My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all the ingredients are here,

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

~Mary Oliver

how to actually be here…

inquiry for today~ these wisdoms in your heart…..

how to lean in….

These three sentences can help when you are angry and do not want to be carried away by your anger. The first line is, ‘Breathing in, I know I’m suffering.’ We often don’t realize when we are suffering, and so we become a victim of our suffering. By saying, ‘Breathing in, I know I’m suffering,’ there is suffering but there is also mindfulness of suffering. That makes a big difference.

The second line is, ‘I know that you are suffering too.’ Usually we think that we are the only one who is suffering, that we are the victim of the unkindness or cruelty of the other person. We forget that the other person is also suffering, and that’s why they said or did such things.

The third line is, ‘I need your help.’ We need help because we are suffering. We want to understand what has happened. The other person also needs our help, not punishment. This simple phrase can remind us that we can offer to be a refuge for each other rather than making things worse. We can de-escalate tension and conflict straight away by asking the other person for help.

~Thich Nhat Hanh