The Scent of Peace Past, llvl

It’s been wonderful to step back into my past for a bit… and somewhat jarring. The changes that have happened gradually in my old life arrive in my heart as one big shock.

I didn’t see the neighborhood kids grow up, although i watch them on facebook. But when I go back to the old place, it’s oddly empty. And in my absence, gentrification has really hit the neighborhood… only one black family left on the block. That’s a pretty stark reminder of the way the world changes.

And it’s not just the kids who have grown up. The fig tree did and my Lincoln rose. My roommate, so much younger than I… still in her thirties when I left, is now the “elder” at her gig. Hi-larious!

But still I recognize the bones and love this life deeply. And the sweet relationships that knew me when… and helped to shape me. So happy to remember! Lucky to have had a life with sweet, sweet memories, scented by a beautiful rose! And for the moment I’ll hold that scent in my heart. Peace be with you.

Peace…

Spring Peace Cusp, LLVL

I wrote today’s musing knowing that I was starting on the Spring side of the Cusp and would soon be reverting to the Winter Side. Now that we’re back, it’s hard to remember yesterday.

But that’s what life’s like on the cusp… and it’s what it’s like when you’re being present to you local reality. La vida is what it is. Tomorrow doesn’t really matter, although it can be prepared for. Yesterday is a blessing to be counted and a lesson to be learned from. Today is where life is happening. Live into the possibilities! Make Peace with Now.

Yesterday life was open and expansive. Today it’s inward and focused. And we have to be where we are. That’s life. That’s Peace. Right here right now, in la vida local. And aren’t we lucky. (even if a touch cold! Where did I put those wrist warmers?)

Outside, In-between Peace, llvl

At the end of a trip… I give thanks: for my home and my vida local and for the homes and vidas locals I was privileged to visit; for friends and family at home and for friends and family in their lives.

It’s exciting to visit new places and try things that are “foreign” to my life. And, as is the purpose with any vacation holiday, it’s exciting to get far away from your own life, so that when you come back, you’re rested and have fresh perspective. Once again, you’re aware of life’s incredible Abundance and Beauty.

So, counting blessings for what I have and what I am privileged to see, recognizing the rightness of my life, looking to find and keep the balance… and recommitting to my quest for Peace…

Staying Local for Peace and Life

You know it happens, so you shouldn’t be so surprised. But when the people on the shore behind you in Florida come from 6 miles away from your home in Pennsylvania… and you know someone in common… that’s a sweet coincidence. And ok, sorta weird.

And that’s life.

In addition to the wonderful weather, there’s wonderful family here. When you don’t see each other all the time, you work hard to create the family and then you reap the sweetness. And that’s life.

It’s hard to keep up with everyone you love. It’s hard to stay connected. It takes hard work.. But the effort makes all the difference. Then once in a while there are chance encounters that make you laugh out loud. Stay present to the moment. Count your blessings and just be overwhelmed with the sweetness. Make memories where and when you can. From such things Peace grows. And alongside it the realization that every bit of life is local. It’s all about your showing up!

Companionable Sabbath Peace, llvl

Mmmmmmmm. Here we are, it’s mid-week Sabbath in my whacky world of calculations. Having started the year on a Wednesday, I’ve continued to start the weeks on Wednesday, introducing Deb Slade’s new pic, and thus my new week every Wednesday. It makes Tuesday a special day of anticipation, because Deb’s pic is coming and Wednesday a day of pleasure, because I’m introducing it and having to think differently in response to it… which brings us to Sunday, smack dab in the middle of the week. Yay.

So, I’m not sure whether I’m only mid-week or also mid-life (technically, i know probably past midlife by a good 10-15 years!), or whether it’s just that we’ve been snowbound, but I’m really appreciating the remembrance that we’re not on this journey alone.

It’s been wonderful to start working on Love Flows: The LOVE project, which involves our gathering money to feed hungry kids on the weekend. And it’s been even more wonderful to gather people who are willing not only to think about the project in different ways, but to do something about making a really big dream a possibility.

Being in community makes big dreams achievable and companionable. And on the Sabbath, you get not only to celebrate the dream but also appreciate the community. Well, you do, if you want to. This week, I’m feeling particularly grateful and counting blessings.

and You? are numbered among those blessings.

