Thinking of how brief my life is compared to the life of the Universe helps me to want to take advantage of this brief flash of my life and awakens me to the miracle of it.
My breathe and my senses, and my being remind me of the miracle of simply being alive for which I am grateful to be present at this particular place I live in the common household of earth. To breath without any struggles is a blessing not to be taken lightly and to see other beings breathing and using their senses to demonstrate their aliveness and gratefulness. For example, the song of birds in the early morning hours giving thanks for their aliveness even though I cannot see the movement of their breath. To be touch deeply in my body by the sound of laughter and cries, feel the differences between the temperature of the weather or the coldness of the water and the warm air when I am swimming and be elated by both experiences, to experience the love of stranger and friends and realize our common goal on earth and let me drop my walls to receive the gift and give the gift, to smell the scent of familiar objects or beings and remind me of impermanence’s of beings and objects or take me down memory lane that I have forgotten, to taste and savor food and drinks that transport me to those who have labored to bring all the ingredients together to make this unique food or drink at that moment, to keep learning and be open about my senses, …. Mary Oliver’s poem “The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac” – the third act. I AM IN AWE TO BE AT THIS MOMENT.
Yes,
thank you,
dear S R,
for your response
and for pointing us to Mary Oliver,
who has been a poet I admire deeply.
I also subscribe to Maria Popova’s
‘The Marinalian’,
who always puts forth
beautiful wisdom
and creative hope.
Thank you so much . . .♥
It’s been interesting to read and contemplate these questions every morning with you all – as I’ve done for years – in the midst of the fire evacuations in Los Angeles. To be reminded in such a personal way that while there is still beauty and peace (internally and externally) there is also destruction and chaos. All at the same time. Our home is standing but the profound devastation of this beautiful place is beyond comprehension. Bless you all and grateful for the inspiration always.
When the news came over from the devastating fire and to imagine what this means to the people who lived there in a beautiful area which now is largely in ashes is just awful, losing everything. My heart goes out to you and the many fellow human beings who are literally left with nothing, and even more with the families who had lost a dear one. My prayers will be with them. May you and all the affected fellow people be held in His Peace and Love.
I’m so sorry that you’re going through that, Carly. The things my sister has told me about the area along with what I’ve seen on TV are more than most of us could fathom. Sending blessings your way, too.
Waking up to a new day. Watching the snow pile up outside my window and back yard, and not needing to walk out in it. Grateful for the beauty and the safety of staying indoors.
It doesn’t take much for me to be in touch with how fortunate I am to be here, now, in this place, breathing, heart beating, sensing, existing, and aware of my place in the universe.
Anything and everything I pause to give my attention to reminds me of the miracle of simply being alive.
Thinking of the gajillions of nano-sized events in the chain that led to me being here, today, typing on this old laptop, leaves me stunned with amazement. Stephen Jay Gould’s book Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History gave me a sense of that as he traces the evolutionary path and the forms of life that could have been, and aren’t. I’m the product of coincidence plus chance times infinity. Isn’t that amazing?
The smell of the air outside, the power of human connectivity, the stars that light the night sky, the beauty of ocean waves that meet the shore, and my dog who loves me unconditionally.
Outside with Mother Nature.
The cold air on my face.
Staring at the moon & all the stars above & Venus, Jupiter & Mars. So stunning.
Sipping my warm coffee & having toast.❤️
I reread my post from yesterday and realized that in the cutting and pasting process of bringing the story from FACEBOOK to the gratefulness daily question site, I accidentally erased my introduction to it. I did not write that story about the woman and her daughter at the airport nor had the privilege of that encounter personally. Like all who responded to my post, I was deeply moved when I read the story on FACEBOOK and wanted to share it with you. The English Literature site where I read it did not credit an author so I don’t know who wrote it but agree with all of you who were moved by it that it is an inspiration.
