Weather

March 23, 2020May 28, 2021 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

When fear is everywhere,

take a breath.

Remind yourself that

as real as the fear feels,

it is a passing storm.

You can see it but

you don’t belong to it.

Remember that you are not the weather.

You are the sky.

We can choose to be blown away

and knocked off our feet…

or we can choose

to have the compassionate and wise view from above.

We can be observant

while holding on to

who we really are.

Only by holding fast to the good in us –

our expansive being –

can we truly be helpful

or even present.

So, keep your eyes open

while patiently riding it out.

Don’t allow yourself to get knocked over

or sucked into the whirlwind.

Be ever-present and calm

just like the blue sky

which endures every storm.

“I am the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” – Pema Chodron

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

The Time to Blossom

August 12, 2019August 12, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

There is an urgency within

which pulls at my skin,

leading me forth

into the mysterious newness ahead.

I’ve been germinating.

The rest allowed has given

the necessary space and freedom

to review the landscapes –

and offer each

to be placed into the heart of God.

Sure, there are mixed feelings attached.

But each place travelled

has provided the necessary nutrition

for the current unfolding.

I have found that

the more I let go and allow for

a larger view of things,

the more freedom there is

for my unique soul

to be connected to

God and my true belonging.

This lightens –

and allows for the reach up and out.

There really are no problems!

It is counter-intuitive, in a way –

but the more I let go,

the more I can be present for others

and actually be helpful –

be present.

So, I choose to be here –

as rocky as the ground can be…

I choose joy.

I choose love.

I live gratefully.

And when the memory of this lapses,

I forgive the pull of distraction,

and begin again.

We can always start over.

This is the beauty of

learning self-transformation.

God is the focus.

Not me.

There is always hope

and healing is here.

The presence of God needs to fill the space where you seem to be for healing to happen.

–Dr. Thomas Hora

Ask yourself, who would I be if there were no problem?

-Tara Brach

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Like Me

July 17, 2019July 17, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

Like me,

I bet you don’t like to be

inconvenienced by illness or stress.

Like me,

you probably aim to control and manage

everything in front of you.

Like me,

sadness is not an option

you would choose.

Like me,

your busyness gets in the way

of your experience of peace and

even love.

Like me,

your striving and perfectionism

puts you in a box

which limits spontaneity and joy.

Like me,

your thoughts drive you

and mostly go unnoticed.

But also like me,

you are growing in awareness.

Like me,

you don’t give up.

Like me,

laughter and health

bubble forth, anyway.

Like me,

you are a Velveteen Rabbit,

and you are being loved

into being made more real.

Like me,

you are learning the

gift of surrender.

Like me,

grace finds you.

Like me,

you are grateful for it all.

In peace,

my spirit bows to your spirit.

We are one.

And you are like me.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Big Love

March 31, 2019March 31, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

When one of us is lost,

all that is needed is the touch of another

whether to tender skin or the wounded heart.

For none of us are perfectly on track

all the time, are we?

So we help one another to steer and soften.

When one of us is sick,

it is time for a cup of Big Love –

we fill it with grace mixed with empathy

so the sickness cannot take root,

causing the soul to wither,

in a feeling of aloneness.

If disconnection broadens,

it is time to seek your teacher –

that wiser one who loves as God loves,

without measure, and

while nurturing the current lesson to birth.

A good teacher mirrors your imminent Spring

as you struggle to blossom

and see.

This is what Big Love looks like –

its embrace feels like freedom on the wing.

Its presence is grace realized

as sibling souls open and

reach out to you,

sparking Truth and Light

so you can be healed.

Photo credit to Gary Stanton, my husband, who also gave me the mug recently when I was sick – the inspiration for this poem. Thank you, Honey! xoxo

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

A Breath That is Free

March 9, 2019 becomingandbeholding3 Comments

If our moments are forgotten,

did we really live them?

If our thoughts are in charge,

are we present at all?

If our breath is held,

is it really a breath?

I pause with these questions

and my ears open to the hum of my home,

and the song of the birds outside.

My vision is sparked by

the morning light filtering through the trees.

The glow is beautiful.

I notice that as I write,

my posture is hunched,

and I am tight in all the usual places.

I release the usual.

Relaxing and deepening awareness

of my breath,

and my gratitude for it all,

I begin again.

I am present and I live this moment.

Grace and peace find me

in the movement of my breath.

I am ready for the gift of another day.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Nurture

February 17, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

You are but a drooping plant

with a bowed-browned bloom.

Your light is not reflecting –

the shadows grow.

Grief visible like this

is more easily watered.

It calls out for nurturance.

When hidden,

it festers

and roots into every pore,

making us sick –

stealing the colors.

This is the usual way…

for we are all good at facades

and hiding.

We smile brightly,

despite the pained cracks within.

Where does it hurt, my friend?

Show me the place

and tell me the story.

Dig out the pain from

your hardened crusts – fashionably covered.

Lift your voice and let the cry be born.

Let me know what is needed.

Take the covers off

and allow the hurt to move you

to a new place of freedom.

All is well, and

I am here with you.

You belong.

Poem · Poetry · Uncategorized

Be a Tree

January 5, 2019January 5, 2019 becomingandbeholding2 Comments

You can stand in your ground

with roots that grasp to

all that matters

and holds you in place.

You can reach for the light and

blossom in its glow.

You bloom and grow,

bloom and grow –

shedding what is no longer needed,

in the appropriate season.

Other beings are attracted to you…

they sense your peace.

Its good to allow them

to hug you,

and be in your presence.

For sharing the strength and life

of your core

brings healing –

and releases the knots of

tension and contraction which cause

unnecessary twisting.

As the winds and storms arrive,

remember who you are.

You are not the weather.

You are a tree.

You observe.

You lend air.

You stand tall and alert, and

your stillness blesses.

Uncategorized

Way of Being

July 22, 2018 becomingandbeholdingLeave a comment

Poem · Poetry

The Body Knows

June 30, 2018June 30, 2018 becomingandbeholding1 Comment

You bark at me

when I am off kilter –

when you don’t get what you need.

I can hear you

scratching at my door

seeking urgent attention.

I get in my head

and forget you need me, too,

and I need to be present.

Like a caged cheetah,

your tension tells me

that something is amiss.

Gradually, through your constant blabbering,

I get the message.

I learn to listen to you.

Your complaining wakes me up:

“This pain, that stiffness, is not you. Stop and see.”

I open my eyes,

look deep within,

and find there is more.

I can change my way of being.

Peace is born.

Uncategorized

True Connection

June 28, 2018June 30, 2018 becomingandbeholding1 Comment