The Art of Being Kind

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:

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For my longer posts on the art of noticing, 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:

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

Here, Now, This Present Moment

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

Leafless branches arch,

angle, interweave to frame

cloud veils spun of ice.

– kh –

This is what I see at this moment from the window at my desk:

The tick of the clock on my bedroom shelf. The rush of a jet fading as it travels the icy winter sky. The quiet shiver and sway of vines in the chill breeze. This is my present moment as I write this last post of 2017.

Once again, time carries us toward the speed bump between one year and the next. That speed bump is always a marker of sorts, a chance to glance into the rearview mirror at the year falling quickly behind us before the new year carries us full speed ahead. Thanks for joining me this past year as I posted what I saw, what I read, and what I found inspiring, always with an eye, an ear, a heart open to peace.

That’s where peace starts, you know – in this present moment, here and now, in my eye and yours. In my ear and yours. In my heart and yours. As much as we’d like to wave a wand over the entire world and make the jumbled and jagged pieces smooth out and fall into place, peace has to start with each of us being peace and kindness for family and friends and co-workers and everyone we meet.

May 2018 be a year of peace so powerful that it spreads from each of us into the whole world.

Nurture peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm into the new year.

Nature of the week – the insides of acorn tops:

Shadow of the Week – from holiday decorations:

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For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

No One is Useless

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“No one is useless in this world

who lightens the burden of it for anyone else.”

– Charles Dickens –

Nurture peace, cultivate loving kindness, carry the calm, and lighten someone’s burden.

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week – leaves shadowing leaves:

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For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

A Fountain of Gladness

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“How truly is a kind heart a fountain of gladness,

making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.”

Washington Irving

Be kind, nurture peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Today’s pictures are from Japan, where I spent the past week. If you’d like to see more of my photos from Japan, please follow me on my Facebook author page, where I’ll be posting a picture or two each day for the next few weeks.

Nature of the week – flowers at the harbor in Yokohama, Japan:

Shadow of the Week – a reflection on a rainy sidewalk in Yokohama:

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

For my posts on life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

Simple and Real

I Have Loved the Stars

Posted by karynhenleyauthor

“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.”

– Sarah Williams –

Even when stars are not visible – in daylight or under cloud cover at night – they are still there. And when life around us seems cloudy and dark, love is still there. Love holds steady. Grace holds. Kindness holds. These are our stars in the darkness. If we locate them, we can trust them to guide us on our journey; out of trust, hope is born. Step toward love. Step toward grace. Step toward kindness. And carry the calm.

Nature of the week: