“William thought of that Sacrament now and felt bad for all the children who were forced to divide their ordinary lives into sins and not-sins so they would have something to say to a cassocked stranger.”
Ann Napolitano, Hello Beautiful
That is where it all started, she thought, as she lay her head back on the pillow reviewing the course of her life as she struggled to breathe.
She saw herself clearly, first as a young girl, fearful, as she crept closer to a curtain which she would step behind to talk to a man about bad things she did or thought.
She started memorizing in her head, I yelled at Mary, I wanted the doll my sister got for Christmas, and on and on through a litany of events and thoughts from her week wondering if these were good enough sins to tell the priest.
Now, in old age, she realized that this is where she started to divide the world into good and bad, sin and not-sin, black and white, where no middle ground held any merit—a line drawn as if chopped by a cleaver.
As she wept, holding this young girl in her heart, she began to forgive herself for all the ways she judged herself, all the times she shut herself off from her own desires, cut herself off from others out of fear, expressed anger at those who saw events and people from a different perspective. All the ways she stopped herself from fully living her life.
She opened her eyes, felt all the love in her heart, gasped for a final breath, and cried out to anyone who would listen, “I am alive.”
“Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“He tried to name which of the deadly seven might apply, and when he failed, he decided to append an eighth, regret.”
Charles Frazier, Cold Mountain
“Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy, and serenity.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
For Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
When my baby lay dying,
we called all to our home to meet her,
to hold her, to kiss her goodbye.
When everyone departed, we lay on our bed
with baby at rest, spooned between,
and I slept.
While I was sleeping, she took her last breath,
swaddled in a yellow rose blanket,
smelling of powder and lotion.
When my father lay dying,
We were called to his side.
We sat, stood around the bed,
told stories, laughed, wiped tears,
and sighed. After a night and a day
I walked out to rest.
While I slept,
he took his last breath. Then we sat
and waited and remembered as
his spirit fully left.
When my mother lay dying,
we called all to her home, as we
sat, cooked, ate, and talked, laughed,
and cried, for five days and nights.
At dusk she lay quiet.
Leaving my brother to sit vigil,
I slept.
She took her last breath.
Seconds later, I was at her side.
We washed her body and adorned
her with rose petals and oil.
When my sister lay dying,
I slept in my bed,
then awakened from a phone call
to rush to her side after she drew
her last breath. I sat with tears,
spoke to her spirit as memories of
her sweetness and her challenges
washed over me— the joy, the delight,
the losses that formed her life.
Now, I wonder,
will I wake before I die?
“Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now, take what’s left and live it properly. What doesn’t transmit light creates its own darkness.”
Marcus Aurelius
“If you are living every experience fully, then death doesn’t take anything from you. There’s nothing to take because you’re already fulfilled. That’s why the wise being is always ready to die.”
Seneca
“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to ‘die before you die’ and find that there is no death.”
Eckhart Tolle
For Ongoing resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
Dark clouds hover,
breezes shift,
sun’s rays ease
while rabbit skitters
to protection.
In the unexpected,
tensions rise,
plans change,
we scurry when
we thought we
could rest, thinking
this day
would last
forever.
The announcement comes,
our brains slow,
numb in thought:
to do, to think,
to plan, to support,
to be present, as
a loved one navigates,
through rocky terrain.
A child’s laughter
wakes us into now,
not when or if, but
the present, filled
with love and compassion,
and we realize
the sun never went anywhere,
was merely hidden
behind a dark cloud that, true
to its nature, drifts.
Losses felt,
not in a moment but
in the movement of time,
and change, and then
through the laughter of children,
we move, we live, we love.
“What we see, and like to see, is cure and change. But what we do not see and do not want to see is care, the participation in the pain, the solidarity in the suffering, the sharing in the experience of brokenness.”
HENRI NOWEN
“It is a serious thing to be alive on this fresh morning in the broken world.”
Mary Oliver
“Always hold fast to the present. Every situation, indeed every moment, is of infinite value, for it is the representative of a whole eternity.”
After my mother’s death,
days after the veil between
worlds once again closed,
leaving me to the details
of a life stopped in motion,
I enter her home,
see the desk with her pen
lying on the green blotter,
next to a stack of unpaid bills
ready for her signature.
I look toward the kitchen
as she left it, a jumble of paper recipes,
notes she made for groceries, reminders,
all waiting for her return—her hand, in the
making of caramel rolls or an apple pie.
I walk down the hall
past the family photos, the ancestors
long buried in clay soil
back on the 40 acre “Heartbreak Farm”
as it was later called.
I enter her bedroom,
see the rose colored walls,
move into her private bathroom,
open a drawer, and that is when
a tear drops, and with an
intake of breath
and release, the tears flow.
