A Soul's Limn

Tea and flowers at Elixir in Great Barrington, MA

“What does your soul need to weather the winter?”

“This afternoon it told me that tea makes snow gentler.”

“And your soul, I do wonder, why it rises with the sun?”

“It wakes for the promise of good things to come.”

“What does so help it in passing the days?”

“The sun, a friend, and the world’s smitten gaze.”

“Does your soul seek much when the lights have gone low?”

“Last night it longed simply to hear the winds blow.” 

"And what does it whisper as it closes the curtain?"

"The moon, it seems, is always so certain."

How wonderful it is that any of us can converse with our soul, and the souls of others, during any passing or lingering moment into which we may stumble.

The Year Brought Teachers; The Year Brought Friends.

Another year passes us by, and within each of its seasons, I found there were encounters that captivated; lessons learned; people and things loved, floating adrift, only to be found again.

There were leaps and bounds along with cross-legged stay-still-where-you-are's. There were words and pictures, stories and silence, falsehoods and truths. There were fingers, toes, tears, laughter. There were promises and plans, some broken, some seen through. There were cups of tea we drank, and there were trees at which we stared, many mesmerized. There were stars and a blood moon. There were gusts of wind and warm breezes. There was blue, like the sky beneath which we all spent our days; there was green that fell to orange, and brown that fell to empty, and empty that was cloaked by white, snow that is, the fruit of winter; then there was yellow… yellow, yellow, like the sun and flowers. 

There were meetings with friends, old and new. There were meetings with strangers. There were, it seems, meetings with fate too. There was both solemnity and elation. There was what-to-do-now and ah-yes-that’s-just-what-I’ve-been-seeking.

 Then there was happiness for another year's arrival.

A cheerful New Year to everyone!

Of This and Other Worlds (A Dose of Observation and Optimism)

Summer Greenery in Brooklyn, New York

We often describe experiences that fill us with awe as “other-worldly.”

The layers of golden orange in the sky, the feeling of vast love for other people that washes upon us at the most unexpected of moments, the reflection of the moon in a lake and the ripples that blur together the murkiness of the water and the clarity of the heavens. All of these things, we often remark, it is as though they are of another time and place.

But these things, we would do well to remember, are our world. They do exist all around us; we are even engulfed in them. 

So though our troubles are many and great, may we sometimes pause and remember that beauty still exists, and love’s forms are all around us.

Oranges in Spain

Flora in Massachusetts

Musing On Bliss

Seen on the desk at a local bookstore

Flowers on my street

How can bliss be defined?

For me, it is one foot on the other with sandals beneath, or looking out my window to see a single light on in the apartment across the way (someone else is still awake and thinking too). It is waking up to a day of freedom and adventure, and it is that day’s end, one that’s been long and brought happiness. It is laughing without bounds, to myself or to someone else. It is any kind of love that isn’t turned on its side. It is smiling to a stranger and them smiling back. It is happy surprises: fluffy dogs in shops, street side proclamations of wisdom, unexpected flowers and other notations of beauty, and the fond memories one carries everywhere. It is contented sleepiness put to rest and the hope for another full and bright day to come. It is feeling that things are forgivable.

And finally, bliss, I believe, is being able to walk in the world and see something, anything, worth loving.

Share beauty with everyone

Words of wisdom

Came across this masterpiece on the sidewalk outside my apartment building