Like the Sun, Silent and Still

“Be like the Sun,

King without courtiers,

silent and still as a fulcrum.”

– Rumi –

Wishing you moments of silence and stillness this week. Close your eyes. Listen to your breath. Feel the subtle messages your skin receives from the air and the textures you touch. Catch scents that drift to you. Open your eyes and focus on one small object. Notice its shape, size, colors. Listen to your breath again. Feel the peace of the moment. You’re a fulcrum, a support, a point of balance calming the world around you.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. 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.

Kissing Joy As It Flies

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“He who bends to himself a Joy

Doth the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the Joy as it flies

Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.”

– William Blake –

Blake’s poem seemed perfect for this delightful link. If you have five minutes or so, treat yourself to the sound of butterflies taking flight.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – early morning, my bedroom ceiling:

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Like a Butterfly or Bee

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Drifting about among flowers and sunshine,

I am like a butterfly or bee,

though not half so busy

or with so sure an aim.”

– John Muir –

Wishing you a holiday weekend with at least a bit of drifting about.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. 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 Moment of Wonder

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“To let the moment teach us, we must allow ourselves to be at least slightly stunned by it until it draws us inward and upward, toward a subtle experience of wonder.” – Richard Rohr –

Let yourself be stunned by something as small as a rosebud or as large as a sky full of thunderheads. Let yourself be drawn into wonder.

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.

Nature’s Pulse – and Our Own

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Everything new and pure

in the very prime of the spring

when Nature’s pulses were beating highest,

and mysteriously keeping time with our own!”

– John Muir –

Pause for a moment of peace, and notice a bud, a bloom, a spring-green leaf. Take a deep breath of the day. Match your pulse to nature’s energetic peace. Nurture that peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

Nature of the week – “tulips” in the tulip poplar:

Shadow of the Week – a fancy fence:

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

When Spring Comes Rushing

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“I am a seed scattered from the barn of heaven

When spring comes rushing in my heart

I will burst in green.

Winter seems now a long forgotten dream.”

– Rumi –

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.

Everyday Magic

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“The world is full of magic things,

patiently waiting

for our senses to grow sharper.”

– W.B. Yeats –

A budding rose, a bird calling to its mate, the pink clouds of sunset, the first star of evening – it only takes a moment to sharpen our senses to this everyday magic, to pause and actually taste our food, smell the morning air, feel the breeze, hear the birdsong, and see the beauty in the world around us – to rediscover the magic things.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, enjoy the magic, 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.

Wonders to Hold and Keep

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“Behold the white wistarias –

The Milky Way blown by the wind.”

– Hajin –

translated by Asataro Miyamori

Long ago, before behold meant to gaze upon or observe, it meant hold or keep. In a way, that’s what we do when we observe something. Each season brings us wonders. Hold on to them. Keep them in your mind and heart so that, in turn, they may hold you and keep you in a place of calm and peace.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week –wisteria hanging over our driveway through the neighbor’s bamboo: