wind

Beneath Birdsong

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I’ve started a practice of trying to listen beyond or underneath the shouts and clangs and alerts and clashes that demand attention. I’m trying to rediscover soft sounds, the hums, the sighs, the whispers. It’s like trying to pick out one instrument’s musical line while listening to a symphony. Right now, underneath the birdsong, there’s a soft whispering whoosh. I think it’s the sound of wind in the trees. It ebbs and flows and reminds me to listen for the constant, soft undertones of wonder, joy, peace, and hope in each day, the life-giving grace of love’s whispers. – kh, Linger: 365 Days of Peaceful Pauses

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2022 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Infinite Love Will Rise

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“On blue summer evenings I’ll go down the pathways

Pricked by the grain, crushing the tender grass –

Dreaming, I’ll feel its coolness on my feet.

I’ll let the wind bathe my bare head.

I won’t talk at all, I won’t think about anything.

But infinite love will rise in my soul . . .”

– Arthur Rimbaud –

 

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Wonders to Hold and Keep

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“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:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Wandering Wind and Whirling Earth

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“The winds wander,

the snow and rain and dew fall,

the earth whirls –

all but to prosper a poor lush violet.”

– John Muir –

. . . and all to prosper you.

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – a wild violet:

Shadow of the Week:

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Text and photos © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Dancing Breath of God

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“I talk of branches dancing in the wind

but what I mean is the breath of God.”

– Rumi –

Feel the wind. Listen as it tiptoes past in a whisper, or waltzes with swaying branches, or twirls like an ice skater, scattering sparkles of frost in wild abandon. Watch. Listen. Feel the breath of God.  

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.

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved. 

When Cares Drop Off Like Leaves

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“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.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Mountain-Still

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“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.

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Dancing Toward Spring

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“. . . O Wind,

If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind.”

– Percy Bysshe Shelley, from “Ode to the West Wind” –

 

Winter and Spring are in their annual dance until Winter bows out and Spring takes center stage. Enjoy the dance of the seasons!

Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – Lenten rose:

Shadow of the Week – missed the cat but caught the shadow of her tail:

 

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

 

Text and photos © 2018 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Stirring of the Wind

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“A leaf quivers on a branch and my heart trembles

the wind stirs the leaves and beauty stirs my heart.”

– Rumi –

Pay deep attention to the stirring of the wind,

the stirring of the spirit,

the stirring of beauty in the heart.

Hold this treasure close.

Nurture peace, cultivate loving 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 life, faith, and the mystery we call God, link here.

 

Text and photos © 2017 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Shifty Wind, Secret Stories

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“Already it is October, and the wind blows strong to the sea

from the hills where snow must have fallen,

the wind is polished with snow.”

– D.H. Lawrence, “Butterfly” –

The shifty wind

swirls with stories –

a girl’s kite plucked high,

a beachcomber’s hair ruffled,

a gardener’s hat tossed into the rose bush,

a cafe awning dismantled,

a dog’s nose kissed.

Secret stories

shared with the wind.

“Here’s a hint,”

it whispers,

brushing past

polished with snow,

laden with rain,

woven with wood smoke.

Hush. Hush.

Listen. Listen.

It’s your story too.

 

Again from D.H. Lawrence: “[T]he wind blows strong . . . from the hills where snow must have fallen, the wind is polished with snow.” How beautiful it would be if people who meet us could say, “She lives strong in a place where calm must have settled. Her spirit is polished with peace.”

Nourish peace, cultivate loving kindness, and carry the calm.

Nature of the week – looking up and up and up:

clwytalltree

Shadow of the Week, dripping over stone:

shdwstnwall

 

Text and photos © 2016 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

For my posts on coming of age in a community of faith, link here.