Memorial Sabbath Peace, llvl

An odd juxtaposition. On the one hand its my favorite day of the year. The pool opens for the summer.

On the other, it’s a memorial for all the soldiers from all the wars. Young men and women who because they believed in a cause volunteered and sacrificed. It was hard enough when the enemies were clear cut and the danger real. And now, governments decide and people are risked and no one at home, except the families, pays the price. Perhaps war has always taken people to ugly places, but now we’re seeing it all on tv.

And then, of course, war. And Peace. We’ve never found a good way to getting to Peace. One that cares for the victims. One that engages everyone.

For two weeks, since the Pete Seeger concert, I’ve had this song by Ed McCurdy on my heart:

“Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream”

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They’d never fight again

And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands end bowed their heeds
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

May we dream of Peace and not War. But let us never forget those who are lost to us, those who sacrificed. It’s the Sabbath. Let us take some quiet time in the day and remember. Let us take some quiet time and rededicate ourselves to Peace.

Realigning Peace, llvl

Every once in a while, you get a day that is all about wide open space. Exhale.

Sometimes, you want to take those days off and just relax. And I say, do that!

But other days you realize there’s all this empty space for thinking, considering and pondering. Days when you can re-imagine your Life or maybe your Work. Days when there’s an itch to poke at.

That is not a day to fritter away. That’s a day to seize. That’s a day to take yourself seriously. Try this, try that. Let Peace, with all its bold Possibilities push at the constrictions you’ve placed on your life, even your soul…

Why are you still here? Go be present to yourself! Dream very large dreams!

Worthy Opponent Peace, llvl

Sometimes we’re thoughtless about things and get in our own way. During those moments, we just have to bless ourselves and move on, Lord love our hearts. (southern for what the heck?)

But other times our growth is a huge challenge but happens because we challenge ourselves. We learn. We stretch. We get better. We do better. Practice and discipline, such good things.

Movements in our lives that have been shaky and jerky all of a sudden, after consistent practice, flow smoothly. We find not only the beauty of the movement but the strength — our strength. That challenge accepted is movement forward, or even inward toward our hearts.

Our groundedness and our strength, our knowledge of where we are in space allow us to know where others are. They help us understand not only what’s being said but what needs are behind those statements. They help us be present to the moment. They help us be balanced in our response. They help us be aware of the connections we have to those around us. These things can give us the ability to give some people the space they need, invite others in closer, and notice who’s not included — all valuable things for living and for Peacemaking. A Warrior for Peace. That’s who I want to be. No. Present tense (since as Yoda reminds us, no try just do.) That’s who I am.

Spring Peace from Another Home, llvl

To have lived somewhere else long enough to know the seasons is to discover the peculiarities and particularities of that place. Spring in California is a slow unfolding, it starts early and proceeds in haphazard fashion, one lovely flower at a time.

Living in places where the weather is warmer often means richly scented trees. To be out walking at night (a city pleasure) and have Jasmine and Mock-Orange dofting… it’s heaven. And it holds my heart. It will never be my only home… but it will always hold a part of me and those memories smell as sweetly as the trees… Peace enters us in so many ways. And we can offer it in as many. Sweet Peace. Sweet home away from home. Sweet local life wherever you find it, wherever you make it.

Grape Hyacinth Peace, llvl

Short one this morning. Gotta get ready for the arts festival. where DID I put my sun screen?

The purple fields were astounding. A birthday treasure. And a sweet coda to the planting of Deb’s trees. I found more of wedding hearts that my friend Lorraine had made for me, and I had copied onto bright pink paper, took them to the park, thinking we could write on them and bury them with the roots… but the tree was planted. A friend said, we can put them on a stick. So we all wrote love, and made a love flag. It was gorgeous.

But it made me aware how sad I still am… so the purple fields were balm. Nature’s got it for us, if we’d only let it give it to us…

So thanks, my dears, for all the love you’ve given me through this… I had a very hectic and exhausting birthday… and one filled with wonder and love. I spent the entire day with my SweetPea, which we never get to do… and now, I wish you Purple Peace and Breakfast Peace and a great day!

Fierce Pansy Peace, llvl

If you look at a pansy you can see why they are called dragons in other cultures. And yet, our interpretation of them as gentle and happy is fairly easy to see as well. Ah, metaphors, they work in so many ways!

As I was writing (once I got past the pansy glow in this shot — Deb Slade caught something amazing, didn’t she?), I realized how much I liked the combined possibility of these two seemingly opposite characteristics, realized that I’d liked it for a long time when I remembered that I’d exhorted wedding couples to “love one another with a fierce and passionate tenderness.” hmmm, wonder why i stopped — does it perhaps get too carnal for comfort?

There they are, every spring, fierce and passionately tender pansies, bringing the world Peace with everything that’s in them. They look so fragile, but like yesterday’s daff, they’re pretty hardy… they persevere through the cold to fill us with delight and color. What a notion, sticking to the one thing you do and doing it well.

So now whenever i see a bunch of pansies, when I think “sweet” or “whimsical,” I’ll also think “fierce” and that will make me giggle with delight. An elite troop of Peace-warriors, right there in our gardens, sort of the terra cotta troops of the plant world. Yay! You go, little warrior pansies! Bring on the Peace.

