At Times of Challenge

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm. These are strong supports in challenging times.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Hanging On

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Last crisp leaf shivers

dangling in the frosty breeze.

Don’t let go just yet.

– kh –

Don’t let go of hope. Don’t stop reaching for peace. Don’t give up on kindness. Don’t let go just yet.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Warming the Winter

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“One kind word can warm three winter months.”

– Japanese proverb –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

What Lies Before Us?

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“What lies behind us and what lies before us

are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

– Ralph Waldo Emerson –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Wishing you love, joy, and peace in the new year!

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

Part of the Dance

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

I’m watching a lampshade gently sway in the updraft of warm air from a heating duct on the floor. Across the room, shamrocks bob in rising air from a matching duct below their flower pot. They are visual echoes of each other, quietly bobbing and swaying to the flow of warm air as if the shamrocks are acknowledging the movement of the lampshade, and the lampshade is respectfully nodding back. It’s a subtle dance, and I wonder why I’m drawn to it. I wonder why I note it in my journal. Maybe it’s the way these two things, so unalike, are moving quietly and gently in harmony. Maybe it’s witnessing this backdrop of life that carries on whether I’m here to see it or not, the way breeze, trees, stars, and seasons play their role in the flow of life. Maybe it’s because now that I’ve seen these two, I’m part of their dance.– kh, from Noticing: 365 Days of Calm Reflections

Nature and shadow are the same photo this week:

Merry Christmas!

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It Seems Backward

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

The morning sun is melting the frost on roofs and lawns except where there are shadows. So instead of the shadows being dark, they’re frosty white. The trunk of one of our elm trees is casting a shadow on the next-door garage roof. Its shadow is a long, rectangular streak of white frost on dark gray shingles. It seems backward for a shadow to be white. But then, nature always has something new up her sleeve, and I always have something to learn. – kh, from Noticing: 365 Days of Calm Reflections

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Over the Pines and Elms

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

A blanket of soft, silver-gray clouds

covers the morning sky

as far as I can see.

Even indoors, I feel the weight of it.

I try not to see it as gloomy

but as a protective roof

over the pines and the bare elms.

All is still and quiet.

The whole world seems to have taken

a day off.

Rest, the clouds say.

Rest after this busy, crazy year.

Rest under this silver gray blanket of sky.

– kh –

From Noticing: 365 Days of Calm Reflections

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Nature’s Simple Wisdom

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Go forth under the open sky,

and listen to Nature’s teachings.

– William Cullen Bryant –

What is Nature teaching me? To listen, I think. The world will circle on with or without me. The evening star will rise. Clouds will sail the skies. Cicadas will buzz. Crickets will chirp. Trees will dance in the wind. Seasons will glide in and then pass on. Nature says to simply breathe deeply and listen. (From my new book Noticing, available now.)

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

If you want me to send these thoughts to your email each Sunday, simply sign up on the right.

The Sky’s Gift

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

It is the sky that makes the earth so lovely at sunrise,

and so splendid at sunset.

In the one it breathes over the earth the crystal-like ether,

in the other liquid gold.

– painter Thomas Cole –

A wondrous sky greets this cold, crisp morning. It’s criss-crossed with contrails, probably due to holiday travel. Toward the horizon, a wide sweep of thin, feathery clouds spans the blue like a skyscape dry-brushed in white across a deep blue canvas. All this, and the sun is still on the rise. It’s painting tree tops gold, while their lower trunks and branches rest in twilight shadow. The sky is breathing over the earth, waking it up with beauty.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness and carry the calm.

Nature of the week: