Tag: soul
Morning Coffee
That first brewed cup,
its aroma filling the kitchen,
its warmth on the mug
as my hand hugs it –
well, it soothes my soul.
I am like a cat
looking for a lap –
the ritual invites
rest and reflection –
a feeling of peace which
connects me
to all that matters.
The silence of the morning
reminds me to
quiet my waking mind
and allow for inspiration
to visit me.
She whispers into my soul.
Sipping my coffee,
engaging with words of wisdom –
words that find me
from the writings of others, or
the ones rising up within me –
it is a morning dance
that brings me joy.
We need touch points
like this.
We are like spinning tops
without them,
turning mindlessly, and
missing opportunities
to stop and notice.
The work of the soul,
our experience of Love,
requires these pauses.
Therefore, fret not your routines.
They are roots that
hold you in place –
or scenic spots
along your journey –
they allow for a more expansive view.
I pour myself a second cup,
Feeling the ground below me –
connecting my heart
to what expands before me.
It opens like an eager flower.
I behold the blessing
of another day.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, June 2018
Then Sings My Soul
When wanting meets realization
and dis-ease catches a glimpse
of healing,
my eyes spring open –
and I can see, once again,
how You are right here,
right here.
Life is a beautiful dance.
The music always plays,
with You leading my steps,
and I, in faith, following,
sometimes tripping along-
crying or laughing my way forward –
humbled by my missteps,
and blessed when I move
with grace.
Nevertheless,
and more and more,
I realize,
when I look up
from my preoccupation with
my own feet,
You are here,
You are here.
The dance we share
is as reliable as Life itself.
and its music
floats my heart skyward
as my soul
breaks into song.
Copyright© Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2018
Interdisciplinary
It takes all of us
to bring you home;
to follow your lead
while you demonstrate what you need –
how we can help.
Sometimes you don’t know.
After all,
this is a first for you.
We understand.
So we show you the way.
At first,
it is all about the pain
in all its potential forms
and impact.
Then it is
all about the Love –
given and received
over a lifetime
and in this moment.
We help unwrap
how Love endures
through it all.
We have travelled this road
with so many.
But no one is
exactly like you.
We are here.
Right next to you.
Each of us tasked
with a different
aspect of you –
the whole picture of you
and the life you were given.
As witnesses to your
soul’s journey,
we catch merely a glimpse
of the mystery
ahead
that calls to us all.
Thank you for that.
The comfort flows both ways.
We will never forget you.
Copyright © Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2017
Morning Walk
We are built to move
the way a bird is built to fly
or a flower is built to bloom.
Sleep has a way of stiffening us –
setting us in our ways and patterns
long in place –
like a mold we conform to.
Heck,
the couch can do the same
as it swallows us.
But a morning walk
can loosen
broaden,
unfold and inspire.
I literally start my day
by moving forward.
I spring out of bed
for this.
Copyright © Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2017
Blessed Assurance
No more a need
to solve, cling, or do.
I am done with all that.
Breathe.
Just be.
I turn my attention outward
trusting that inwardly,
I am whole.
This is an important shift
and not one that is
familiar –
a down shift,
into trust –
rather than constant acceleration.
True freedom comes in
letting go of the wheel,
not needing to see the road ahead.
Gradually, I am learning to be
more of a passenger.
It is strange how unfamiliar it feels.
I have learned so deeply
to be on my own,
driving solo.
But I repeatedly follow the wrong directions
being the simple human
I have learned to be,
confused by which GPS to heed.
Now I call upon my divine nature.
It has taken decades to
own it.
Such a beautiful feeling…
to know it is not all
up to me –
that no map is needed.
A look back
in the rear view mirror
confirms.
All is well –
and has been all along the way.
Blessed be.
Copyright © @Cynthia Cady Stanton, 2017
Inspiration
Trying to coax you
feels dishonest – and yet,
I do not know how to proceed
without you with me.
I love our usual rhythm
when you bubble up like a fountain
or surprise me with a flash.
