Solace and Inspiration
I often find solace and inspiration in the words and works of others. They create a springboard to hope and renewed energy.
Here are a couple of recent gems:
While the news often features the worst of humanity, there are a billion acts of human kindness every hour of every day! Take another breath and sense this truth.
-Jack Kornfield-
It’s the chill air, say the scientists,
that allows the nose to delineate
the musky smell of autumn,
not like the warm summer air
that traps and mashes
all the aromatic molecules together.
No, it’s the constricting nature of cold
that lets us pick out the sweet loam
of dried grass and peaty scent of sugars
breaking down in the leaves.
But it’s memory that says,
Isn’t this smell wonderful.
It’s the amygdala that relates it
to the childhood joy
of skipping through gutters of oak leaves
and the adult joy of jumping
in great piles of cottonwood leaves
with my son.
In this golden moment,
I’m every age I’ve ever been in the fall,
and every version of me basks
in low autumn light. This is how
I breathe in the fragrance of death
and decay and moldering,
and think isn’t it wonderful, this life.
-Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer-
A billion acts of kindness every hour of every day? Wow! I can contribute a few more. Those small kindnesses may not make news headlines, but they can headline how I choose to be and interact with others.
Fall is my favorite season. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer’s poem sparked my senses and tapped into a range of emotions. “Isn’t it wonderful, this life.” Indeed, it is.
Today, in the darkness of early morning, after listening to a meditation track about manifesting my goals, I looked up to the ceiling and saw this amazing play of light from our patio and the panels on the shade of the sliding glass door. I found my own solace and inspiration.
Today is a new day. Be here. Lean into kindness and awe.
Patio lights and shade panels created this mesmerizing geometric design show on the ceiling.
