Monday Mindfulness

Cultivating Strength, Joy, Calm & Resilience


Leave a comment

Night follies

Tossing and turning

to release the entanglements,

the incomplete exchanges,

the charges,

the depletions,

the crossings,

taking from,

or rejecting

others

and self.

Battling in the darkness

the shame

and judgment

of the weaknesses,

mistakes,

and stuckness.

Playing the game

of loathing,

disaappintment,

protection,

defeat,

revenge,

in my sleep.

All the while knowing that whatever happened yesterday does not decide today.  

No matter the outcome of the dreams or circumstances of before,

I will awake to a whole new tomorrow,

another opportunity to play.


Leave a comment

Conviction

If our morals and beliefs suggest that we should all

love,

support,

and guide one another,

then wouldn’t true,

authentic

moral conviction

show up in the form of

grace

and forgiveness,

not shackles?

A calling back of the misguided to the embrace of

patience and gentleness,

not humiliation

and chastisement.

The invitation

to not be isolated,

but to come closer.

To take accountability.

To grieve in communion

for the loss

of others wounded by their actions

and

for their own internal suffering.

To wail in the arms of

a community

that shoulders mistakes,

missteps,

and misdeeds,

with understanding and humility,

no matter how egregious

on the surface.

To shed tears together to cleanse,

not punish,

embrace,

not discard,

teach,

not convict.


Leave a comment

Showing up

I can.

I will.

I am.

Because someone needs it.

My voice,

my intellect,

my pulchritude,

my courage,

my strength,

my kindness,

my grace,

deserve to be

seen,

heard,

felt,

held.

I will make a big, beautiful, bold, magnificent mark on the world…

Because I already have.

Flock to my greatness.

Celebrate me.

Show me pure,

authentic,

loyal,

sweet,

daring,

unconditional love,

the same way I am showing up for you in this world.


Leave a comment

Flowering

It’s exhausting,

this blooming all the time.

Extracting every nutrient from my veins,

drawing and expending all the energy from my roots.

In my weakest and most depleted state,

this is when I am celebrated and noticed most,

colorful, exotic, intricate, beautiful.

Please stop seeking and suggesting my flowering as a sign of my flourishing.

Please applaud me as I hibernate, drop my leaves, and recoil into my quiet greening.

Please see my faded and dying petals as a sign of my capacity to grow.

Allow me to impress you not by blossoming,

but by being.


Leave a comment

Standing At The Gate

Loss and grief are proof that you have loved.

Love is the gateway to joy,

joy to peace.

You have loved and

known the essence of being loved.

Let the suffering move through you.

Rip yourself open with this grief.

Purify yourself with tears.

Beat your fists on the ground.

Pound your aching heart.

Take and give every punch with gratitude.

Shatter the barrier to feeling it all.

In the shallows of this darkness that accompany the pain,

Let every pain pour out.

Drop for a moment into the stillness,

this vast emptiness your refuge.

And, just as suddenly as the suffering began, a small space,

cleansed by your tears,

and broken open through your courage,

will begin to fill with sweetness, softness, kindness.

A slow, gradual unfolding will take place

as joy reveals itself

shyly,

purely,

authentically,

and more richly

than ever before,

because you have loved

and are willing to love and be loved again.


Leave a comment

Flourishing

Are the flowers each their own?

Are their petals each their own?

To whom do the seeds and leaves belong?

Do they come together to complete the plant?

Is the plant completing them?

Are the flowers extensions of the plant?

Could one survive without the other?

Each part grows uniquely,

in its own special way,

and still, they all contribute to something bigger.

Each part is invited to do their own work,

and to serve one another.

Each part seems separate

and yet only together

do they truly flourish.


Leave a comment

Dearest One

Don’t wait for them to see the richness and uniqueness – see it yourself…

Unwind your tangled perception of you…

Enjoy the where you are and the where you will be, each full of challenges and delights…

Please love yourself just a little more…you are harder on yourself than anyone else ever could be…

Do all things because they feel good and nurture you not because they are “right” or provide a shield from the deep dark thoughts and feelings that face you…

Fearlessly take the hands of hurt and pain and walk with them for a bit, let them guide you out of the darkness until together you find the space to release each other…

Take your time in the process of caring for you above all else…slow down and tend to each and every element of you as if massaging a baby tenderly with the balm of divine love…

Feel grateful for the ease and healing in every breathe…

Move your body with the joy and freedom it was designed for…

You, my friend, are made of love and all those with truest loving eyes will see that and that is all that matters…

Turn your truest loving eyes towards your own heart and hold it sweetly, love it dearly, and this will be enough.

Photo compliments of Pauline Campbell.


Leave a comment

Repair

We are wired for connection…to thrive these connections must be established, mended, and maintained.

To Establish requires the courage to welcome something new and possibly quite uncomfortable.

To Mend calls upon our capacity to heal hurts and embrace the pains of growing.

To Maintain is the essence of flexibility and fortitude.

We watch and encourage the healing of the wounded body – its powerful transformation and rebirth, over and over again, ever celebrating its capacity to establish, mend, and maintain.

If only the heart and mind were afforded such a generous space of repair and connection.


Leave a comment

Sheer Connectedness

Sometimes I just don’t realize the sheerness of the stories I wear.

How they seem to protect me and at the same time be filled with holes.

I wear them to create a sense of separateness, of control, and the ability to shield myself from others.

I can never truly hide from that connection. A part of me will always remain exposed.

Perhaps a part of me pokes out beyond the edge hoping to be seen so that I can come out from under the stories.

When the veil of story is pulled back authentic, vulnerable, unfiltered connectedness can begin.


Leave a comment

As The Wind Blows

I am made of grace

Flowing and free

A mystery force

Unseen yet felt

Barreling through corridors

Softly pressing against your body

Making my way.

Often unnoticed

Unappreciated

Lonely at times

Ignored unless I rage

Stoking flames

Tipping trees

Whipping myself around wildly

Roaring in your ears.

Do you notice my work

Clearing old leaves from the trees,

Making wild flowers dance,

Brightening your cheeks?

Or are you only frustrated

As I muss your hair,

Push against you,

Rip through your windows?

Invite me in,

Swirl with me,

Experience my grace as your own.

Help me avoid the need to burst into flames

Or wither to nothing just to be noticed,

To feel connected to you.

Honor not just my ferociousness

But the power in my grace.