I hold her toothbrush, then touch
the earrings resting on the stone counter—
the intimate details of a life.
I smell her in this space, not
a flowery presence, more of powder—
a scent of living, cleansing, of hope, and
one I want to cling to like the scent on the
yellow blanket that became a shroud, when
I held my week-old daughter,
and carried her back to the hospital
as she died in my arms.
A scent I then wanted to embrace,
until the day I
set it down and believed in
my one next step of living.
(Image from artist collection)
“Love is in the sensual details.”
Lebo Grand
“In a relationship the details are everything because they remind you – just when you need to be reminded the most – why you fell in love with someone in the first place.”
The One World series of paintings and written reflections in poetry and prose depict the inner images of the artist from early 2020 through 2022 — the start of the pandemic through the George Floyd murder, civil unrest, political upheaval, and the war in Ukraine.
All art works are for sale as well as greeting cards made from the images. Please contact me for more information on purchase.
The gallery is open most M-F from 9-3 but call Wisdom Ways for further times during evenings and weekends. 651-696-2794
We awoke to carnage—
Watering can tossed,
Plant uprooted and flattened,
Birdseed emptied below,
Robins nest lying on the ground,
Downy soft feathers scattered.
The night vision camera
Showed racoon blundering about,
Then standing erect on the railing
As in a lineup for the accused.
Now we see you, we said —
Then sighed in our distress.
Feeling sadness for Mother Robin,
Frustration with clean-up and loss,
Disgust at the calling card left on the stairs,
Our distress, I saw, was Racoon being Racoon.
As useless as shouting at the wind.
It is we who must adapt.
(Night photo was lost. Image from Gary Naeimas in pixabay)
“We are here to turn the forest into a home and make peace with all creatures.”
Michael Bassey-Johnson, Song of a Nature Lover
“When animals behave like humans or when humans behave like animals, don’t be surprised because in every animal there is a human and, in every human, there is an animal!”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“Every creature was designed to serve a purpose. Learn from animals for they are there to teach you the way of life.”
Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
The Gene Keys: Emracing Your Higher Purpose by Riuchard Rudd
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Inform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening by Lee Harris
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create an New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme
The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Mirabai Starr
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Book of Wisdom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang
How We Live Is How We Die by Pema Chödron
The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran
St Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation by Mirabai Starr
Wild Wisdom Edited by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Earth Prayers From Around The World, Ed by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon
The Tao of Relationships by Ray Grigg
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith R. Stauffer, Ph.D.
Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III
Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland
Quantum-Touch by Richard Gordon
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Persons Path Through Depression by Eric Maisel, PhD
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living by Janis Amatuzio
Personal Power Through Awareness by Sanaya Roman
Violence & Compassion by His Holiness the Dahlai Lama
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Devotions by Mary Oliver
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison
The House of Belonging: poems by David Whyte
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Soul an Archaeology Edited by Phil Cousineau
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Listening Point by Sigurd Olson
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
Dancing Moons by Nancy Wood
The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
We remembered another heart that beat with love,
for lovers, family, and friends, then stopped.
We memorialized, celebrated, laughed, and cried.
We remembered how you made us laugh,
how you listened, taught, played, and prayed; how
you gave of yourself and rejoiced in life.
We, the ones left with hearts that beat with love,
for lovers, family, and friends, encircle each other,
then wonder deep within:
Is my life making a difference?
Am I offering myself to the world?
Am I one who is bringing joy?
“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”
George Eliot
“Take stock of who we are, and what we have, and then use it for good.”
Ann Napalitano, Dear Edward
“Live for yourself and you will live in vain; live for others, and you will live again.”
Bob Marley
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
The Gene Keys: Emracing Your Higher Purpose by Riuchard Rudd
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Inform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening by Lee Harris
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create an New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme
The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Mirabai Starr
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Book of Wisdom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang
How We Live Is How We Die by Pema Chödron
The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran
St Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation by Mirabai Starr
Wild Wisdom Edited by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Earth Prayers From Around The World, Ed by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon
The Tao of Relationships by Ray Grigg
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith R. Stauffer, Ph.D.
Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III
Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland
Quantum-Touch by Richard Gordon
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Persons Path Through Depression by Eric Maisel, PhD
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living by Janis Amatuzio
Personal Power Through Awareness by Sanaya Roman
Violence & Compassion by His Holiness the Dahlai Lama
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Devotions by Mary Oliver
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison
The House of Belonging: poems by David Whyte
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Soul an Archaeology Edited by Phil Cousineau
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Listening Point by Sigurd Olson
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
Dancing Moons by Nancy Wood
The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
I met a long time friend for lunch. As we relished the tastes and smells of our curry, we talked of the five close deaths she experienced over the past few months and my two acquaintances and our dear grand dog Sonny. We spoke to each other of death and suffering.
