a vessel for emptiness

Back to square one is the starting point of any genuine expression. Genuine square one is when you realize the desolateness, the spaciousness for that which is completely devoid of any feedback. You have finally confronted your good old self. This type of square one is primordial, the genuine one. There is no reference point…..Chogyan Trungpa

this reminds me of our own innate knowing & the responsibility to not deplete its arsenal of awareness….those leaky places which empty our loving places, cause us to surrender our authority & limit our longings….

Things Considered when Filling the Well….

holding the moon tight

finding that perfect corner to watch the world in silence

gathering flowers

sometimes it’s Rilke…sometimes it’s Nietzsche…..

sometimes it’s Charlie Brown…

remembering you have a couch & using it to rest

regarding all as a dream

cookies & milk

sand & wave & shells

starting over, beginning again, & forgetting why…

glossing over naked reality for awhile…

yoga, yoga, yoga…

sitting with true purpose

writing lists

checking out holy places in everyone you know

looking for the bottomless wild

remembering that floating comes before growing

Most of us never received a wise & mature introduction to the immense challenges, privileges, & possibilities of the life we entered into. Developing discernment helps us learn life’s lessons more clearly & quickly, turn challenges into opportunities & avoid unnecessary obstacles. We can then say, I have lived a good life, that I have touched &

I have been touched by……life.

Mariana Caplan

icons & meaning

In all ten directions of the universe,

there is only one truth.

When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same.

What can ever be lost? What can be attained?

If we attain something, it was there from the beginning of time.

If we lose something, it is hiding somewhere near us….

…..Ryokan

what does it mean to be disconnected from the soul? how can it be a question which clearly connects to all spiritual faiths?

truth is not afraid of questions…

I see the iconic image as paradoxical….consolidating cultures..yet also an archetype of courage which then can leave us hanging, because we do not have the tools to transcend the pitfalls of self-development, spiritual growth, & fledgling faith….

it seems our sacred task is to integrate an alchemy of growth on many levels…….our individual selves…our traditons…our stories…

to draw out our wisdom…

deeper clarity as principle or passion?

it is undeniable…the authenticity of an iconic image….

veiled, bowed, ritualistic & stuporous in prayer….

regardless of the profound emotions created….

spiritual transformation or mythologizing?

 If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

….Jesus Christ, The Gospel of Thomas…

offbeat

……it’s an off-kilter, swishy, cool, funky, free-wheelin’, mardi-gras dancin’, sweet moon, mess-in-the-studio, shake it up, belly laugh, wearin’ glitter…..

….kind of feelin’….

….it has something to do with love…& the fullness of life…

Love is the secret you unmask yourself to find, the destination where all roads of the journey lead. Dig up the acorn that holds the indestructible seeds of your genius & your joy. Rewrite your victim story. String the beads of your life necklace with care & compassion, faith & fearlessness. Cultivate a sense of wonder…..Elizabeth Lesser

write your own story….

charm your way into your own dance,

your own nuance, your own magic….

gather your beads, write your own story…..

while gathering soul,

I prefer a cool mask with feathers, lots of glitter, & a boa….

.

calling the fairies.....

nature love & the visceral calm

of a nuanced moment…

plaintive cries of the hero’s journey. I’ve been watching a heron for endless time. she’s seeking too……it’s as if she draws with her feet…simple, clean lines…contemplative. I try to mimic her, but I’m clumsy & not in the moment. she knows. she knows, but she doesn’t mind…it’s as if she’s teaching me. the light shifts, streaming. the sweet smell of grass shifts my journey into a moment of sensual grace. a reverie. I can feel the mist off the water. a calling to notice. simply notice. the heron notices the new scents….fairies peeking ’round corners. she is kissing the clouds & beckoning the silly fairies into the sun’s warmth. her mesmerized stance may be the most beauteous image I have ever felt. there they were…and gone…a wing, a flutter, a whisper, a remembrance. that contentment of suchness as is…& I hear the singing in my head of gifts & gratitude. a gentle opening of the heart. the heron, the fairies, me, the green, the only day there is, today. we simply breathe… together, one.

can you sense the wind shift?

…..In Blue……

But fairies haven’t fled, my dear…

They’ve been here all the while.

….Becky Kelly….

kiss the fragrance in static beauty...

What is at the heart of aesthetics? My thesis ranted about the poetics of aesthetics, the understanding of communication needed about ’what is art?,’ the philosophical codes used to navigate ethics, mataphysics, perceptions & sentimentality…..wow….but it’s much more intuitive…..the ethereal, aura of beauty….

…..as it is said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder…..

The beautiful, one way or another, always shakes us. Seeing the world through new eyes, leaving behind conceptual habits & narrow-mindedness makes life seem anew. Beauty takes us out of a ghost world, opens us to an unmeasurable, unpredictable abundance of sounds, perfumes, lines, textures, colors that amaze & renew us. Beauty brings a fresh wind to our minds. It does not attack with logic the stronghold of our beliefs, rather it introduces a new dimension that amazingly changes our viewpoint. The experience of natural beauty forces us to leave behind the empty boxes of our cliches & to perceive the world around us in all its complexity & richness. Just a few moments’ attention is all that is needed……

………Piero Ferrucci….Beauty & the Soul

me in life...

 a giddy-kind-of-silly-lighter-than-clouds-kind-of-pithy-dawdle-daydream-kind-of-day…

Your days pass like rainbows, like a flash of lightening, like a star at dawn. Your life is short. How can you quarrel?