I’m also enjoying winter, and although I’m not going along… i’m happy that a whole bunch of folks from the church are going off ice skating this afternoon. This is one of the things I remember from my happy little childhood… have a great time guys!

And yikes! because Sabbath to me also means church, I’d better stop sitting around smiling and get ready to go sit around and sing and smile and not be responsible today, because one of my companions on the journey is responsible today!

Blessed Sabbath. Celebrate the Dreams. Imagine the Peace. and do something that’s not work!

Winter Beauty and Peace, llvl

It’s difficult not to talk about the weather. It’s very cold and there’s snow coming. Snow!

And yet, it’s so beautiful. The icy clarity of a day like today — well, there’s really nothing to compare it to. The focus is so sharp, there’s such precision to the world this morning. No sense wasting breath whining about the cold, might as well just admire!

Gotta drive across the river today, it’s as close as it’s going to come to iced over. Have to leave the pipes dripping because they are indeed iced over. It’s a good day to have lunch with some friends and listen to music tonight in a warm tavern and sweet community.

The weather is what it is, might as well enjoy it. Being dissatisfied with you life doesn’t help anyone — and mostly it doesn’t help you.

Now while the sky is bright and blue, give thanks — and allow yourself to be astounded by the beauty (what’s outside your door and the magic Deb Slade caught in this picture!)! And then consider how making Peace with what is helps us to make Peace in the direction of what should be.

A Present, Local, Peace Blessing, LLVL

If you’re going to count your blessings, you have to be where you are. You have to live centered in your life, your life has to have a location. You have to live locally.

Blessing counting is about real things, or should be. Not just gushy things, but the little things like warm socks on a cold day and the friend who cared enough to give them to you. (Ms Live Locally somehow missed the fact that it was going to be below zero degrees last night.) It’s not just about being aware that you can afford or beg or borrow enough to pay your fuel oil and the realization that there are others who can’t and who might need your help — and you might be able to give it.

It’s about recognizing and appreciating the beauty of the land around you and understanding your responsibility to it. It’s about celebrating your relationships and doing what’s necessary to nurture them.

You can’t count blessings if you’re not engaged. That’s not a passive thing. I think you can’t count your blessings if you’re not willing to be a blessing to be counted. Maybe you start with counting little blessings when you’re young, like a child at prayer: Bless Mommy, bless Daddy, bless Sisty and Bro, bless the dog, the cat, the chickens. But then you grow up and so should your blessings. You still count them but you get active about your love, you bless the challenges that allow you to test your strengths and ingenuity.

Life is hard, it’s true. But it is filled with things that soften those blows, and we must rejoice in them, and we must be them. Preachy, this morning, I guess. But Peace depends on the blessings we’re willing to see and be. And we depend on Peace and our work toward it to give our lives meaning.

Moon Peace, LLVL

The Moon is so very constant. And She offers a soft light for us to look at our world. Her gentleness can hide some of the biggest blemishes and give us courage to go to work — before we know how daunting the task before us. She silvers those with whom we are in conflict and those whom we love. If she can love us both, can’t we, in her soft light?

Sometimes when I have a quiet moment, I think back to my pagan roots or the Farmers’ Almanac, whichever is closer or seems more appropriate, and wonder why I don’t pay more attention to the waxing and waning of this beauty. True, she’s outside and I often try not to be. (I know, what a lousy vida localist! maybe this year will change me!) But if the Earth has a rhythm and nature responds to it, it would seem to make sense to work with it rather than against it.

Can I live deliberately enough to know when to rise and when to fall? When the Earth and the Moon have my back? I have no idea. Can you? Can we find the Peace that living rhythmically offers? Can we offer that Peace. Can we envision the Moon rising on war-torn, natural catastrophe-wrecked land and push Peace into her gaze… Can we?

Can we even just appreciate how beautiful the Moon is on our river and hills, simply being present to her Beauty? It’s an ancient call. Can we hear it? Can we want the Peace enough? If Herman could hear it… yah — I don’t think I want to finish that sentence. Moon Peace, my dearlings, Moon Peace to you. Let me count my blessings by the light of the Moon and see them silvered and so beautiful.