I shared the story of Sonny’s death as my daughter had told me, which was this: the Vet had come to the house after my daughter had set the atmosphere for Sonny’s death with candles, incense, and sacred music. Sonny had his head resting in her lap while the boys with their dad were gently stroking him, and then the vet administered the shot which allowed him to die peacefully.
I told my friend that after listening and allowing space for my daughter’s tears and grief, we ended the call and I heard my inner voice say, “This is how I want to die.” Then I thought, this is true. While I do not know how the end of my life will come, this visual my daughter offered was a comfort to me and held for me the profound sacred in the ordinary of the week. The attentive, conscious awareness in her experience with her family for their beloved Sonny with the beauty created within their sadness, lifted, and opened my heart.
All the while, the green shoots are rising from the soil, the river is running fast and high as the northern snows melt, and the sun beckons us out into the budding and bountiful world.
“Death twitches my ear; ‘Live,’ he says… ‘I’m coming.”
Virgil
“The old man smiled. ‘I shall not die of a cold, my son. I shall die of having lived.”
Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop
“The sun was laughing down on them.”
Carlene O’Connor, Murder in an Irish Village
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
The Gene Keys: Emracing Your Higher Purpose by Riuchard Rudd
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Inform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening by Lee Harris
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create an New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme
The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Mirabai Starr
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Book of Wisdom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang
How We Live Is How We Die by Pema Chödron
The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran
St Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation by Mirabai Starr
Wild Wisdom Edited by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Earth Prayers From Around The World, Ed by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon
The Tao of Relationships by Ray Grigg
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith R. Stauffer, Ph.D.
Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III
Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland
Quantum-Touch by Richard Gordon
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Persons Path Through Depression by Eric Maisel, PhD
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living by Janis Amatuzio
Personal Power Through Awareness by Sanaya Roman
Violence & Compassion by His Holiness the Dahlai Lama
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Devotions by Mary Oliver
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison
The House of Belonging: poems by David Whyte
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Soul an Archaeology Edited by Phil Cousineau
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Listening Point by Sigurd Olson
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
Dancing Moons by Nancy Wood
The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
Sonny Liston Mills, (aka Sonny Buns, Sonny O. Buns, Sonny B., and Sons O’Buns) was born as a Boxer breed on an unknown date in a puppy mill in July of 2014 and left his body peacefully on April 19, 2023, after an aggressive and quick journey through cancer.
Sonny was rescued by his family on April 4, 2015. Sonny had not known the love of family before; therefore, it was a challenge for him to learn to trust humans. He was fearful, shy, and anxious. His fear of humans told us much about his early life. Sonny was happiest when he could meet another dog on his daily walks or when visiting other families with dogs.
Sonny arrived at his family not knowing how to play or relax. Over time, with the love of the Mills family and extended family and friends, Sonny gradually began to learn how to be with people, play with toys, tug of war and fetch, then wrestle with his human buddies, Oscar and Remy. The arrival of his stepsister Roxy (also a Boxer) in 2021, added to Sonny’s confidence as he was always most comfortable with other dogs. Sonny learned to appreciate treats and learned to shake hands, sit, and lay down.
Sonny learned to stay close to home after he was let out for a quick pee, wandered down to the pond in the dark and snow, and then fell through the ice. Sonny swam to the other side while Rob and Laura jumped in the car and searched for him. Sonny tried for hours to find his way home but became anxious, scared, and confused with all the twists and turns of the streets. He would be sighted by Rob and Laura but was too frantic to stop running. Finally, after many hours, and the family out searching and calling out into the wee hours, they returned home to find him sitting on the back steps, soaking wet and exhausted. It appeared he decided to jump back into the pond and swim his way home. He slept the entire next day and thereafter he would gaze at the pond in a contemplative manner but never get too close.
Sonny learned to appreciate one of the fine advantages of being human—the bed. When Laura would wake up in the night to use the bathroom, Sonny would crawl into her warm spot, lay his head on her pillow with his legs dangling off the side and snore away with Laura having to fight for space on her return.
In August 2016, an impromptu marriage ceremony was held for Sonny Liston Mills and Penny Dehler. A quick romance with a ceremony and dance party hosted by his young human friends, Charlotte, Severin, Oscar, and Remy, ensued at the Bruce and Diane Hughes farm. While Sonny and Penny never lived together their delight in each other was always strong.
Sonny will be remembered for his sweet nature, his big heart, his curiosity, and his friendly attitude that was nurtured to grow as he healed from his early days. He made great strides in allowing people to pet him and to cuddle. Overall, Sonny learned to trust, as much as he could allow himself. While I did not live with Sonny, I will remember most his growing from wanting to be petted by me but then quickly running away as I put out my hand, to feeling safe coming to me for pets and love, then resting his head on my feet under the dinner table as he napped.