Now, for today’s question,I find that the “miracle of simply being alive” is always sustained by relationships. My relationship to myself, to others, to nature and to my understanding of God. I share a morning meditation I wrote about “relationships” in 2022.
Meds Nov 1 2022 Relationships
What are some lessons I have learned from my relationships?
Several years ago I worked on a retreat team and our spiritual director use to say, “There is nothing more real than a relationship.” I found that saying troublesome. What did he mean? I have come to the conclusion that he was attempting to plant a seed of awareness in us. He wanted us to realize that we are in a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual relationship with our concept of a higher power, with our planet, with each other and with ourselves. In my life, sometimes these relationships have been healthy and sometimes they have not but the opportunity to learn and grow is always there. Poet, playwright, and author James Baldwin said, “People can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life…You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.” I think my biggest lesson has been to learn to trust and value my life. I’ve learned that if I can remain patient with life, it will show me a constructive way to proceed. Sometimes, the answer comes directly into my brain; sometimes it comes through another human being; sometimes it comes through the natural world (especially when I can remember that I to am part of the natural world); and many times it comes from the willingness to be a participant observer. I allow a piece of me to step back and watch. It helps me own my thoughts, feelings and actions. I’m very fond of the word, Lord. It’s my personification of this trust I have nurtured. When I traced the etymology of the word, “Lord,” I learned that the Lord was the bread giver, the one who offered sustenance to the people and so my prayers for wisdom often begin with the word, “Lord.” Also, in my experience, the saying: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” comes to mind. Sometimes it is a fellow human, sometimes it is a book or a poem, sometimes it seems like an arid wasteland. Whatever I need to wake up a little more fully is given when I am willing to have eyes to see and ears to hear so that I may be healed. All of this said, I am very aware that I do not do anything alone.
For me, it varies on the day. Last night, I went out dancing and the band was finishing up their last song with a fast tempo and my and my friend just jumped around and danced until the end. We both laughed and said we had a good time. A few days ago, I went shopping and had conversations with random folks. Talked about dairy intolerance with one girl and met a man from Guatemala who used to grow his coffee beans. Earlier, I was reading a book and felt a rush of emotions afterwards. The chapter helped me process somethings and I had to simply lay my head down and cry. These examples were moments of pure awareness, leading me to experience the miracle of simply being alive. It really is in the little moments y’all, where you feel the joy and magic of the human experience. And for that, I am grateful. 🧡
I view nature as a miracle
So much quiet beauty, majesty.
Trees
;, mountains, plant life.
And the sky , ever changing,
(sun year round in Florida)
always amazes me.
God’s art.
The ocean is wondrous,
waves of salt water crashing or gently rolling,
water as far as the eye can see.
The depth and breadth of the ocean,
miraculous.
And then to look at a new born,
a true miracle of perfection.
I can hardly look away.
Fresh from mother’s womb,
All innocence.
Eyes, ears, nose, lips, fingers,
so tiny, delicate,
yet ready to perceive the world.
Nature
and all creatures of the earth.
All miracles.
Simply waking up in the morning. Sleep is strange. Does anyone really know what happens when we sleep, beyond some basic information about brain waves and so on? I don’t even understand my own body beyond the basics. Why would it not fail in my sleep? Such questions cause me to see waking up as something beyond my grasp to understand, which feels miraculous.
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Looking down at my hands and making fists over and over again. I’m here. I’m alive.
Experiencing all my senses each and every day. The feeling of being healthy and finding many joys in life!
Swimming today ! Lovey day!
Thinking of how brief my life is compared to the life of the Universe helps me to want to take advantage of this brief flash of my life and awakens me to the miracle of it.