The light you bring leads the way.
It is as if, like an eager child,
you grab me by the wrist,
pulling me with all your might,
to see what your wide eyes see,
to open to what is being born right before me.
This is our ritual,
our occasional awkward dance.
I long to know you better,
to deepen the intimacy between us
with more regular meetings.
I get jazzed when we can be together –
You, the lightening bug-
Me, the catcher.
But you are an unpredictable one,
mysterious in your ways
and sneaky.
I never know when you will appear.
You are always in the driver’s seat
while I ride shotgun,
trying to trust in the route you put me on.
You show up,
and I am knocked out of my usual rhythm,
suddenly consumed by your presence.
I love those moments.
They are like electricity lighting me up
on all circuits.
It is as if
you give birth to me all over again,
but in little flashes of light
to direct my unfolding.
I dare not ignore your brilliance.
Copyright © Cynthia Cady Stanton 2017
Noticing
The way it feels
when I dare to step away from patterns
long held onto
with a tight knuckle grip
as a way to hold me up,
glue me together.
The look in your eyes
when I am really paying attention,
allowing my heart to open to you.
The soaring freedom that sends me
to new depths and heights
all at the same time
when I get out of my own way.
How pain disappears
when my attention turns in a divine direction
instead of towards my navel,
so clogged with repetitive angst.
How a long walk by the sea washes me
of all the garbage
I have allowed to enter my soul –
a baptism of surf and sound,
wind and grace.
The thunder of the surf rocking me,
holding me with an eternal embrace.
Oh, how healing that is!
How the voice of a great singer
sends my spirit soaring
and beckons me to use my voice
with full expression and power,
freeing it
and healing me from the multitude of ways
I have held it back.
How Love is present,
when I am present
whether with the dying,
my love,
or my cat.
Turning away from the moment
robs me,
robs us –
of God’s company.
Waking up is a beautiful thing –
a peeling of the layers –
that so strangle and constrict.
We think these layers are important
but they are all false construction.
I love the release as they fall away
allowing a deeper joy
to be found.
I am noticing
two openings:
my eyes with inspired vision,
my heart with a tender softening.
Both are wrapped up in deep peace.
Copyright © Cynthia Cady Stanton 2017
New Ground
The pull of patterns weighs me down
and sucks me in
to that space that agitates
and darkens the room
keeping me from the lightness
that beckons deeply.
Even with you,
though I longed to be next to you
after seasons apart,
what is new and better and different
struggles to shine.
We settle for old and familiar,
the constrictions
set long ago.
I want you to know me.
Not the me you think you know,
but the evolving me
that dares to bloom
even at my age,
when most settle for being set.
I’m not.
I am a dynamic canvas.
Copyright © 2017 Cynthia Cady Stanton
The Opening
It is the space between
what I hear
and how I receive it.
It is the time between
what I think
and what I do.
It is the moment of rest
I sometimes allow
before the next thing.
This is the place that needs enlarging.
But I tend to keep it small,
even though it beckons me
with sweet whispers
and gentle nudges.
I hear it in the rhythm of the waves
and the rustle of the dancing leaves.
I see it in the glide of the seagulls
and the ballet of the small shorebirds
as they float across the shoreline.
Be like us,
they seem to say.
Float through your day.
It is easy
if you let go
and feel the flow.
The invitation is always there,
expansive and inviting –
a huge place of calm and beauty
waiting to hold me
with a comforting embrace.
Waiting to lead me
to the unimaginable.
But I am distracted.
I know I am not alone in this.
Thankfully,
Grace is a beautiful and patient teacher.
She has taught me many things.
I finally know that
You are in the space that calls.
You are in each breath –
especially the deep ones.
You are in me.
You are around me.
You work through me.
You need me as much as
I need you.
I have learned that turning away from you
and ignoring your sweet beaconing
is akin to a slow and lonely death.
Opening to You –
and the spaces between,
is like coming home
to who I am.
Copyright© 2017 Cynthia Cady Stanton
Becoming and Beholding 