Moon-Washed Apples

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Deep is the silence, deep

On moon-washed apples of wonder.”

– John Drinkwater –

Sun-splashed and moon-washed, autumn is a feast for the senses and the soul. So is the deep silence of wonder.

Let yourself wonder, nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week :

Shadow of the Week – catnip:

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For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

Endless Song

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

As summer heads toward autumn, there’s a peaceful wonder in watching the season change.

“Nature is ever at work building and pulling down,

creating and destroying,

keeping everything whirling and flowing,

allowing no rest but in rhythmical motion,

chasing everything in endless song

out of one beautiful form into another.”

– John Muir –

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.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

Warm, Brooding Days

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The warm, brooding days are full of life and thoughts of life to come,

ripening seeds with next summer in them

or a hundred summers.”

– John Muir

Brood has a double meaning. It means to ponder, to think deeply. It also means protecting and preparing as a hen does when she sits on her eggs or keeps her young under her wings. So the warm days of summer are for ripening fruit and “brooding” seeds. As autumn approaches, “warm, brooding days” can also be a time of thinking deeply about life.

So keep planting seeds of peace and kindness wherever you go. Brood over those seeds, for they are “full of life and thoughts of life to come.” They hold next summer in them. They hold a hundred summers. They hold the future.

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.

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

Where Your Steps Will Take You

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“[I]n an average lifetime a person walks about 65,000 miles.

That’s 2 1/2 times around the world.

I wonder where your steps will take you.

I wonder how you’ll use the rest of the miles you’re given.”

– Mr. Rogers –

May your steps echo the peace of your heartbeat.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – books on a table, creating a profile:

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

For my longer posts on the art of noticing, link here.

The Sky in a Dewdrop

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The whole moon and the entire sky

are reflected in dewdrops on the grass,

or even in one drop of water.”

– Dogen Kigen, 1200-53 –

And if I were to peer into your upward-looking eyes, I would see the whole moon, the entire sky, and the beauty of creation that is you.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – cat, contemplating:

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

For my longer posts on the wonder of life, link here.

When Cares Drop Off Like Leaves

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” – John Muir

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.

For my longer posts on the wonder of life, link here.

Inside Each of Us, a Piece of God

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Maybe the desire to make something beautiful

is the piece of God that is inside each of us.”

– Mary Oliver –

Make something that you feel is beautiful this week. You could take a photograph of something that strikes you as beautiful – a plant or an arrangement of rocks beside a driveway or a leaf after the rain. Or you could make a beautiful arrangement of food, like cheese and croutons sprinkled on a bowl of soup. Or trace a wavy design in the steam on your bathroom mirror after a shower. Or toss throw pillows in an interesting arrangement on a bed or couch. Or if you’re inclined, paint or sketch or arrange flowers or rearrange a room. No one else has to think it’s beautiful but you. Rest in the piece of God inside you. And the peace of God inside you.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week: