a step towards peace......

“the simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. a persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that

places harmony in one's life."

~ peace pilgrim

wishing you peace and well-being on this cold winter's day......

ball's shoe shop

"the shoe that fits one person pinches another;

there is no recipe for living

that suits all cases."

~ carl gustav jung

chasing shadows

"a shadow cannot ignore the sun that all day creates and moves it."

~ rumi

no sun today to create..... or chase around.... shadows

spent my day in a bone chilling rain

i'm blessed to be able to come home

to a warm house

and a good cup

of joe......

the phoenix has risen!

what an absolutely BEAUTIFUL morning! i'm sitting on my porch with a great cup of joe....listening to a kzillion happy birds....and watching the sun rise. this day zeros out being sick for the last week......and even though my house looks like resurrection city......guess who's spending this awesome day OUTSIDE................

heartfelt......

"the best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.....

they must be felt with the heart."

~ helen keller

wishing you a happy valentine's day........

dancing........

"every tree and plant in the meadow seemed to be dancing...

those with average eyes

would see as

fixed and still."

~ jalal al-din rumi

being among nature's gifts

makes my soul dance.......

calming the volcano......

"if your heart is a volcano....

how shall you expect

flowers to bloom?"

~kahlil gibran

i find that photography calms the volcano

in my heart....

a single step......

"the longest journey begins with a single step... not with a turn of the ignition key."

~edward abbey

consumed by silence.....

i have spent this last week consumed by silence. i sometimes wear silence like a shield.....i've found that most people recognize it as such and will honor the unspoken request to be left alone. these are the times that i fight the voice whispering in my ear to flee....where to...i haven't got a clue.....just that i need to go...away.....alone....searching.... for what...again....not a clue....just....something... always the seeker...filled with a wanderlust so strong that my body aches....the gypsy blood pulsing through my veins like a madness....seducing me to forsake family and friends to seek some higher life...

i become introspective during these times....devouring books by the dozens...looking for answers to my unknown questions....i anesthetize myself with alcohol.....overindulge in foods....self destruct....self destruct....self destruct....until i wake up shaking....bleary eyed....weak.....to a new day....and the sun is shining......and i'm still here.....where i'm expected to be. i'll rise....put on my mask....once more....quell my gypsy soul...and return to the drudgery of being my unauthenic self......

each time i resist the call.... i fade a little more.....dimmer...and.... dimmer...extinquishing the fire of my soul....bit by bit...knowing in my heart that if i don't feed that fire...then...one day... all that will be left will be charred...blackened pieces of who i was supposed to be....

and to that woman i want to say.......forgive me.

my sacred space......

lakota prayer

wakan tanka... great mystery

teach me how to trust

my heart

my mind

my intuition

my inner knowing

the senses of my body

the blessings of my spirit.

teach me to trust these things

so that i may enter my sacred space

and love beyond my fear

and thus walk in balance

with the passing of each glorious sun.

according to the native people... the sacred space is the space

between exhalation and inhalation.

to walk in balance is to have heaven (spirituality)

and earth (physicality) in harmony.

praying for harmony

seeking peace

still.....

the crazy ones......

here’s to the crazy ones...

the misfits... the rebels... the troublemakers.

the round pegs in the square holes.

the ones who see things differently.

they’re not fond of rules...

and they have no respect for the status quo.

you can praise them...disagree with them...quote them...

disbelieve them...glorify or vilify them.

about the only thing you can’t do is ignore them...

because they change things.

they invent...they imagine...they heal...

they explore...they create...they inspire.

they push the human race forward.

maybe they have to be crazy...

how else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?

or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

while some may see them as the crazy ones...

we see genius.

because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world...

are the ones who do.


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quietly listening to my heart.......

"listen to your heart....it knows all things....because it came from the Soul of the World...and it will one day return there. wherever your heart is....that is where you'll find your treasure."



"my heart is afraid that it will have to suffer........."



"fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself...no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.....because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity."



"there is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure."



"when you want something....all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."

~ paulo coelho......the alchemist

this book..........another sign from the universe that i'm on the right path in my journey...the words are coursing through my blood..... with each beat of my knowing heart.....sending this seeker forward....staring down the eyes of fear.....for....."fear evaporates when we understand that our life stories and the history of the world were written by the same hand........"

namaste - i honor your spirit which is also in me

breaking of the bread

a proverbial "breaking of the bread" this cold sunday morning.............my own special church...

it's not the barley or the wheat

it's not the oven or the heat

that makes this bread so good to eat

it's the needing and the sharing

that makes the meal complete

~ unk

a franciscan benediction

a franciscan benediction

may god bless you with DISCOMFORT at

easy answers, half-truths, and superficial

relationships so that you may live deep

within your heart.

may god bless you with ANGER at injustice,

oppression, and exploitation of people so that

you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

may god bless you with TEARS to shed for

those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation,

and war, so that you may reach out your hand

to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

and may god bless you with enough FOOLISHNESS

to believe that you can make a difference in this world

so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

on this bitter cold winters night..... i am blessed with discomfort....anger....tears....and foolishness....and know in my heart that it's all a part of a greater plan for my life..... a metamorphosis...as i climb the precipitous roads on my journey to peace....the summit is ever in the distance....but it's there.....and i continue my pilgrimage........

the need for silence

"see how nature.....trees...flowers...grass....grows in silence.....see the stars....the moon...and the sun....how they move in silence....we need silence to be able to touch souls." ~ mother teresa

chosen

the universe is whispering
in my ear
it’s words
coursing through my blood
i lay down my sword
bow my head
arms lifted
supplication
love


i drink the message
intoxicated
humbled
fall
to my knees
gratitude
blessed
beyond words
indeed


i have been chosen
to serve
you
the universe
has gleamed
the way
mold me
shape me
breathe greatness
into my life
i am your clay

life's journey

"all of life is a journey....which paths we take....what we look back on....and what we look forward to....is up to us. we determine our destination....what kind of road we will take to get there...and how happy we are when we get there." ~ bob moawad

i love this view.........every time i travel this road..... it calls my name...........

listening to shadows

listening to shadows

sometimes
on quiet nights
you walk
across my heart
your whispering tread
playing
a staccato
of memories
within my head

when the footsteps fade
and we’re…. again
apart
i sip wine
listen to shadows
and the rending of my heart…

the journey

the journey

one day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice ....

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"mend my life!"

each voice cried.

but you didn't stop.

you knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

it was already late enough,

and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

but little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do ...

determined to save

the only life you could save.

~ mary oliver ~

a grey winters day........

grey days always find me quieter than usual....i tend to fold in on myself....not so much gloomy...or depressed....but...reflective....contemplative.....philosophical...

perhaps these are the times that my inner psyche is recharging .....a small holiday from the many daily wars i wage with myself...

i pulled over at this boat landing between calls today and drank in the grey dullness of the water.... while the rain poured in the window of my car.....even on this bone chilling...rainy day.... being near water nourished my soul.....as the crows sang to me a cacophony song of peace....