How Can I Be Calm When I’m Outraged

“There’s a difference between outrage and hate.

Outrage is appropriate.

Hate destroys the soul.”

Outrage needs to be rooted in a deep inner calm and a clear head so that we don’t burn out like sparklers that spew sharp, hot light into the darkness only to sputter out into a burning glow that fades, leaving behind a thin, cold, dull wand. Let your calm be the fuel for the controlled burn of an eternal flame.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm, even in outrage.

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 posts on noticing the wonder of life, link here.

The Secret of the Beautiful Ones

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Time and people change

but the essence of wisdom and justice is the same.

The beautiful ones mirror God’s Beauty . . .”

– Rumi –

Last night, I woke up sometime after midnight and was treated to a beautiful sight: the full moon with the planet Mars nearby. I thought of how the moon wasn’t really shining but was mirroring the light of the sun. It was also mirroring God’s Beauty as all of nature does. We mirror God’s Beauty, too, shining brightest when we reflect Love. And Joy. And Peace . . .

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 posts on the wonder of life, link here.

The Pulse of Hope and Peace

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“We shall find peace,

We shall hear angels,

We shall see the sky

Sparkling with diamonds.”

– Anton Chekhov –

I think it’s possible to carry within us a sense of calm so strong that the world knows hope and peace simply because of our presence and so powerful that every physical space we step into pulses with hope and peace simply because we’re there. So find peace, hear angels, see the sky sparkling with diamonds . . . nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm. We are the pulse of hope and peace.

Nature of the week – I meant to photograph the interior of a blossom – and my new close-up lens focused on an ant:

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 posts on the wonder of life, link here.

The Best in Calm and Storm

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.”

– Willa Cather –

True, but we weather the storm best by carrying the calm within us.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – evening thunderheads:

Shadow of the Week – my morning coffee – yes, even in hot weather:

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

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

Recovering Wonder

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Now I yearn for one of those old, meandering, dry uninhabited roads . . .

where your head is more in heaven than your feet are on Earth . . .

There I can walk, and recover the lost child that I am . . .”

– Henry David Thoreau, A Writer’s Journal –

I traveled fifteen magical roads this week. They’re neither dry nor uninhabited, and while they are real, I walked them by viewing them on the Mind Circle site: “15 of the World’s Most Magical Streets Shaded by Flowers and Trees.” I invite you to spend a few peaceful moments in these gorgeous places – and recover a bit of your childlike sense of wonder. I’ll return to my own photographs next week. Meanwhile, enjoy the link!

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

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

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

The Inner – What Is It?

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Ah, not to be cut off,
not through the slightest partition
shut out from the law of the stars.
The inner — what is it?
if not intensified sky,
hurled through with birds and deep
with the winds of homecoming.”

– Rainer Maria Rilke –

However we might envision the inner self, I suspect that if we explore deeply enough, we’ll feel “the winds of homecoming.”

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week and shadow of the week:

I read Rilke’s poem for the first time in an On Being blog posted by Parker Palmer. On Being posts thoughtful, gracious conversations sensitive to the things of the spirit. Give them a read – or a listen – if you haven’t yet.

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

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

Yes, You May

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“…the May month flaps its glad green leaves like wings,

Delicate-filmed as new-spun silk…”

– Thomas Hardy –

May – it’s a word full of encouragement and permission.

Yes, you May.

Give yourself permission to take time out and enjoy the glad green leaves.

Because it’s still May.

And you always may.

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 posts on the wonder of life, link here.

Mountain-Still

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The wind howls, but the mountain remains still.”

– Japanese proverb –

Be mountain strong. Keep standing for love and kindness and peace even as the winds of the world howl.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens:

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 posts on the wonder of life, link here.

Even the Silence

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Even the silence has a story to tell you.

Just listen.

Listen.”

– Jacqueline Woodson –

The Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park, known as the “quietest place in the Lower 48” states, is where acoustical ecologist Gordon Hempton recorded “one square inch of silence.” You can listen to the silence at this link. Enjoy!

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week: