Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


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Unearthing

Murky are the surface waters,

Cold and dark, the mud feels heavy.

Abundant are the obstacles to expanding outward.

Unforgiving crevices entice, yet lead nowhere.

Solitary feels this existence.

And still it is called home.

An unknown force – courage perhaps – fuels a simple cell to activate.

A small stirring and restriction becomes the road map.

Containment provides clarity.

Movement replaces stagnation.

This incubation over.

Growth has begun.

Subtly and silently, a leaf

and then a petal.

More and more petals.

Surfacing.

Outstretching.

Unfolding.

Without ceremony.

So Beautiful.

The blossoming that reveals itself from under the mud and muck.


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Excitement

It begins with a small sliver,

Cresting the horizon.

Barely noticeable at first,

There is a stirring.

Sparks popcorn through the air.

A simultaneous stillness

Accompanied by a deep and profound desire to dance.

Masked by trees, clouds,

And preoccupied vision,

She goes unnoticed at first,

Simply climbing, filling, growing,

Not making any promises 

Not asking to be seen.

The wise ones feel her arrival.

And whether attuned or not,

prepared or not, 

receptive or not,

She makes her presence known.

Slowly shining more and more brightly,

Occupying more and more space,

Until she cannot be ignored

She ripples through your veins,

She invites wonder and awe.

She offers a compass point through the darkness,

Never imposing a path,

Simply holding the space,

Subtly encouraging your heart

To unlock in ways

Never imagined.

Photo by Jean McDonald


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Revolution

Newness and unfamiliarity

fuel curiosity.

Forward momentum guides creativity. 

Acceptance reveals the path to joy.

Growth is the gift of change.


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The Space Between

Where the wind blows,

light dances

and shadows meander.

The trees sway and grass grows.

Raindrops fall.

The heart beats.

The body feels.

The mind rambles.

Quiet calls.

Stillness and movement reconcile.

This is where grace lives

and love persists.


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Discarded

Alone, 

it rested 

below the fresh 

and blossoming 

bouquet, 

forgotten, 

dropped. 

As if it’s work was done,

the petal fell, 

tired, 

heavy, 

worn.

It left the collective

where it had so faithfully held on,

believing that its beauty lay

in its contribution.

It could hold on no more.

It had to drop away. 

It had to pull apart.

In its moment of letting go 

and seeming it was done,

that petal 

became 

its most beautiful 

version 

of itself.


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At the root of it all

I can no more be in or out of love 

than I can be in or out of my body,

or my breath.

Love is not something temporary,

to be chased,

or clung to.

Love is the essence of freedom,

self expression, and connection.

Love is a state of being

that allows all else to exist.


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Ready

Blustery cold takes my breath away.

Frozen, alone, confined to the space of myself.

Sharing my dreams with the walls, longing for the door to open.

Holding on to hope.

Awaiting that precious moment when fingers thaw and

hearts warm.

when the wind carries through the windows the fresh scent of renewal.

Expanding into the sun, 

into my knowing 

my power,

my love,

Into the garden of

wholeness

where I find myself

shedding the cold confinement,

ready to dance,


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And

Where does it end,

the light from the sun 

the light of the moon, 

the dark of the shadows

the vastness of the sky,

cold of winter,

unfurling of spring?

Where is the line 

that separates joy 

from sorrow,

excitement 

from fear?

What fills the space between earth and sky?

Is it my heart?

My body?

My breath?

In my mind I struggle 

to find a separation,

an either or,

a division,

a moment,

where one exists without the other.

I cannot 

and therefore 

I cannot regret.

I cannot long.

I cannot judge,

right or wrong.

I cannot reject sorrow 

or long for joy.

I cannot suffer in darkness or immerse myself fully in light.

I am made of it all.

It is all in me.

Or is none of it?

I am the space that fills 

the space between.

I am the end of light,

the beginning of dark.

I am all of the joy and filled with sorrow.

I am the convergence of earth and sky. 

I am the meeting place for it all.

I am the “and.”


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Anticipation

Bursting with excitement.

Tempted by fear.

To hold back.

To bring less of my

intelligence,

beauty,

creativity,

power

so as not to overwhelm them.

But they feel it anyway.

They want it.

And there is a good chance they won’t be able to handle it.

But that shouldn’t stop me

from being all that I am.

My allness

is ready

to bloom,

in all

of

its

magnificence.