heartsteps

“If we face our unpleasant feelings with care, affection, and nonviolence, we can transform them into the kind of energy that is healthy and has the capacity to nourish us.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

In times of loss and difficulty, I choose to consciously deepen my strength through actively seeking the blessing hidden in my adversity. I do not deny my painful feelings or run from them but I do choose to move through them seeking the opportunity for insight that lies for me on the other side. I do not suffer for the sake of suffering or mistake pain as the only soil for my spiritual growth. Instead, I remind myself that suffering and pain are temporary while my spiritual comfort is eternal. Knowing this, I open my heart to the timeless comforts which Spirit provides. I take comfort in the moistening rain, in the scent of flowers, in the tall oak offering me its shade. Even when deeply troubled, I seek to find Spirit in the midst of my suffering. I soften my heart to the gentle touch of comfort. I allow Spirit to touch my grief.

Julia Cameron

I will nurse this autumn carefully,
treat its brittleness gently,
smooth its crumbling edges, its weeoing afternoons.

I will rise early and go to it,
wrap it in a soft cloth
and watch it’s breathing.

I will nurture this autumn knowing
it is myself
in a pure and golden form,
and that childlike
soft words will be brought bubbling up
to be recorded in the patterns of leaves
and the low fog coming across the bay.

I will accept this death
and be content with its coming and watch
its coming
and speak of its coming in slow poems
until at last
there will be no more words,
you will hear only the sound of rain as you sleep.

Wendy Smyer Yu

Let my words
be bright with animals,
images the flash of a gull’s wing.
If we pretend
that we are at the centre,
that moles and kingfishers,
eels and coyotes
are at the edge of grace,
then we circle, dead moons
about a cold sun.
This morning I ask only
the blessing of the crayfish,
the beatitude of the birds;
to wear the skin of the bear
in my songs;
to work like a man with my hands.

Joseph Bruchac

Offer only lovely things on my altars -
the bread of life, and jewels, and feathers and flowers.
Let the streams of life flow in peace.
Turn from violence.
Learn to think for a long time how to change this world,
and how to make it better to live in.
All the people in the world ought to talk about it
and speak well of it always.
The it will last forever, and the flowers will bloom forever,
and I will come to you again.

Quetzalcoatl

I honour your gods
I drink at your well
I bring an undefended heart to our meeting place
I have no cherished outcome
I will not negotiate by withholding
I am not subject to disappointment