Head Start Peace, llvl

Steve and I played and read yesterday at a local Head Start. Pennsylvania chooses a book every year to give to the kinds and local people are invited in to read it to the kids. Yesterday we got to be the guests in the classroom. (Year three for us and counting!)

It’s a fun day for us, once we get past the bothersome figuring out of who’s going to do what… play this, read it this way. But the joy of doing what you love and are good at with the one you love, we’re aware not everyone has that opportunity and we’re so grateful and flat out happy. And when you add in little ones and then Head Start the Happy Stew just gets richer.

When you’re privileged to walk into a Head Start class you can almost see kids stretching and growing through the patient love and skills of the teachers. When we talk about heros, it’s so often the folks who walk into burning buildings. But I’m telling you, it’s also the people (all women in this case) who, day after day, walk into a class full of youngsters and make a monumental change in their lives. Some of them are excited newbies; some of them are seasoned and constant. And always, there’s a class grandma with a lap full of contented child.

We were guests not only of the teachers, but also of people who train and evaluate those teachers. Their dedication to and faith in the Program is astonishing. When was the last time you went to a workplace where no one was jaded? It’s being present to a miracle.

Head Start matters, my friends. There’s talk about gutting it or getting rid of it altogether. Head Start helps to level a wildly inequitable playing field. It helps to make a difference at the beginning of children’s lives, starting them out to become strong and powerful adults. We need to take very good care of such an important process. Head Start is a constant reminder that magic is the result of very hard work.

Our keeping faith with Head Start is an important step in keeping faith with Peace. However you can help, from voting to lobbying, please do. Let’s make giving thanks an active verb, shall we?

Serendipitous Peace, llvl

What makes these things possible? Presence? Discipline? Sheer, unadulterated Luck? All of these? I don’t know.

I know I am humbled and grateful.

I would love to believe it’s my little village, but it’s not. Villages and Cities are filled with wonderful interesting people everywhere. It may be true that it’s easier to see one another in small towns… I can believe that. And I don’t know that it matters.

I’m here and for whatever reasons, I’m connected to amazing people. People who when we notice that children are hungry step up. I’m grateful every day for the team I get to work with. Caring people and very, very smart. And not just smart, but ingenious. There we are… making things happen. Things that need to happen. Things that matter. You don’t have to be the best at what you are, what you dream… you do need to be disciplined and consistent. You do need to be, dare I say it, earnest about your dreams and your determination. Earnestness translates; it sells. And selling is what we’re doing.

No one is going to feed hungry children unless you offer them the opportunity and give them a place to pay. It’s that simple… I didn’t always understand that, but there it is.

I believe fervently that we can do work that makes our hearts explode in our chests wherever we are. Yes, sometimes it’s that overwhelming. Yesterday was one of them. I adore this artist. If you’ve followed my work, you’ve adored her as well… She’s the woman who did the Peace mandalas for last year’s musings. A wonderful artist. She lives here. We show up at the same events — last night at Steve’s Musical Mash-up. She’d been there last week and we’d talked about mandalas, about the LOVE project, about doing a project together. We brainstormed words and phrases (while listening to our neighbors play astonishing music).

And then this week she came back. She’d played with words and found three that work. She taught me how to look into her designs and then she told me how her designs move. In and out; around. The designs are gorgeous and her explanations completely germane to the work we are doing. And so we will go to work… And this will be one more way to step up, to be socially active, to feed children… and one more way to think about what matters. And for us, it will be one more way to use our arts… to explore them… to apply them… to collaborate… for good, for community, for Peace.

Oh may your lives be this joyous and filled with magic! I am awed and grateful that mine is.

Speaking Sabbath Peace, llvl

I continue to be astonished by the journey. Having declared that this year’s journey was all about living locally… my world continues to unfold. People drag me off to do local things because I’ve said they’re important. So I get to see a snowy owl. I’d have been happy before to know they were there, but I wouldn’t have gone out of my way… but someone made that happen.

All of a sudden I’m taking a course about geography (and geology), things about which I have a somewhat, shall we say, intellectual interest. Mother Earth & Nature are not so much about their actual dirt for me… (ok, i’m shallow, what can I say?)

In my word scramble that says what my important key words are, the word Sabbath keeps getting larger. As I click it every Sunday, after I’ve written about trying to be aware of it, I work to honor and enjoy the day — to infuse it with a joy that is slower and more aware than my usual dash-through-the-day enjoyment of life.

And living here, truly here, I begin to be aware not only what’s right and wonderful, but what’s broken and in need of our loving hands. This was a clear and painful conversation we had at class… painful because we were all poking at the rough spots in our love for where we live.

So, as you go through your day today, take some time, think about what makes your world wonderful… and where your duty lies… Duty, not a very 2014ish word, is it? But our duty is what moves us toward Peace. oh, this being conscious is hard.

Neighborhood Peace, llvl

Getting to know your neighborhood changes both your neighborhood and you.

Being visible, being present, being aware, being kind, being involved… they all matter.

They take a little time, but they don’t really take that much energy. And oh, the rewards the reap.

Start by walking around. Add in saying hello. Move to asking folk how they’re faring. Care about their answers.

Pretty soon you look forward to more of their story and people are being kind to you and to one another.

Kindness is contagious. Enjoy it. Embody it. It opens your heart! It starts the Path to Peace… and isn’t that why we’re born?

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: being present