Tag: Nature

The River of Sadhana


In a night vision, the meandering timeline of my life 
floats before me, like the river that flows past my house, 
winding its way south, touching here and there, while 
always moving in the direction of intent.

Challenges and joys that went before are seen,
as I float on to this moment. I see my learning 
and my fears, when, as a child, I do not understand.
I see confusion, tears, aloneness, transitions, 

moving in time, trying to find my way from there to here, 
with deaths, friends, shame, insecurities, curiosity.
I feel sadness and joy. I am a child, then a teen 
in my self-centered world, lacking awareness
 
and understanding. I see my marriage, my babies, 
the delight, the loss, their gifts to me. I see me, 
catapulted to awaken to my life, to shed old skin,
as I long to create, find purpose in being, alter perceptions. 

I enter deconstruction—spiritual crisis— and am stripped to bones. 
In newness, I am embraced. Through friendship, divine manifestation, 
love, compassion, forgiveness, and healing, I find I am enough. 
All the iterations of me.  All one. All love. 

Joys. Challenges. Acceptance. Strength. Understanding. 
In allowing and accepting, the way opens. Amma, holy one, 
names me—Sadhana, spiritual practice. This name guides me, 
as I seek to know the meaning. To accept my path. Learn to allow, 

to create, to accept light, to accept love.
I enter my day with the message: 
open arms, open heart, receive, give, be.
Be gentle. Be patient. Be love.

“Anything can become a spiritual practice once you are willing to approach it that way—once you let it bring you to your knees and show you what is real, including who you really are, who other people are, and how near God can be when you have lost your way.”

Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith

“The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.”

Marianne Williamson

“Spiritual practice should not be confused with grim duty. It is the laughter of the Dalai Lama and the wonder born with every child.”

Jack Kornfield
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Spring Cleanse

spring rains foster growth
polished windows allow light
cleansed hearts emit love

“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.”

Parker Palmer

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

Buddha

“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.”

William Shakespeare
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Life’s Becoming


So many seasons of spring
have I walked this earth:
to see the sun rise in its rose and blue
striations; to hear the morning chatter
as chickadee and finch wake; to witness
green leaves rise from soil with the promise of
rose tulip, purple iris, or yellow crocus.
Like an infant who wakes to see Mother’s
face anew in this morning, I feel joy
in anticipation, expectance of renewal, 
amazement in life’s becoming.

“What a strange thing!
to be alive
beneath cherry blossoms.”

Kobayashi Issa, Poems

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…”

Frances Hodgson Burnett

“It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.”

Rainer Maria Rilke
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Due North


Sandhill crane seeks rest
before the flight north to home.
I journey with birds.

(photo by Leo Dehler)

“Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to – it’s not for them.”

Joubert Botha

 “It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes, everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed, is you.”

Eric Roth

“You will never completely be at home again because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”

Miriam Adeney

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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The Rescue

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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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