we weave our way: 

down and around,

like the stream

then the river 

flowing 

to the source— 

the ocean.



We meander, 

then feel the tug: 

the ebb and flow 

vibrating

pulsing, 

soul connecting 

us to her—

origination.

Returning is the motion of the Tao.

Yielding is the way of the Tao.

The 10,000 things are born of being.

Being is born of nonbeing.
The 40th Verse of the Tao Te Ching

“We know all too well that what we are doing is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”
Mother Teresa

“I have seafoam in my veins, I understand the language of waves”.
Le Testament d’Orphée

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From The Art Page

The Life of Water

A big THANK YOU to the art collectors who purchased these paintings during the Common Ground Art and Poetry Exhibition. It is heart filling as an artist and author to be able to witness the connection that others feel to my voice and expression. These works have found new homes and I wish the owners years of happiness.

One The Journey

My Goodness is Stamped Upon My Universe

The Door of My Heart

Mended

Today I sit with my friend from

long ago and remember when she

broadened my world 

through ritual and story; when we

drummed and howled

on many a solstice night as we

each held the past 

in the palm of our hands 

like a bird with a broken wing—

wounds visible, stories told,

honored, when still young.



Age evident on our lined faces 

and altering bodies, we 

acknowledge each other now: 

honor what we each create; celebrate

what we each offer to the world. 

The mended birds fly:

winds lift, support, and carry,

on currents to new horizons, with

a whisper heard; Be free.

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.”
Jim Morrison

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”
Jim Morrison

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From The Book Page

Reading from One World: A Journey of Becoming

I am excited to announce the launch of ONE WORLD: A JOURNEY OF BECOMING. Seeing my name in Amazon and on Goodreads, as an author, with my book, was stunning.

I finished and thoroughly enjoyed a week of book launch events that were well attended. The full art show is still hung at Common Ground, here in Cambridge, and available for viewing M – Th from 10 – 3pm. It will be taken down on January 28th.

I could not be happier or feel more filled with all the care and love expressed to me as I share my story. As I now write, it has been four days since the last event. I’m tired but feeling carried by all the support. One person asked, “What is next?” That is a hard one to answer. I have a couple of ideas for another book. I am thinking of creating a retreat. I am needing rest and sunshine.

More than anything, I want to continue to support individuals and groups in learning to ground and center into the core of who they are and open to what lies ahead for them. We are called to awaken to ourselves and to our divine connection, however we envision this to be; to find joy in who we are and what we bring to this world in healing, through compassion, and opening to this grand universe.

One World: A Journey of Becoming is available from me on my SHOP page, www.janisdehler.com/shop, to be mailed in the US. It is also available at Scout and Morgan Books here in Cambridge, MN. Both the paperback and eBook version (soon to be released) are available on Amazon here and in many other countries. The Great British Book Shop and Ingram Spark carry the paperback.

Blessings and gratitude,

Janis

Emergence

We sit to order our food as

tears fall and her story opens— 

one of lost love with

a found self and a clear mind.



Since emerging from her mother’s

womb, I witness her growth 

into womanhood—her first bra, 

her first menstrual flow. 



When a seed is planted into rich soil,

it rises ever so gently to seek light, air,

moisture, and to grow. To evolve into a bud,

then flower, into all that this seed can be.



I behold this woman who seeks to unfold, 

with the power to choose and to create: 

choices that affirm her life, feed her soul, 

and allow her spirit to soar.

“A woman is a full circle. Within her is the power to create, nurture and transform.”
Diane Mariechild

“I can’t think of any better representation of beauty than someone who is unafraid to be themselves.”
Emma Stone

“Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe you must become its soul.
Coretta Scott King

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