so moving.

 

This may be one of the most powerful image I've have ever seen . I touches me in a deep soul moving way . Tears spring from not my eyes but from that deep well of compassion that is hard to put into words. Compassion yes but gratitude for this act of caring awakens in me of how the smallest act of caring helps another and moves me to new awareness of this need deeper into my being.I know I've tried to say what his means to me and it is really beyond words . May this photo move you as it has me. 

Progress not Perfection

I have found change can take time . When I find a defect that needs changing in me  , there seems to be a pattern in how I address it. When I entered AA , I was told in our Big Book that I was self centered run extreme that was not good news but I owned it . Now that I had been spiritual enlighted to a defect .It was not something I knew before that moment so none of that defect before I accept it should I cry over.I will make admends but I was not enlightened so as to beat nyself over it but to address it. I have found for me it has taken several years of doing that act before I can make great progress of correcting, From the first moment I continue doing this defect and then say to myself in amazement ,"  I can't believe I do that "! I had not realize it before that previous moment of clarity . Many moment of clarity become enlightenment. As the time passes I continue to make progress on a defect-Progress not perfection seems to be the rule.

Quiet

Finished "Walden" again . I love this book . It helps keep me center . I know it has it's faults but what it gives me negates them. I believe strongly in firm goals and goal settings .These are better set with a quiet center. An unbalanced center would seem to me to set chaotic goals.This is the first day of the rest of my life---YEA !!!!!!

Flowers within flower

                 
                                I love this photo . The purple bloom is less than a half inch across.

precious

Child of  God

The best lesson I ever got from oa was this. Are you ready? Whatever you see in someone else is in you .If you see preciousness it is in you or it would just go right over your head. You would not recognize it. So one day 20 years ago my grandson was lying on the floor too new even to turn over by himself .I was looking at him and I saw innocence and purity. this light went off in my head. I just saw innocence and purity so it must be in me or I could not have recognized it. I have claimed that ever since .I now have a switch in my head that goes :if I see someone and think she so sweet- the switch says : I'm sweet .I love the word precious. I'm precious - you are precious and my grandkids and yours become the key to understanding how wondrous we are. Neat ,huh ? Love to you precious wondrous little child of God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Small wild flower I saw this morning less than a half an inch.

Naked soul-Kazantzakis.

Copied this from "Zorba Te Greek" . I thought it was so beautiful. I love all of Kazantzakis books.

Purity

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

    

Zorba

I' m reading " Zorba " which I have read several times over the years . Many years ago I read identifying with the younger narrator of the story . This time I'm closer to Zorba's age and identify with him . Interesting to read same book from a very different perspective . It is kind of like my grieving for my Dad who was killed in WWll
in his twenties. I used to grieve for him as a loss of a Dad . He is frozen in time and now I look back and grieve for him as I would a child from dying so young and all he missed. Strange strange strange ! Read Zorba if you haven't-great! Also another book I love is " Life of Pi" -The movie cannot possible capture this wonderful tale !

Pets

I am house and pet sitting while my daughter and her family are on vacation. The needs of the pets for human contact always amazes me .I do not own a pet so to see this need is interesting .Many times I will close the door of the room in which I’m reading for I like my privacy too .At least three times a day I will sit in the living room where they can get to me and in no time flat they appear. The dog always comes first and all he wants is for me to pet him and to talk to him .Before long he is resting at my feet pushed up against my legs for contact .Next in a short time one of the two cats has arrived and gets in my lap. While I stroke him he starts a quiet purring I can feel. A side note : one cat I can hear purr and the other I can feel .The second cat on arrival ends up on my shoulder .At night I like to sleep on the couch in  the game room and this is our sleeping pattern dog at feet ,cat on my back and the other beside my head. I can tell they need this companionship and human contact. It is just a strange phenomenon to me. It is relaxing to me sitting for at least an hour three times day and not moving and relaxing my muscles and quieting my mind.

