Pondering Blog exploring lessons from life’s teachers
Sometimes my house screams: Message from my smoke alarm
Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo - I bow to the teachers in my life. I bow to divine guidance
Even or perhaps especially when it comes through my smoke alarm with an important message.
A Truthful life
I honor you little Janet. I hear your voice. I feel your pains. It’s okay to release your anger now so we can let it free - heal - forgive - and be at peace. And forgive yourself - forgive myself.
20 Breaths
I gently pushed off into the darkness - slowly frog-stroking away from shore,
stretching my arms and legs and moving through the darkness into the unknown,
now an ocean creature, through the cold, healing liquid.
for ten counts out
turning,
and ten counts back.
Lessons From Falling Down
Lessons from falling down. Sometimes in life — we fall. It can’t always be avoided. We can notice the conditions, give ourselves a warning and fall.
Sometimes I ask for help
I make messes. And then I clean them up.
Lessons from Food Services in Assisted Living
I didn’t know I would learn the names of so many people, get to know them - learn about their kids, their career, their life partners and the nicknames that their partner called them - like Honey Bun. Once when I called someone that - she told me that her deceased husband called her that - so we started calling each other Honey Bun.
Waiting for the bus - the bus that never comes
and I pedal
into a beautiful future
and never look back.
I Can’t. I Am. I Did. - Lessons from uncomfortable positions
Every dawn - I face discomfort head on. One minute each. Every morning. I start the day doing something that I think I can’t. This short, daily kriya is an important component of my spiritual healing practice. It represents life - Tackling what scares me the most. The things I don’t want to do - the parts of my self I don’t want to look at.
Grasshopper Lessons
On my vision quest, I had some quality time with grasshoppers.
Pushing Through: Stop
There was no room for ginger steps.
In the early years.
I had to push through.
But I don’t have to do that anymore.
I can stop pushing.
I can stop pushing.
I can walk gingerly.
and take care.
of my
self.
Lessons from KitKat - A Needy Cat
KitKat’s depth of need appears bottomless - perhaps that mirrors my own. As I take the time to love and comfort her - I take the time to love and comfort myself.
A Recurring Dream - A Gift with a Pretty Pink Ribbon
I like reoccurring dreams. I welcome them. Important information is delivered, like a present tied with a pretty pink ribbon. And if I don’t fully appreciate the gift, it’s given to me again and again.
Solo at Dawn
What color is the world today?
If You Give a Moose a Mantra Or Early Chanter Gets the Moose*
The sound of splintering trees roused me from my pre-dawn mantra on the front porch. Twigs snapping from across the street– was a tree falling down?
Salty Rivulets
Letting things go is hard for me. I look to the tide for comfort. It knows what it’s doing. It comes in and brings us gifts. It goes out and takes things away. In life, things come and they go. Some things on the beach aren’t meant to be there for long. In they come and out they go and it’s perfect. Like a tide. Like a sadhana. Like a breath.
Welcome to Rosehip26
I used to feel burdened by my imperfections – my mistakes -- my pain -- my shoulders sore, my brow worried. I was weighted by stones in my pockets. But over time, I’ve dropped those stones one by one. They sit by streams, under a fern and on a window sill. I still have one or two in my pocket and in my palm - for comfort. To hold onto.