Courage, Gaiety, and the Quiet Mind

Happy New Year!

“Give us grace and strength to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind. Spare to us our friends and soften to us our enemies. Give us the strength to encounter that which is to come, that we may be brave in peril, constant in tribulation, temperate in wrath and in all changes of fortune, and down to the gates of death loyal and loving to one another.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week—a rope fence at the zoo:

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

Old and New, False and True

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.”

– Alfred, Lord Tennyson –

“In Memorium A.H.H.”

Wishing you a new year of peace and deep joy.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – Christmas cactus:

Shadow of the Week:

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

The Dew of Little Things

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“In the dew of little things,

the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

– Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet –

May the beauty of little things bring you joy this holiday season. May you find your heart’s morning. May you be refreshed.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – paperwhites:

Shadow of the Week:

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

Good Cheer and a Contented Heart

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Peace is happiness digesting.”

– Victor Hugo –

Wishing you many moments of happiness to digest.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week—a small Christmas village casting a long shadow:

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

Like Smoke Across the Sky

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“In the cloud-gray mornings

I heard the herons flying;

And when I came into my garden,

My silken outer-garment

Trailed over withered leaves.

A dry leaf crumbles at a touch,

But I have seen many Autumns

With herons blowing like smoke

Across the sky.”

– Amy Lowell, “Hoar Frost” –

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – our first snow of the season:

Shadow of the Week:

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

Pines, Like Waltzes

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

The ten hours’ light is abating,

And a late bird wings across,

Where the pines, like waltzes waiting,

Give their black heads a toss.

Beech leaves, that yellow the noon-time,

Float past like specks in the eye;

I set every tree in my June time,

And now they obscure the sky.

– Thomas Hardy, “At Day-Close in November” –

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.

A Green Tree and A Singing Bird

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps the singing bird will come.”

– Chinese proverb –

In this season when our thoughts focus on gratitude, I’m thankful for each of you, for the grace, goodness, wonder, and hope that fills your hearts. Nurture peace within yourself, cultivate kindness toward others, and carry that calm wherever your life journey takes you.

Nature of the week: