The Eyes of the Heart…
“Whatever we are waiting for – peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance – will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.” —Sarah Ban Breathnach
Immersed in the preparation and waiting of the time of Advent, I also find myself preparing my heart and soul for whatever 2025 will bring.
The heart’s capacity for seeking, seeing, and finding the good feel important for both endeavors. If we are to fully live and make the most of what’s before us, the heart points the way.
What essential gifts of peace of mind, love, joy, and hope might your heart discern are available to you now? How might you increase your heart’s capacity for finding these blessed gifts in times of stress or worry about the future?
Seeking moments of silence, meditating, walking in the woods, laughing with friends, and more are not just nice things to do, they are crucial for navigating the rapid twists and turns of these times. No matter the holiday to-do list, can you carve out time for these things and see them not as selfish moments, but critical to your well-being?
In the hectic days of the season of light, may you honor and bless your heart, so that it may see the way forward whenever your mind cannot.
The Best Things
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.”
—Helen Keller
My Heart
“My heart is like a singing bird.”
—Christina Rossetti
May you experience a joyful heart often throughout this Season of Light!
Under Heart-Shaped Leaves
The Buddha gave
84,000 teachings to one
hundred enlightened monks.
Inscribed, thirty decades after
memorized time.
The Buddha understood the nature
of mind, some needed a scholarly
labyrinth to unwind; other’s simply
a word to ride on the breath. So
I say to you: follow what is true
and orchid soft to you. Not that I
am against the scrubbing, scrutinizing
the mind, that is noble and wise (sometimes).
But first take a good seat. Reside with a
posture of dignity, with ease on your insides.
Root your pelvis into worm rich soil. Let your
heart be steeped. Invite your eyes to call off
the search. In the fields of space between
each letter, each word, lay down.
This is how to be a light.
This is how to be a bloom in the compost.
This is what I know to be true: Life is
made of roadkill and rubble.
But then there are the 17-year cicadas,
nestled in the dark humus, newly emerged,
blanketing cars and trees and concrete
Garden Buddhas, singing their siren, sacred.
—Winifred Nimrod
One of top ten finalist poems of the Thriving Today Poetry Contest. After sharing with you the five winning poems these past few weeks, we’re thrilled to close out our year of focus on Thriving Together with the remaining top ten finalists of our poetry contest. Enjoy!
