Mindfulness

“First you need only look: Notice and honor the radiance of Everything about you... Play in this universe. Tend All these shining things around you: The smallest plant, the creatures and objects in your care. Be gentle and nurture. Listen...” -Anne Hillman

all is a miracle!

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle.

But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.

Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize:

a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes.

All is a miracle.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Buzzard Day with Marko

Sunday was buzzard day in Hinckley.......it is when the buzzards fly back to Hinckley.
Marko and I went. He loved it.
We went for pancakes and sausage....and played some games and met some buzzards......beautiful words below!!
Love,
Michele

The world’s a rollercoaster
And I am not strapped in
Maybe I should hold with care
But my hands are busy in the air

— Incubus, “Wish You Were Here”

aliveness

I did not know I was on a search for passionate aliveness. I only knew I was lonely and lost and that something was drawing me deeper beneath the surface of my life in search of meaning. There is a hunger in people to go to those deep depths; to know that our lives are sacred; that our hearts are truly capable of love. It is a yearning to be all the we can be. A longing for what is real.
-Anne Hillman

on our holiness

The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don't have to gain, develop, or attain them. We're like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don't need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are -- as soon as we quit pretending we're small or unholy. - Unknown

happy birthday

Happy Birthday to our Macer!!!! Have a great day Macy.
Love, Mom






May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true, May you always do for others And let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young. May you grow up to be righteous, May you grow up to be true, May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, Stand upright and be strong, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young. May your hands always be busy, May your feet always be swift, May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift. May your heart always be joyful, May your song always be sung, May you stay forever young, Forever young, forever young, May you stay forever young.

- Bob Dylan

Dusty

Poor dusty hurt his paw and kept licking it.
We took him to the vet yesterday and he has an infection so he has to wear this.
He looks so pitiful....I think he is depressed......makes me sad too.
Love,
Michele

happiness

If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat,
writing a symphony, educating his son,
growing double dahlias in his garden.
He will not be searching for happiness
as if it were a collar button that has rolled under
the radiator.

-W. Beran Wolfe



This quote reminds me that it is not in the searching that I find that connection....it is in the being...in the now...in the serving...in the creating. I need reminders like these!
Love, Michele

mystery of grace

I do not understand the mystery of grace-- only that it meets us where we are, but does not leave us where it found us.

-Anne LaMott

Macy took this picture of this beautiful baby at Omega last summer. I saw another picture of this baby in the Omega catalog this year......Macy is in the catalog too.......with a dopey face looking through the "O" of the Omega sign.

It made me smile.

Have an awesome day.

Love,

Michele

One

Marko had to make sentences in school for each of his spelling words.
For the spelling word "number"
This was his sentence:
"One is the loneliest number."

It made me smile.
Read below.
Love,
Michele



Although we have been made to believe that if we let go we will end up with nothing, life itself reveals again and again the opposite: that letting go is the path to real freedom.
Just as when the waves lash at the shore, the rocks suffer no damage but are sculpted and eroded into beautiful shapes, so our characters can be molded and our rough edges worn smooth by changes. Through weathering changes, we can learn how to develop a gentle but unshakable composure. Our confidence in ourselves grows, and becomes so much greater that goodness and compassion begin naturally to radiate out from us and bring joy to others. That goodness is what survives death, a fundamental goodness that is in each and every one of us. The whole of our life is a teaching of how to uncover that strong goodness, and a training toward realizing it. - Sogyal Rinpoche

art's purpose

Marko made this picture....it is a picture of raggedy ann and raggedy andy...I used to have a raggedy ann doll.

I love Marko's art.......and the quote below.

...have a great day

Love,

Michele

The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.

-Glenn Gould

Born to Love!!

We believe we are hurt when we don't receive love.

But that is not what hurts us. Our pain comes when we do not give love.

We were born to love. You might say that we are divinely created love machines.

We function most powerfully when we are giving love.

The world has led us to believe that our wellbeing is dependent on other people loving us.

But this is the kind of upside down thinking that has caused so many of our problems.

The truth is our well being is dependent on our giving love.

It is not about what comes back; it is about what goes out!

-Alan Cohen

Love

We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.
-Thich Nhat Hanh