Surrender

I surrender my stubborness
In doubt, I take it back
I give up my attachments
In nostalgia, I re-attach
I forgive those trespassers
In resentment, I chew some more
I release the need to control
Fear wells up with rules
I surrender my will over and over
Then in denial or lack, I fall once more
And so the dance goes…
I surrender again

The Self-Perpetuating Satisfaction

At
the pinnacle
of his success
he stopped for a moment
to reflect upon his gratitude
and knew the joy that fueled
his days of activity
And in that very moment
he heaved a big sigh of deep satisfaction
and inner peace
     “Ah! Life is good!” he proclaimed…

Banks of Serenity

My mind is always floating
near the banks of serenity
Keep me, keep me in peace
as I walk through life’s dramas…

Quiet Joy

Right now, as I start this entry it is not even 6 am, and I have been up for a couple hours. It is still outside, and in. My thoughts are allowed to take time to form with ease and patience. There is a quiet joy in the morning before I need to face the day, and all of the activities attached to it.

I used to consider myself a “night” person. I would stay up late until 2 or 3am reading or more likely painting. Somehow, over the years, that has shifted so that now I am toast if I stay up past 11. Now I am a morning person. It’s the same quiet: I love being immersed in the silence and serenity of the middle of the dark time, when most everyone is sleeping.

When my children were little I would find myself wandering the halls at all hours seeking some quiet joy with pencil or brush in hand. When my second daughter was born, I set-up my drawing table in the living room of our small home. The kitchen was on one side of the living room and the bedroom and nursery on the other side. I did a series of drawings that year in 1 to 5 minute increments, as I passed through the living room. Stolen moments of quiet joy in the midst of the activities of our home.

Silence in the Center

Serene in the face of gossip
Awake in the wake of war
At peace in the midst of violence
One in a group of many
To be in the middle of doing
Silence in the center of cacophany
Joy in the heart of sadness
Grace, the seed inside disdain
Love, throughout all
One…