wonder

Making Waves

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I think we send out waves—

don’t you?

Not the waggle of a hand

in greeting or going

but unseen waves rippling out

from us into the world.

Call them thoughts,

call them prayers,

call them hopes,

they roll out like a rhythmic tide,

heartbeats set adrift

through invisible currents

all around us to

ebb and flow,

weave and wander

around and between us,

waves of presence unseen,

unbounded

unlimited,

untamed.

Mine meet yours and mingle,

expand the dance.

May they be waves of

grace and goodness,

generosity and joy,

compassion and strength.

May we wash the weary world

with wonder.

-kh-

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 © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved

Painted with Joy

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Last night’s drenching rain has left

the morning air cooler,

peacefully breezy,

the sky flecked with drifts of cloud,

the earth dripping color—

brilliant yellows,

rich greens,

deep reds,

velvety blues—

a fresh day of spacious,

gracious spring

painted with the joy of re-creation.

A gray cat tiptoes

through regal irises,

around dogwood dressed in wedding white,

between coral azaleas

in a raindrop-sparkled garden.

The world is full of wonder

at its newborn self.

-kh-

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 © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Life’s Secret Answer

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When I was younger,

I thought I had to find

all the answers.

I thought there were

answers to find.

Now that I’m older,

I’m holding the questions

and turning them over,

watching them sparkle and twinkle

and laugh,

for holding the questions

is life’s secret answer.

Every day, all is new

and uncertain

and certainly mystery.

What matters is not

the answers

but the questions,

how I hold them

and lightly unfold them,

how I ask them

and listen for a hum,

a nod

a yes, this is a good question,

a mystery,

an unmapped path,

a happy chance,

a happy choice

to carry the questions,

to ponder and muse

with “perhaps” and “maybe”

and “we’ll get there.”

Get where?

And when?

Who knows?

Do I care?

Not really. It’s more

exciting and joyful

to live in the unknown,

muse on the mystery,

cradle the questions,

and laugh out loud

at the memory

of thinking I had to

know.

No.

There’s no knowing

and no joy in stopping the search,

of being so certain.

The quest and the question—

now there’s the dance,

the chance,

the romance.

There’s the flying,

the flow,

the soft, easy drift of

not having to know.

It’s the smile of the soul,

the serene and the settled,

the secret of being satisfied with

open windows and doors,

wind blowing thoughts around,

presenting possibilities

holding hopes lightly

and wishes wisely

and reveling in

wonder.

– kh –

 

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 © 2024 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Go Out to Go In

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“There’s a sense of wonder, a joy, a gratitude that can only be accessed by returning to the childlike practice of experiencing the moment with as many senses as possible. There’s a peace that can only be found by lingering and noticing. If you’re in the habit, it doesn’t take long, just a pause really, a breath or two to take in the moment, to be inspired, to be enriched, to go out to go in.” – kh, Linger: 365 Days of Peaceful Pauses

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 © 2022 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

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:

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

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

Gifts for Every Season of the Soul

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My soul is deeply nourished by simple things.

My grandson’s smile.

The laughter of friends.

A pepper turning red on the vine.

The dance of leaves in a breeze.

The sun shining red through a broad canna leaf.

The scent of citronella leaves at the back door.

The prickly center of a coneflower.

The smooth texture and hint of sweetness in coconut yogurt.

The chirring of a wren as it guards its nest box.

Simple, sacred gifts,

each creating a stir of wonder,

each offering inner peace.”

– kh, Linger: 365 Days of Peaceful Pauses –

 

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 © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Nature’s Invitation

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Nature invites me to linger and fills me with wonder.

And wonder, I believe, is a kind of gratitude.

– kh, Linger –

 

Wonder and gratitude nurture peace, so as always: Nurture peace, cultivate kindness, and carry the calm.

And Happy Thanksgiving to friends and family in the U.S.!

 

Nature of the week:

Shadow of the Week (It’s a triple shadow.):

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

Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

Simple and Sacred

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“The art of art,

the glory of expression…

is simplicity.”

– Walt Whitman –

 

It’s the simple things that nourish me. My grandson’s smile. The laughter of friends. A pepper turning red on the vine. The dance of leaves in a breeze on a hot day. The sun shining red through a broad canna leaf. The scent of citronella leaves at the back door. The prickly center of a coneflower. Smooth, sweet coconut yogurt. The chirring of a wren as it guards its nest box. Simple, sacred gifts, each a wonder of art and glory, each an invitation to 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.

Text and photos © 2021 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

The Wonder of Small Gifts

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This day is a gift –

the breeze brushing my face,

the call of the chickadee,

the glint of sunrise on the windowpane,

the flavor of nut-warm coffee

and morning blueberries,

the wonder of breath,

one and then another,

receiving the moment,

the day,

the grace,

the gift.

– KH –

 

In this holiday season of bright bows and shiny paper, may we also find wonder in the small gifts that grace every day.

Nurture peace. Cultivate kindness. Carry the calm.

 

Nature of the week – ice in a flower pot:

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 © 2019 Karyn Henley. All rights reserved.

A Moment of Wonder

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“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.

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