Formed knowing it will meet a crushing wave,
she dedicates herself to what brings her joy.
Though words may scatter like spray in the wind,
through uncertainty and half-formed understanding,
I persist until that moment of clarity—
"Ah, I see!"— throws open my heart's door.
I press forward with words and images,
offering my spirit in this moment
to the welcoming ocean.
When we arrive at the door of sorrow,
our hearts grieve what is lost and
awaken to what is before us as we
sit in the narrow wedge we call home.
Let us come alive to all life, all being,
as we navigate rough waters, and
wish to enter morning dawn unharmed.
Let go of safety to be in the stream.
Let go of secure to ride the wave.
The risk is before us with the choice
to sit safe or move into form.
Let go, let life arise.
It is our choice.
Our hearts response.
Our one crazy ride.
Image is mine
“Taking risks doesn’t mean shirking responsibility but embracing possibilities.”
-Vick Hope
“Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.”
-Hermann Hesse
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
-Golda Meir
I gave birth to him then to her, watched them grow as their new eyes sparkled to view the world. Trust deepened, love widened our hearts, from babes, to teen, young man, and woman, we bonded at birth, then traveled beyond. They learned from us as they grew, words formed; dreams emerged as each leaned in, then pulled away. A road must be taken to free the spirit, to widen their world and test their wills. We stayed connected, a door wide open, when need arose we were there. We watched, we waited, we celebrated as their own babes were born to hold, and that which opened their hearts to their new. The circle continues as their youth grow, now ask to let go and watch them take their leave. When does it evolve from parent to child, to parent to parent, to parent to friend, from you to me? We learn from each other, as the door left open allows us to be, who we are, not the role. Now we meet for lunch and museum tours, we discuss our lives, the challenges, the joys, the achievements, the gains, the hopes, and fears. This journey of life has given us those who journey with us in various ways, but it is grace indeed that has allowed me to see how this man and this woman grew from a seed. Feeling pride as I observe theses lives, I see choices made from where they birthed that mirror ours from so long ago, and admire their ways of improving the task, their own creative spirit that walks at their side. Each are more than child to me, we are all fellow journeyers, seeking all that we can be.
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.”
Anne Frank
“I think that the best thing we can do for our children is to allow them to do things for themselves, allow them to be strong, allow them to experience life on their own terms, allow them to take the subway… let them be better people, let them believe more in themselves.”
C. JoyBell C.
“Your children are not your children.
Kahlil Gibran
They are sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you.
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.”
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
“One must maintain a little bit of summer, even in the middle of winter.”
Henry David Thoreau
Our summer 2022 is wrapped in the bookend of grandkids. In June a trip following down along the Mississippi to La Crosse and now Labor Day when the grands descend on our home and our hearts for two days. The weekend marker that reminds us that summer is over, children will head back to school, the days and nights are cooler, the State Fair comes to an end, and bedtimes need to be earlier. The troupe ages 12-20 arrived to enjoy pizza, little sleep, lots of laughs, movies, late nights, eating favorite foods, enjoying favorite local activities, and celebrating their Opa’s birthday.
We want summer to last a bit longer. Summertime that brings a sense of letting go, relaxing, resting or playing in the sunshine, in a sundress and flip flops, or shorts and t shirt, offering a lightness to the body and the spirit. As we return to schedules and obligations, not totally forgotten in summer but more lived in a feeling of vacation, we also feel relieved as we do when we travel and long to return to our familiar routine. While our outer life might now feel more regulated, we long to hold onto the inner spirit of summer, the warmth of the sun within our being, the light of joy on a summer afternoon.
As I feel deep gratitude for the fact that our grands so desire to be with us and the joy they bring to our home in lifting spirit, I sit now and reflect on the overwhelming views of flooding in Pakistan and take in the horror of loss, crisis, grief, shock, and all that will not happen for those citizens and their children and grandchildren, their family unit. The incredible disruption to livelihood. The uncertainty for now and the future. The feeling of instability as life as it was known has been swept away.
One does not retract the other as there is pain and joy in every moment as we all live in one world separated only by miles. Each moment that I live, is also a moment of another’s life with a wholly different expression. Each to be honored for what it is, attended to with whatever presence we can bring to each other’s stories, knowing that all is in constant motion. Everything changes. Knowing your pain on my day of joy brings balance, truth, honesty to the full expression of living.
It is quite easy to find the sacred in these days of joy and family on a warm summer day, it is another to find the sacred in trauma or catastrophe. Yet, we do. It is there when we look, when we open to its presence, the possibility, to our memories stored within. We only need to remember our own stories of a lifetime to remind us that the peace and warmth in our hearts is there to touch. Summer is not just a season in our outer world but one that resides within.
“A little bit of summer is what the whole year is all about.”
John Mayer
“Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside me.“
Benjamin Alire Saenz
“Some of the best memories are made in flip-flops.“
Kellie Elmore
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
So began a week with a plan – one I thought to be quite unique. The winds they did blow as they have done all spring with change in the air, do I cling? I did not know my son would call sick with Covid, pain and all. I did not know my computer would fail, amidst frustration I found help to prevail. I did not know we would entertain with laughter and stories, we must do again. I did not know we would sell a boat with relief and hopes to keep them afloat. I did not know that I would feel such peace with a sit in the sun– an hour for release. I did not know this week women would be challenged, fearing their rights and feeling so managed. The winds of change are in the air. Do we hang on or do we let go? Debris is flying high leaves are rustled low. What was up Is now down. What we thought lost Is now found. Do we rebuild a house? Or do we simply let go? Do we feel the feelings then let them flow? We make our plans then life decides. How we respond, our heart provides.
“There is nothing permanent except change.”
Heraclitus
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Mother Theresa
“Every day the clock resets. Your wins don’t matter. Your failures don’t matter. Don’t stress on what was, fight for what could be.”
Sean Higgins
On Going Resource List
