August evenings are especially

stricken with melancholy-

as if the ghosts of all past summers

came rushing in to haunt my heart.

~Ann Marie Leazer

when I run into the deeper layers…..

inquiry for today~ how to run into a sunset of August…..

tiny threads…..

The work of the mature person is to carry grief in one hand

and gratitude in the other and to be stretched large by them.

How much sorrow can I hold? That’s how much gratitude I can give. If I carry only grief,

I’ll bend toward cynicism and despair. If I have only gratitude,

I’ll become saccharine and won’t develop much compassion for other people’s suffering.

Grief keeps the heart fluid and soft, which helps make compassion possible.

~Francis Weller