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Gratefulness

Poem by Rick Borsten on movie theater marquee

Not Forgetting

July 28, 2011

in Getting Unstuck, Lessons of the Seasons, Poetry, Radical Kindness

Stepping outside, you neglect
once again to drop our jaw
and lift your face, flower-like
to the great blue beauty, to launch yourself
into the dazzle that is gracing you
with this one more chance not to forget
-Rick Borsten

This poem has been on the marquee in my town for a long time. A wonderful mantra. I’m so glad it’s there. Because it’s so easy to forget. Remembering, that’s the trick. To notice, breathe, look up at this blue sky. What’s left is gratitude. Remembering. Grateful as I launch into the dazzle today, I am.

Tagged as: Getting Unstuck, Gratefulness, Presence, Reality, Remembering

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Building a Kinder World

July 26, 2011

in Getting Unstuck, Inquiry, Questioning the Mind, Radical Kindness

There’s a line in the recent Sherlock Holmes movie that grabbed my attention.

“Give me some evidence, Holmes. With a little mud I can build bricks and from there I can build a case.”

I’m struck by how often we use the evidence we have to wall us into  a world view that isn’t kind to us or the people around us. Someone cuts us off in traffic and we take it personally. Our kids are acting out. Proof we’re a bad parent. And so it can go, if we believe our case that we’re failing or not measuring up, somehow.

What I’ve been discovering as I work with my own mind and assist others in inquiry is that there’s another choice. When you learn to question your mind, you begin to see a whole new set of evidence. You notice the people who left space for you to merge into their lane, the sweet moments with your children, noticing their process of growing up for what it is. The more evidence you find, the more bricks you have to create a world worth inhabiting. A kinder world. The world of beauty just outside your wall of judgements.

Give it a try. Notice for a day the way how you collect bricks. Where doesn’t the world or other people measure up, in your opinion? What if it were just your opinion, nothing else? What else is possible? Begin to collect bricks of possibility. Notice the bricks in your life that create a sense of peace and gratefulness in your heart. Keep building from these bricks and see what happens. Just for a day. Write down what you notice or share it with a dear one.

Tagged as: Getting Unstuck, Gratefulness, Inquiry, Meaning, Questioning the mind, Self-care

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Help Me to Believe the Truth about Myself, No Matter How Beautiful It Is

January 21, 2011Aging with Grace
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This is the prayer we used to close my woman’s circle for the past 11 years. I had learned from the Sufis, but it was written by Marina Widerhehr. Last week was the group’s last circle. We shared “popcorn shapshots,” images of the precious and not-so-precious moments that have united us: the weddings, funerals, illnesses. The laughter and tears.

Since then I’ve noticed my own popcorn images: photos of me in the full bloom of my twenties and thirties. In the radiance of my forties and fifties. I noticed that only when I look at the snapshots from this distance am I able to see the beauty that I was. When I was younger my mind was way to full of the mosquito beliefs brought to me by my inner spin doctor. You’re too fat. Your eyes are too close together. Teeth too big. In a nutshell, There’s something wrong with me.

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Octogenarian Observations

August 13, 2009Aging with Grace

This week I’m leading a service to celebrate the life of a dear friend and an inspiration, Connie Foulke.  An ardent teacher, parent, and community leader, Connie was one of my reference points for how to live a good life for over thirty years.  A while ago she organized a group of “young friends” (most [...]

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To Gratefulness Leaves and Life as It Is

November 25, 2008Radical Kindness
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Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I live far away from my blood kin, so we  created a new extended family right where we are. The same eight adults and eight children have celebrated Thanksgiving and other holidays for over twenty years together. We’re larger now that most of the kids have partners and some have [...]

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