-
Looking up or down?
You…
…today,
looking up or down?
(That's the short version of today's post. Here is the long one.)
If you're feeling good today, happy and cheerful, be sure to share that
somehow, because you never know how much a heartfelt smile might mean to
someone, how just a smile can save a life.
If you're not feeling happy or cheerful, breathe that in
and try to connect to other people who aren't feeling happy,
who are probably trying to figure out why, and how to "fix"
or get rid of it somehow.
If you sit with the feeling and trust that it will pass,
(and you know it will),
at the end of that you will be softer, because you made the
friendship with yourself stronger.
Instead of rejecting that part of yourself, you have
embraced it and your shadow grows smaller
and your heart grows bigger.
So, up or down,
It's still you there,
and you're fine,
right where you are.
( I am borrowing from the archives of Laine's Blog. This post is from the first month of my blog, October, 2011, and it speaks for me today.)
(This week will be a walk down memory lane for Laine's blog. Hope that you enjoy it.)
-
…go to the beach.
-
So, over the weekend I had a stomach bug
and I think that it warped my sense of humor.
The photo that was supposed to go with, Famous Last Words, was this one,
but when I saw the armadillo, I thought it was so cute that I ran with it.
Not only that, I forgot that Monday was Earth Day, and only remembered when I went to Publix to buy groceries
and the paper bags were decorated by the local elementary school kids and they were wonderful!
Well, duh, I still didn't do an Earth Day post, so here it is.
This is an excerpt from a Nikos Kazantzakis novel, St. Francis.
I have had it committed to memory for the better part of my life,
and still love it for the simple way that it celebrates our beautiful and surprising planet.
Here it is:
There once was an ascetic who died and mounted to Heaven.
He fell deep into God's embrace.
He had found the perfect beatitude.
One day however he leaned over and spied the earth and one green leaf.
'Lord, let me leave,' he said,
'let me leave and touch that green leaf.'
HAPPY HAPPY EARTH DAY!
LOVE THIS PLANET AND EACH OTHER AND THE LOVE WILL GROW AND GROW AND GROW!
-
"Watch this!"
(Apologies to all the armadillos who end up as road kill.
Here's hoping that it is always an adventure for each and every one of you.)
Famous last words seen on a patch on a biker babe's jacket.
See also Cat Meets Armadillo here.
Related articles
-
If I could make a poem of you
it would be the most beautiful poem alive.
Your love is like a balm to my heart
urging me to thrive.
Poem by Libby Quinn, written for her husband, Jim.
Thanks Libby, for sharing your heart.
-
What I have been trying not to say out loud,
is that there are blessings or gifts hidden in tragedies,
and these gifts may not be obvious for some time to come,
but they are there.
If we can make a commitment not to let the anger and helplessness
allow us to disconnect,
and instead turn to our friends and families,
and really see them in that deep way that keeps love alive.
Then that compassion spreads to our neighbors, and the person behind the counter,
and we become part of the force that moves us away from the madness,
and towards creating a loving and compassionate world.
Be gentle with each other and kind and open.
-
Messy days.
Busy days.
Messy house.
(Messy palm.)
Palm tree, posterized etc. for fun!
Where are our poets? Time is running out. Poems for April, National Poetry Month. Send yours to: laine@lainesblog.com soon…
-
The yellow flowers that grow on the vine that reaches for the heavens,
are back
and bigger than ever.
Each morning there is a bouquet of them on my deck.
Gifts from the gods!
-
Is the world upside down?
Lainesblog Thinking Out Loud
Gleanings From Living Long
Lainesblog Thinking Out Loud 