Inscriptions

I appreciate the chance to be quiet and thoughtful at the end of year.  I like a slow meander through the past 12 months in which to impress upon my heart all that I want to keep… and that which may be released. It is good to look at the tough intersections and notice how I weathered them, how I navigated the confusion or pain or disappointments.  It is good to say aloud, “I navigated those spaces as best I could, and now… I am here.”  It’s always worthwhile at the close of a year to let one's self off the hook of guilt or esteem bashing and recognize, with humility, the shimmers of divinity that always show up best in shadows and gloom.  When we are not our best, when we feel lost and weak, when the world gnaws at our light, we can be encouraged as we face a New Year… that we are facing it, that we are embracing it with greater wisdom and insight than ever before.

I don’t know about you, but when I take the time to come away from the world and merge with the quiet intuitions of nature… I find great happiness within my being.  I like who I am.  I am thankful for all that carved me out and all that fills me up with hope and promise.  Solitude is such a necessary balance in today’s times.  Solitude enables, clarifies, heals, and holds out new notions and possibilities never to be found in the crowd. I give thanks for spaces in which to hear my Maker in me.  I pray you can listen quietly as January begins… and I trust with you that something waits to be heard that will overwhelm your heart with gladness.

There are some things I want to write upon my heart, to feel in the pulsing at my wrist when I get lost in the noise again.  I want to sing these mantras into my soul so clearly that they will echo with ease in the moments most needed.  And I want to sing these prayers to you… just in case you never heard them or forgot them.  I believe they might cast a warm light upon those divine shimmers you’ve yet to see.  Keep these words close and sing them to yourselves like lullabies in 2015.

1.  “If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.”  This is from a handwritten note I keep in my wallet from my Dad.  He gave it to me when I was in high school.  The greatest gift we can give each other is the beauty that we are.  Be you… wholly and holy.
   
   
2. “No act of kindness is ever wasted.”  Aesop.  Let’s trust this with the most outrageous people and in those blatantly brutal circumstances that beg us to be unkind.  Let’s trust honest acts of kindness for what they elicit in us and in others.
   
   
3. “Leave space.”  Kathy.  At the dinner table.  In the midst of long ‘to do’ lists.  Before bed.  Before work.  By yourself.  With others.  Leave room for those who unexpectedly show up with a need.  Leave room for spontaneity.  Hold open hands towards the sky and each other.  Leave space for unannounced delight… and then allow space in which to savor it.
   
   
4. “Cowboy up.”  Chris Fuller.  Sometimes we have to do that which we think we cannot or that which we care not to do at all.  There are moments when we must simply do what is required.  And so, we do it with the knowledge that we can also make changes, we can imagine broader ideas and ways of being.  We can climb up on that horse for as long as need be with the simple knowledge that we do not have to remain on that horse indefinitely.  We do what we must with as much grace as we can… and then, we move on.
   
   
5. “He drew a circle that shut me out.  Heretic.  Rebel.  A thing to flout.  But love and I had the wit to win.  We drew a circle that took him in.”  Edwin Markham.  I am still working on this… a goal for the New Year.  But what if we could each draw a bigger circle… I’m thinking wondrous things could happen.
   
   
6. “You can’t change stupid.”  Frank Fuller.  It’s crass, but worthy of introspection.  How invested should you be in that which cannot change?  How much energy do you want to soak into something or someone who absolutely depletes you?  If the wall is made of bricks, will it help anything for you to keep bashing your head against it?  Pay attention to where you offer your attention.
   
   
7. “Love and imagination do many things.”  Rumi.  Let yourself think outside of the box.  Let yourself love outside of the box.  Who knows what may come from such!
   
   
8. “Ring the bells that still can ring.  Forget your PERFECT offering.  There is a crack in everything.  That’s how the light gets in.”  Leonard Cohen.  Keep a realistic, thrilling goal of non-perfection.
   
   
9. “Show up.”  Kathy.  So often, we act like we don’t know what to do or how to be helpful in this world.  Guess what?  Just show up.  Be present to those who are ill or wounded.  Stop by with warm food.  Sip tea and hold hands.  Go out of your way to make eye contact.  Laugh and cry together.  Keep your door open and your hands, too.  We need each other now more than ever.  Put down the phone.  Shut off the computer.  Turn off the television.  Show up face to face and pour out the love.
   
   
10. “Your work is to discover your life and with all your heart, give yourself to it.”  Buddha.  To know your own dreams and loves and joys and thrills is a gift to the world.  Seek to know your own heart and by that… more love will fill the earth.
    
    
11. “It doesn’t have to be the blue iris, it could be weeds in a vacant lot, or a few small stones; just pay attention, then patch a few words together and don’t try to make them elaborate, this isn’t a contest but the doorway into thanks, and a silence in which another voice may speak.”  Mary Oliver.  Just.  Keep.  Praying.
    
    
12. “I have decided to be happy because it is good for my health.”  Voltaire.  Sing louder.  Dance crazier.  Swoon in the woods.  Laugh from your belly.  Say out loud the good you know.  Clap for joy.  Whistle.  Seek it.  Be it.  Happy is as happy does!
    
     
    
    Happy New Year, my Friends!  Blessed be your journey.