Self Potrait

We are like tenant farmers chopping down the fence around our house for fuel when we should be using Nature's inexhaustible sources of energy — sun, wind and tide. ... I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.
Thomas Edison

                  “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship”
                    ― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

                                         “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
                                           ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Donkey

I use a lot of sources for my recovery . I love the story in the old testament of God talking to Balaam through a donkey. I was going up and down the channels on TV and I heard a fundamentalist minister say this : Before God talked to Balaam through the donkey :The donkey was a donkey. While god was talking through the donkey : the donkey was a donkey and after God finished talking through the donkey the donkey was a donkey.Then he added because why didn't God talk directly to Balaam . The minister said because God likes to show us He talks to us through other things.So when people talk to me I listen because they may be my donkey . I don't care what they do before or afterwards. They are just a donkey. Same for me if I am lucky enough for God to talk through me . I am just the donkey . If I could ever say anything that helps you on your journey . Always remember I'm just the donkey . It is God talking to you . Also use what you can and leave the rest . Your heart will know what you need.

I like this also . If you were to take a sign pointing to Memphis  and take it to a lab and melt it down . Study all of it's components . You would not find Memphis . It is only a sign pointing to Memphis. Same with fables or the like . If you pick them apart  , You will not find the truth . They are only signs pointing to the truth.

Everyday I start my day by saying and claiming , " I am a beautiful precious child of God." I will tell you more about this later. You will not believe it at first , but it has worked for me . You are indeed  A beautiful precious child of God .

Let's be Honest

I like this saying I heard . " Honesty without understanding and compassion is not honesty at all but subtle hostility .” How many times have we heard ," Let me be honest with you ." You had better hold on to your head.

                                           Ode to Robert Crumb.One of my favorite artist.

Say Nothing Negative

Here is something I tried that changed my life .If I have anything negative to say to someone , I make myself wait twenty four hours . If there is any doubt as to whether I should say it . I wait another 24 hours  and there is always a doubt. At the end of the 48 hours .I have never found it necessary to say it . This includes spouses and children.

I love these blooms.1/2 inch across .

You may find the worst enemy or best friend in yourself.
English Proverb

Sick Opinion

I never accept a negative opinion of me from a sick person . How do you know recognize a sick person ? The minute they give me the negative opinion I know they are sick , because a healthy person will only build someone up or say nothing at all .

 Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.

ECKHART TOLLE, Stillness Speaks

Maureen found this in our flower bed this morning.Wing span at least five inches.such a beautiful design,

People often say that motivation doesn't last. Well, neither does bathing—that's why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar

                         “Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it”

           Like a graceful vase, a cat, even when motionless, seems to flow. - George F. William

 

 A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.
Henry David Thoreau

Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.

ECKHART TOLLE, Stillness Speaks

The baby is my dad .On left Grandmother Pearl .right side Grandfather Ed Henley.Middle Greatgrandmother and Greatgrandfather Oliver. This is one of three photos I have of Grandfather Ed.I never met him.They divorce and he moved to Texas.

I love these flowers . They are in my backyard and I enjoy the new bloows everyday . So delicate .So poetic.Everyday life blooms anew . So everyday we are born anew with the same freshness and innocence and purity that rebirth gives.

This is a photo of my Grandmother Pearl I just found . I love it . The man behind her is my Grandfather Ed Henley only one of two pictures I have of him.The little girl in front is my grandmothers sister Gladys Oliver. There is a inner strength in my grandmother's image that I know she had.She was the glue in this family.

I love the word:contemplate .You have to get quiet and still to contemplate.With many people on the phone in every spare minute where is the contemplation ? Where is the quiet time to get to know yourself ? You can memorize a verse of wisdom but it takes contemplation to move it to your heart .

Freedom

Peace

desiderata - by max ehrmann Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. ... If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. Max Ehrmann c.1920

" Gretchen "

We celebrated the beautiful life of my aunt June Mitchell Ingram. As we ending the service at the graveside on a cold cloudy day. i noticed one of the young great granddaughter running up and down the sidewalk with her mother working to keep her quiet.This little angel was like the yellow crocus peeking thought my brown lawn.Her bright innocence a beacon of brightness and hope and wonderment of life renewed .Love renewed .Thanks Aunt June for this gift and reminder. Love you

Love

I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.
- Hafiz of Persia
Know that you are precious , pure , innocent and Holy ! You need do nothing . You are wonderous !