My breathe and my senses, and my being remind me of the miracle of simply being alive for which I am grateful to be present at this particular place I live in the common household of earth. To breath without any struggles is a blessing not to be taken lightly and to see other beings breathing and using their senses to demonstrate their aliveness and gratefulness. For example, the song of birds in the early morning hours giving thanks for their aliveness even though I cannot see the movement of their breath. To be touch deeply in my body by the sound of laughter and cries, feel the differences between the temperature of the weather or the coldness of the water and the warm air when I am swimming and be elated by both experiences, to experience the love of stranger and friends and realize our common goal on earth and let me drop my walls to receive the gift and give the gift, to smell the scent of familiar objects or beings and remind me of impermanence’s of beings and objects or take me down memory lane that I have forgotten, to taste and savor food and drinks that transport me to those who have labored to bring all the ingredients together to make this unique food or drink at that moment, to keep learning and be open about my senses, …. Mary Oliver’s poem “The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac” – the third act. I AM IN AWE TO BE AT THIS MOMENT.
Yes,
thank you,
dear S R,
for your response
and for pointing us to Mary Oliver,
who has been a poet I admire deeply.
I also subscribe to Maria Popova’s
‘The Marinalian’,
who always puts forth
beautiful wisdom
and creative hope.
Thank you so much . . .♥
Thank you for pointing me to that Mary Oliver poem! I hadn’t read it before. Found it in a piece on The Marginalian, which does such a wonderful job of honoring creativity and placing it in a larger context. https://www.themarginalian.org/2015/02/09/mary-oliver-blue-horses-fourth-sign-of-the-zodiac/
Yes, Thank You.
Thanks, Barb
It’s been interesting to read and contemplate these questions every morning with you all – as I’ve done for years – in the midst of the fire evacuations in Los Angeles. To be reminded in such a personal way that while there is still beauty and peace (internally and externally) there is also destruction and chaos. All at the same time. Our home is standing but the profound devastation of this beautiful place is beyond comprehension. Bless you all and grateful for the inspiration always.
Sending loving kindness to you and your family.
…beauty and peace
in the midst of destruction and chaos . . .
a paradox of seeming opposites… ♥
It truly is heart breaking to see the pictures.
So thankful that you are still in your home. Sending loving energy your way.
When the news came over from the devastating fire and to imagine what this means to the people who lived there in a beautiful area which now is largely in ashes is just awful, losing everything. My heart goes out to you and the many fellow human beings who are literally left with nothing, and even more with the families who had lost a dear one. My prayers will be with them. May you and all the affected fellow people be held in His Peace and Love.
I’m so sorry that you’re going through that, Carly. The things my sister has told me about the area along with what I’ve seen on TV are more than most of us could fathom. Sending blessings your way, too.
Waking up to a new day. Watching the snow pile up outside my window and back yard, and not needing to walk out in it. Grateful for the beauty and the safety of staying indoors.
It doesn’t take much for me to be in touch with how fortunate I am to be here, now, in this place, breathing, heart beating, sensing, existing, and aware of my place in the universe.
Anything and everything I pause to give my attention to reminds me of the miracle of simply being alive.
Thinking of the gajillions of nano-sized events in the chain that led to me being here, today, typing on this old laptop, leaves me stunned with amazement. Stephen Jay Gould’s book Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History gave me a sense of that as he traces the evolutionary path and the forms of life that could have been, and aren’t. I’m the product of coincidence plus chance times infinity. Isn’t that amazing?
The smell of the air outside, the power of human connectivity, the stars that light the night sky, the beauty of ocean waves that meet the shore, and my dog who loves me unconditionally.
Outside with Mother Nature.
The cold air on my face.
Staring at the moon & all the stars above & Venus, Jupiter & Mars. So stunning.
Sipping my warm coffee & having toast.❤️
I reread my post from yesterday and realized that in the cutting and pasting process of bringing the story from FACEBOOK to the gratefulness daily question site, I accidentally erased my introduction to it. I did not write that story about the woman and her daughter at the airport nor had the privilege of that encounter personally. Like all who responded to my post, I was deeply moved when I read the story on FACEBOOK and wanted to share it with you. The English Literature site where I read it did not credit an author so I don’t know who wrote it but agree with all of you who were moved by it that it is an inspiration.