Sonny left his mark on those who loved him, Rob, Laura, Oscar, and Remy, as well as extended family and friends, his beloved Penny, and his backyard deer friends who quietly enjoyed his visits to them. Sonny was a “good boy”, a good brother, a good friend, and a good granddog. You did well Sonny! You always made us laugh. You will be missed.
“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”
Milan Kundera
Ongoing Reading List: Reading for Heart and Mind
The Gene Keys: Emracing Your Higher Purpose by Riuchard Rudd
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Inform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening by Lee Harris
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create an New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme
The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Mirabai Starr
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Book of Wisdom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang
How We Live Is How We Die by Pema Chödron
The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran
St Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation by Mirabai Starr
Wild Wisdom Edited by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Earth Prayers From Around The World, Ed by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon
The Tao of Relationships by Ray Grigg
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith R. Stauffer, Ph.D.
Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III
Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland
Quantum-Touch by Richard Gordon
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Persons Path Through Depression by Eric Maisel, PhD
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living by Janis Amatuzio
Personal Power Through Awareness by Sanaya Roman
Violence & Compassion by His Holiness the Dahlai Lama
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Devotions by Mary Oliver
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison
The House of Belonging: poems by David Whyte
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Soul an Archaeology Edited by Phil Cousineau
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Listening Point by Sigurd Olson
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
Dancing Moons by Nancy Wood
The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
In this season,
illumination expands,
snow melts, rains cleanse.
We celebrate water,
sun, and new life
rising from the earth.
While Iris sleeps,
Crocus begins its journey,
moving to the radiance of day,
rising, stretching into a short life,
yet, the beauty she offers,
gladdens our hearts.
There is no rhyme to longevity.
We bring to life what we are given.
We do the work in life
as we are. We leave this life
when the time is called —
then and now —
and a new season begins.
“If I changed even one tiny little thing about that season, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I wouldn’t be WHO I am today. I wouldn’t have fought the hardest battles of my life and won.”
Mandy Hale, You Are Enough: Heartbreak, Healing, and Becoming
“To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.”
George Santayana
“Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings.”
Henry Cloud
Ongoing Resource List: Reading for Heart and Mind
The Gene Keys: Emracing Your Higher Purpose by Riuchard Rudd
Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Inform Us by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle
Energy Speaks: Messages from Spirit on Living, Loving, and Awakening by Lee Harris
Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create an New One by Dr. Joe Dispenza
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Cosmogenesis: An Unveiling of the Expanding Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme
The Mastery of Love, Don Miguel Ruiz
Change Your Thoughts—Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, by Mirabai Starr
The Four Agreements: A Toltec Book of Wisdom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Mindfulness and Grief by Heather Stang
How We Live Is How We Die by Pema Chödron
The Bhagavad Gita, Translated by Eknath Easwaran
St Francis of Assisi: Brother of Creation by Mirabai Starr
Wild Wisdom Edited by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Earth Prayers From Around The World, Ed by Elizabeth Roberts & Elias Amidon
The Tao of Relationships by Ray Grigg
Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O’Donohue
Unconditional Love and Forgiveness by Edith R. Stauffer, Ph.D.
Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance by Joseph M. Marshall III
Art & Fear by David Bayless & Ted Orland
Quantum-Touch by Richard Gordon
The Van Gogh Blues: The Creative Persons Path Through Depression by Eric Maisel, PhD
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living by Janis Amatuzio
Personal Power Through Awareness by Sanaya Roman
Violence & Compassion by His Holiness the Dahlai Lama
Teachings on Love by Thich Nhat Hanh
Devotions by Mary Oliver
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue
Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates and Katrina Kenison
The House of Belonging: poems by David Whyte
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness, by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Faraway Nearby by Rebecca Solnit
Soul an Archaeology Edited by Phil Cousineau
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Listening Point by Sigurd Olson
I Sit Listening to the Wind by Judith Duerk
Dancing Moons by Nancy Wood
The Soul of Rumi, Translations by Coleman Barks
Keep Going by Joseph M. Marshall III
Arriving at your own Door by Jon Kabat-Zinn
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer
The Hidden Secrets of Water by Paolo Consigli
Conquest of Mind by Eknath Easwaran
Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay
Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh
I Thought It Was Just Me (But It Isn’t) by Brene Brown
Practicing Peace in Times of War by Pema Chodron
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodron
On Death and Dying by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Unattended Sorrow by Stephen Levine
Joy in Loving, Mother Theresa
The Joy of Living by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Let Your LIfe Speak by Parker Palmer
Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Essence of the Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran
Welcoming the Unwelcome by Pema Chodron
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through The Ways Of Animals by Jamie Sams and David Carson
