“To know yourself as the Being underneath the thinker, the stillness underneath the mental noise, the love and joy underneath the pain, is freedom, salvation, enlightenment.”Eckhart Tolle….Sweet Gardenia In The Rain….Sometimes this old world just moves too fast and makes me dizzy and I fear I might just fall off. That is when I know I have to be really still and look at something so great and marvelous that it defies thought and inhale the scents and the beauty deep into my soul…

Nature does nothing uselessly…Aristotle

In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks…John Muir

PURPOSE

As Spring turns to Summer it is time for showcasing Paulownia trees again. They have been in bloom this month, growing wild in the woods and along the edge of forests. I am only aware of them when they bloom in the spring. The blossoms are fragrant and beautiful, a lovely sapphire blue, not unlike wisteria, and hang in clumps. The Paulownia is native to China and Japan and has been grown there for centuries. It is revered. It is one of the few hardwoods that can growback solely from the root and is only slightly heavier than balsa wood.

In China, the tree is planted at the birth of a girl. The fast-growing tree matures when she does. When she is eligible for marriage the tree is cut down and carved into wooden articles for her dowry. Carving the wood of Paulownia is an art form in Japan and China. Several Asian string instruments are made from the Paulownia, including the Japanese Koto and the Korean Gayageum Zithers.

Every living thing in this world has a place and a purpose and a beauty all its own.

Dusk on the Water…osprey viewed from a small dinghy as she passed overhead…May 24

“They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.” 

― Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

PERPETUAL BECOMING

In truth it feels right to say that I am always changing, but to say that the morph is just another layer on my life implies a covering like a new coat of paint and that isn’t right.

 Sometimes the Changing is more like an added piece to the puzzle that gives dimension to my Being, or another daub of color on the painting that is Me.

The little girl who lost her Momma before the Time of Remembering is still a part of me and I see her sometimes in the reflection of the still river. 

Then again we see not only with our eyes, but with our hearts and souls and our perspective is skewed by our experiences and our desires, so perhaps we change our interpretation as we flow with the Perpetual Change.
That means I am a work in progress…
I recently watched Night Train to Lisbon and was totally blown away by Pascal Mercier’s writing.

“Given that we can live only a small part of what there is in us — what happens with the rest?” 

― Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon

Begonia Bud; You can see the future lying just beneath the surface, the hidden beauty.

“Stand up for your conscience. Use light to reveal what is concealed in the darkness. Use truth to fight the lies, and the heart to fight the mind.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

I believe that a moral law lies within us. I believe this truth is our conscience. I believe we must be on guard. Do not let the proclamations set forth by loud people who encourage us to give in to the baggage of darkness and fear so many of us carry smother the goodness. It isn’t easy to live according to the righteousness of our conscience when there are so many people telling us to bury that and embrace the darkness of hate that often lies in the guise of truth. The struggle within can be a torment and can fill us with pain and desperation, but struggle on and allow the love and kindness of the truth blossom.

Words from an old hippy lady living on an old sailboat

Love, Light and Laughter

Zahn

May 18, 2016

“With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come.”

― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

I saw this delightful birdhouse and birdfeeder in the yard of an old Victorian House while wandering the other day and stopped to laugh. I thought they belonged in Whoville, in Cindy Lou Who’s yard.

According to the book Horton Hears a Who!, the city of Whoville is located within a floating speck of dust which is then placed onto a clover flower by Horton the Elephant. I like that!!

The birdhouse was inhabited and the birdfeeder in use. As I laughed and photographed I thought I caught movement of a lace curtain in the house and imagined a wizened old face with wrinkles of mirth stealing a peek at this old lady who wandered stopped and laughed at her yard.

Robert Frost once wrote that if we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane, so laugh My Good Friends, laugh away!!

The Iris , a Giver of Delight

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”

― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happyness…I don’t feel like “dropping the y and adding an I” today. Besides I think it looks better this way. You really see the word HAPPY. In English we add the suffix ness to change an adjective to a noun. Let’s forget about that and just consider HAPPY as a word capable of being an adjective and a noun, and maybe even a verb. That would be cool.

It has been overcast and rainy for several weeks now and the lack of sun shine seems to be taking a toll on my ability to maintain a healthy mental attitude. In other words it is driving me bonkers! I was hoping for the sun to at least show itself for a few moments in some magical break in the clouds. It was even going to be okay if the sky didn’t erupt into Leonard Cohen singing “Halleluiah”. Alas it did not happen. I wandered the old streets with my camera in hand when I chanced upon a most magnificent iris. It sure didn’t need to be illuminated by rays of a sun to reflect some inner glory. It was perfect. I stood there just looking at it for a while before I took its picture.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, and still do.

Love, Light and Laughter

Zahn

May our hopes today be bigger than our fears.
I think all of us have moments when we judge ourselves harshly and mercilessly, and this leads to fear and anguish and ultimately leaves us drained and exhausted. I try and remember that the road is not a straight line and often fraught with obstacles, many of our own making.
It is important that we be gentle to ourselves and love ourselves and accept that we are going to stumble and fall and even lose our way sometimes as the path isn’t always clear and the light sometimes dims and darkness falls.
Just remember that we are not alone and that there are others who too feel this same anxiety. Just keep hope alive and keep dancing onward even if some of the moves seem awkward and out of step.  

Love, Light and Laughter,

Zahn