Now, for today’s question,I find that the “miracle of simply being alive” is always sustained by relationships. My relationship to myself, to others, to nature and to my understanding of God. I share a morning meditation I wrote about “relationships” in 2022.
Meds Nov 1 2022 Relationships
What are some lessons I have learned from my relationships?
Several years ago I worked on a retreat team and our spiritual director use to say, “There is nothing more real than a relationship.” I found that saying troublesome. What did he mean? I have come to the conclusion that he was attempting to plant a seed of awareness in us. He wanted us to realize that we are in a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual relationship with our concept of a higher power, with our planet, with each other and with ourselves. In my life, sometimes these relationships have been healthy and sometimes they have not but the opportunity to learn and grow is always there. Poet, playwright, and author James Baldwin said, “People can’t, unhappily, invent their mooring posts, their lovers and their friends, anymore than they can invent their parents. Life gives these and also takes them away and the great difficulty is to say Yes to life…You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.” I think my biggest lesson has been to learn to trust and value my life. I’ve learned that if I can remain patient with life, it will show me a constructive way to proceed. Sometimes, the answer comes directly into my brain; sometimes it comes through another human being; sometimes it comes through the natural world (especially when I can remember that I to am part of the natural world); and many times it comes from the willingness to be a participant observer. I allow a piece of me to step back and watch. It helps me own my thoughts, feelings and actions. I’m very fond of the word, Lord. It’s my personification of this trust I have nurtured. When I traced the etymology of the word, “Lord,” I learned that the Lord was the bread giver, the one who offered sustenance to the people and so my prayers for wisdom often begin with the word, “Lord.” Also, in my experience, the saying: “When the student is ready, the teacher appears” comes to mind. Sometimes it is a fellow human, sometimes it is a book or a poem, sometimes it seems like an arid wasteland. Whatever I need to wake up a little more fully is given when I am willing to have eyes to see and ears to hear so that I may be healed. All of this said, I am very aware that I do not do anything alone.
this line really stood out to me-> ‘You have to go the way your blood beats.’ – thanks Carol 🙂
What a thoughtful,
beautiful meditation you have offered us,
dear Carol,
and it so much
resonates with me . . .♥
For me, it varies on the day. Last night, I went out dancing and the band was finishing up their last song with a fast tempo and my and my friend just jumped around and danced until the end. We both laughed and said we had a good time. A few days ago, I went shopping and had conversations with random folks. Talked about dairy intolerance with one girl and met a man from Guatemala who used to grow his coffee beans. Earlier, I was reading a book and felt a rush of emotions afterwards. The chapter helped me process somethings and I had to simply lay my head down and cry. These examples were moments of pure awareness, leading me to experience the miracle of simply being alive. It really is in the little moments y’all, where you feel the joy and magic of the human experience. And for that, I am grateful. 🧡
And to receive those moments, you are open, honest, and free…carry on Jennifer!💙
I view nature as a miracle
So much quiet beauty, majesty.
Trees
;, mountains, plant life.
And the sky , ever changing,
(sun year round in Florida)
always amazes me.
God’s art.
The ocean is wondrous,
waves of salt water crashing or gently rolling,
water as far as the eye can see.
The depth and breadth of the ocean,
miraculous.
And then to look at a new born,
a true miracle of perfection.
I can hardly look away.
Fresh from mother’s womb,
All innocence.
Eyes, ears, nose, lips, fingers,
so tiny, delicate,
yet ready to perceive the world.
Nature
and all creatures of the earth.
All miracles.
Simply waking up in the morning. Sleep is strange. Does anyone really know what happens when we sleep, beyond some basic information about brain waves and so on? I don’t even understand my own body beyond the basics. Why would it not fail in my sleep? Such questions cause me to see waking up as something beyond my grasp to understand, which feels miraculous.