Tag: human

The Grace of Being Human.

My darlings, on this day – you’ve the gift of this morning sun; twenty-four brand new hours to do with, anything you choose.

This day offers itself to you, my loves – at first, to whisper; then, to roar. The morning greets with open arms, a reminder of hope through distant sun.

And yet, we find ourselves distracted – pulled from the very center of our ‘settling place.’ Our minds finding cause to wander away, seeking the solace of ‘story’ over this new light of day.

Until we are, again, reminded – that we are destined to observe this world through the gaze of softened view.

And knowing, that it is indeed our greatest blessing on earth – this joy-filled grace of ‘being human.’

“Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches —
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead —
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging —

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted —

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray. ”

from Dream Work (1986) by Mary Oliver

How is Your Heart Today, My Friend?

I watched two gentlemen greet each other at the coffeehouse this morning.

“Kayf haal-ik” they cried out. Meaning, ‘how is your heart today’?

So often, we become caught up in the ‘doing’ of life. We become over-scheduled, over-burdened, over-tired – we lose the joy in ‘just simply being.’

I remember when my children were much younger. “Why haven’t you enrolled him yet,” asked the mother of a very young friend. At just 7-years-old, her son had more activities planned than a presidential envoy overseas.

In contrast, I asked my children to be wanderers and explorers. To climb trees, and scrape their knees – to come home with a little dirt rubbed into their pants. I wanted them to learn to take chances, to swing from life’s branches – to measure time by way of the sun’s position in the sky.

And, at the end of the day, come home exhausted – simply from this ‘task’ of being human.

Kayf haal-ik – how is your heart today, my friend?  Sit with me, in this space, and connect – please, for just a little while. Share with me, your deepest thoughts – and help me to understand.

In this space of connection – there is no facade, no ceremonious putting on of airs. Just two hearts, coming together – with a reminder of what it is to be human.

So now, tell me – please, my dearest darlings; how is your heart today?