Capture Childhood

 

We are most nearly ourselves when we achieve the seriousness 

of the child at play. 

~  Heraclitus

Return to childhood to recapture an adventure, an emotion and an innocence. Define yourself by those incidents. How did you play?

Writer, Jack Gilbert says, "The only geography we have is the storybook of our childhood." What does this mean for you?

Ask questions:

As a child did you feel unquenchable?

Which moods did you express?

Write to delve into your storybook of childhood.

Hop into Happy

Robert Louis Stephenson wrote, "There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. Happiness does not need to become the goal. We need a variety of experiences and moods to write about." 

In the 1980’s Martin E.P. Seligman adopted the term, “positive psychology.” After years of studying the “learned helplessness” that characterized depression he began to study how individuals could learn optimism. Seligman felt a search for “authentic happiness” made more sense than  relying on psychology’s one-sided focus on illness and disorders. 

Embrace optimism, courage and perseverance rooted in social and civil well-being.

Consider how to gather simple pleasures. The process itself will attract feelings of exultation.

Awaken to positivity that explodes in blossoms and blue sky. 

Take a pleasure interlude to revel in the marvels nature shares.

Stay awake to joy and appreciation for growing creatures, birds, plants and trees.

Day's Gratitude

While the sun does his dance into the sea, benefit from the final moments of each day. 

Find a place to watch for an evening 

                                                     to enjoy the sun's play.

When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. - Lao Tzu

Visualize the color in all its depth, intensity, and discover a metaphor.

Notice how the sun wriggles to set in tangerine dreams.

Discover creatures who play and chase the sun as he rolls down the sky.

Feel grateful for each moment.

Nature's Treasurers

The unknown and the marvelous press upon us from all sides.  They loom above us and around us in undefined and fluctuating shapes, some dark, some shimmering, but all warning us of the limitations of what we call matter, and of the need for spirituality if we are to keep in touch with the true inner facts of life. – Arthur Conan Doyle

Find a place that excites a sense of wonder.

Awaken imagination to wing and wander.

Cultivate Curiosity.

Release maudlin moods. See them sprout into vitality, generosity, and creativity.

Marvel in nature’s treasures.

Escape the Fussy Mind

“The greatest meditation is a mind that lets go.” – Atisa Dipa

                        

Place your fussy mind in a top drawer.

Hear the closing click.
Hang a favorite and weighty item.

You don’t need a key.
Listen for the jostling and grumbling inside.

Say, “STAY!”

Put on your happy shoes and saunter out the door.
Let nature intrigue with its delights.

Trees will soon shed their leaves but evergreens prevail.

Feel grateful release from mind tendrils.

Go into your heart for sensory experiences.

Discover your neighborhood: a lingering rose, fresh earth, a gush of wind.

Breathe a drift of lavender. Hear a phoebe or crow’s call.

 

Wander until you have forgotten your mind.

Just take your time. No need to rush.

Energize the spirit and play.

 

When you return, open the drawer
to a renewal of friendship. 

 

Take out your fountain pen and write on and on. Send a letter to a friend.

Life Is

Life is a song – sing it. Life is a game – play it. Life is a challenge – meet it. Life is a dream – realize it. Life is a sacrifice – offer it. Life is love – enjoy it. – Sai Baba Take an evening  stroll. Observe nature’s offerings. Discover what frames the earth’s waterway. Seagulls send messages.  Listen to the calm. The great ball of fire will take time to ease behind the sea. Notice scents of evening in rainbow hues. The sun’s tangerine reflects ideas. You may see an instant of green. Let Gratitude release for another day.

Life's Mosaics

 “Gaining access to that interior life is a kind of . . . archaeology: on the basis of some information and a little bit of guesswork, you journey to a site to see what remains and what’s left behind and you reconstruct the world.” – Toni Morrison 

What matters the most in your life?

Answers to that question alter as you grow and mature with experiences and in thinking about choices. During a lifetime, we return to aspects of life that matter the most.

Think of an incident that shaped the way you view your life?  Was a hidden gift there, or a lesson you’ve carried forward?  

Did you make a choice in the moment that benefitted your future?  Could you have gone a different direction and altered where you reside in life today?

Recall an incident where you felt a real or perceived disadvantage of life.  In reflection, would you change the results?

Consider a choice you did not make or one that was made for you because of procrastination or indecision. How would you rewrite it from a third person perspective?

Do you have unfinished business in an area of life?

How would you define the mosaics of your life?