….The Buddha….

nothing is getting put off today….it’s all right here in the palm of my hand…sweetness….

I am reminded that joy & passion are here, not elsewhere….

this is a dreamy & yet stark awakening…..

allusive & yet mine to choose….

a nuanced riddle & yet simple common sense…

     it’s time to play….

 I would not paint-a picture-

I would not paint-a picture-

I’d rather be the One

Its bright impossibility

To dwell-delicious-on-

And wonder how the fingers feel

Whose rare-celestial-stir-

Evokes so sweet a Torment-

Such sumptuous-Despair-

I would not talk, like Cornets-

I’d rather be the One

Raised softly to the Ceilings-

And out, and easy on-

Through Villages of Ether-

Myself endued Balloon

By but a lip of Metal-

The pier to my Pontoon-

Nor would I be a Poet-

It’s finer-own the Ear-

Enamored-impotent-content-

The License to revere,

A privilege so awful

What would the Dower be,

Had I the Art to stun myself

With Bolts of Melody!

……Emily Dickinson…..

Another nomination for the Liebster Award! This award is a wonderful little nudge to help navigate the blog world. A Big Thank You to lostupabove for the warm nomination. Her blog is a must see…..full of unique ideas, poetry & I especially like to peruse the books/music pages. This is a thoughtful & connected blog.

As we gather connections, I’d like to give a little extra attention to these nominees….

They are definitely worth peeking into….

 The Embodiment Chronicle

Yoga Care Challenge

bahrainisufi

J. Ruth Kelly

Seek the Sacred Amidst the Ordinary

Redifining Reality

ermiliablog

susserative aspirations

ranujanu

caterpillarwithonewing

]]> http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/17/liebster-award-2/feed/ 1 inblue66 liebster_blog1 http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/17/1343/ http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/17/1343/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:10:43 +0000 In Blue http://makebelieveboutique.com/?p=1343 Continue reading →]]>

sanctuary in the heart

Ever feel reborn in your own life? A clarity & a calling born of harmony.

No inertia in this space.

This path is the process of fearlessly peering into the mysterious nature of life & relaxing our mental & emotional grip on our own place within it…..Elizabeth Lesser

feeling roots, feeling knots, feeling sky,

feeling green, feeling wind, feeling breath….

this is the tangible place where we can see our heart….can envision our place…can connect to those roots & knots & sky & green & wind & breath….make it real….

Imagining Mystery

There is something

that contains everything.

Before heaven & earth

it is.

Oh, it is still, unbodied,

all on its own, unchanging,

all-pervading,

ever-moving.

So it can act as the mother

of all things.

Not knowing its real name,

we only call it the Way.

If it must be named,

let its name be Great.

Greatness means going on,

going on means going far,

and going far means turning back.

So they say, ‘The Way is great,

heaven is great,

earth is great,

and humankind is great;

four greatnesses in the world,

and humanity is one of them.’

People follow earth,

earth follows heaven,

heaven follows the Way,

the Way follows what is.

…….Lao Tzu……

…..the Way is the Heart…..

engrave your own yearning

]]> http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/17/1343/feed/ 6 inblue66 Keys '111 http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/16/deep-winter-cold-stark-clarity/ http://makebelieveboutique.com/2012/02/16/deep-winter-cold-stark-clarity/#comments Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:14:00 +0000 In Blue http://makebelieveboutique.com/?p=1340 Continue reading →]]>

anticipating spring

I’m thinking wistfully about warmer weather,

endless days of sunshine, easy living….

t-shirts & bare feet…..

the bigger & more interesting connection of seasons changing is brought out in this article about growth….from the macro to the micro & back….

what does it mean to grow & deconstruct at the same time? how do we ‘go within’ to change long-held beliefs…can we really change ‘how the world works?’…

what is ‘true growth’ vs. ‘economic growth?’…..what we all say we want, yet it isn’t really happening….& probably won’t….

do we really know how to be present, truly compassionate, & how does this really begin with me or is it an ideal not grounded in ‘reality?’….

 We are all children of the Great Spirit, we all belong to Mother Earth. Our planet is in great trouble & if we keep carrying old grudges & do not work together, we will all die….Chief Seattle

tough questions for a cold, winter day….moving beyond angst into & around the truth about our empty places….

Whatever happens, our commitment is to use whatever happens to awaken our heart. To realize our connection with all beings. There is not a formula for doing this kind of work. Stay with our discomfort…..then the reservoir of compassion begins to emerge……Pema Chodron

delicate

True happiness is in the love-stream that springs from one’s soul; & he who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness which truly belongs to him, whose source is not without, but within…..Hazrat Inayat Khan

So, I guess I’m somewhere in the middle of believing, accepting, understanding, knowing, feeling, judging, getting IT…

you know, that ok-happy-but-don’t-hit-me-too-hard place….

the morose, the maudlin, and the melancholy shadows of the delicate….

and then there are the really beautiful, really annoying & smiling angels who gift us with simplicity, openness, & humility…..

cheesy & undeniable….yes, don’t we usually resist quippy messages?….

in spite of or because of their power?