Peace with the Past, LLVL

I’ve been batting clean-up at home. It’s been coming in waves. I do some things, get back on my feet and sink into my life. Which is busy and demanding and beloved. But tiring.

So when I get a moment again, I get rested and then I can consider what I want to do next to normalize what feels vastly un-normal. I am now the keeper of so much family goodness. But not all of it has yet found its way into final homes on my walls or in closets or…

But Saturday was one of those days to attack a pile. I had the time, I was in a good place. As did many of Deb’s friends, I brought home a bunch of clothes. Deb was much taller than I (to my eternal chagrin). So wearing her pants demands intervention. There I was intervening. zip, zip, zip. fix. fix. fix. complete assignment. moving through the pile and BAM. oh, right. these were Deb’s favorites. She wore them all the time. My sister. My sweet, sweet, no-longer-here sister.

So I had a decision to make. I could let them drag me down, tuck them on a shelf and never wear them again. I could throw them out. And forget recycling. Somethings the trash is the answer. And if I couldn’t wear them I didn’t want to see them on somebody else who bought them at the church yard sale. Or, I could take strength from wearing her favorite pants — put on the whole armor of Deb, if you’ll excuse the bad remake of a Bible verse. So, I chose. I’d wear them in pride. I’d step up and step out. They’re teal, after all. New memories to be made. New ways to count blessings.

So crisis averted i plowed on. Remember I put out a plea for coats for a friend. The woman who leads the yard sale obliged. As I was tucking them into the car I realized. They were Deb’s. I was going to have to learn this lesson. Let go. And really, deb would have been thrilled to know her stuff was headed to SD to keep people warm. And I reclaimed that very warm sweater I’d given away because really, it never gets that cold here. So there we are. Getting brave. Making Peace. Wearing the pants in the family.

Stories for Peace

The Dark is the time of Sacred Stories. We are asked to recall and recite the stories that make sense in our lives, the stories that make sense of our lives. Every time we tell them, a layer is added. The meaning deepens in the telling and so do our connections to the stories.

We have choices about the stories we tell. We have choices about how we tell the stories, what is it we want them to teach us. We even have choices about the way our stories evolve, because we can make choices about how we live our lives.

When I started this year, I decided to let a new storyline emerge. I wanted to explore Peace in my life. Writing about Peace every day, no matter how obliquely has turned me into a Peace-Considerer and is moving me toward Peace-maker. Choosing to capitalize Peace and other nouns that lead toward it, while choosing to take power away from unpeaceful nouns by keeping them lowercase has had impact, on me, if not on others. The capital (particularly from someone who is capital challenged) is a small, lingering caress. I pay attention to the Peaceful details of the stories I tell.

And oh they matter, those stories. I’m trying to collect them about a friend of mine, who died a week ago. He was a wacky, wonderful guy with a sly sense of humor and a penchant for collecting things and people and stories. and awful jokes. There are so many Charlie-stories worth telling. Telling them well, next week when we have the memorial will help those stories settle into our collective hearts and become part of our history.

Telling Charlie stories will ease our sorrow and shape our shared future and perhaps our individual ones as well. That’s what stories do, the bring the past into the present and offer a path into the future. And if you make your stories stories of Peace, you will build a future of Peace. The more people in your stories, the more people on your Peace road. So observe so you can collect those stories, practice so you can tell them and listen to what you say so you know what to tweak and what to do next. Which ones exhort you to show up? Which make you reflect? Which count the blessings of sweet memories made from your feats of derring-do and your moments of collective lolling about.

Tell the stories that make you happy, make you laugh. Tell the stories that remind you that your heart bruises. Remind yourself of big work completed and little times enjoyed. Tell the stories that help you remember what you stumble over. Remember what you’re proud of. Tell the stories of how Love grows, and Hope and Joy. Tell them simply or embellish the heck out of them. But most of all? Enjoy each and every one of them. Peace, my friends… Happy Story-telling!

Sacred Village

Building a World of Peace, Village by Sacred Village.

Tag Archives: blessing counting