Women at Rest

The Wonder of the Ordinary

From the book The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie:

"The extraordinary, the amazing, the phenomenon are daily glorified in the movies, the news, and on television. Our senses become bombarded. We become addicted to drama. The only things that get our attention are the big, catastrophic, knee-jerking events.

"Take a closer look at your life, your everyday world, and the people and activities in it. If it were all taken from you in one moment, what would you miss? What sights, what sounds, what smells? Would you miss the view from your kitchen window? If you were never to see that scene again, would you nostalgically reminisce about it, wishing you could see it one more time, remembering how beautiful it was, and how much that familiar sight comforted you in your daily life?

"We can easily overlook the ordinary, take it for granted. The sun rises and sets, the seasons come and go, and we forget how beautiful and sensational the familiar really is. "

12 Ordinary Gratitudes of Today

1. The feel of Elliott's soft fur against my cheek
2. Opening a mailbox filled with books and Netflix movies
3. The different sounds of my dogs walking: Elliott's clickity-clack, Lucy's hippity-hop and Silas's tippy-toes
4. My husband's voice saying Love you
5. A body that moves how and when I want it to
6. Cold milk
7. The smell of wood smoke
8. Silly voicemails from my Dad
9. My Mom's handwriting
10. The super tall pine trees in my yard and neighborhood
11. Flushing toilets
12. This beautiful planet that makes every life possible

To name just a few... What are some your ordinary gratitudes? I'd love to read them!

(Photo sunny morning by Camilla E.)

Poetry Thursday

When I read this poem this morning, I knew it was the one I wanted to share with you today. Reading it reminds me of my Women at Rest & Play Retreat co-facilitator Lisa -- a brave, playful, luminous spirit and friend.

Poetry reveals that there is no empty space.

When your truth forsakes its shyness,
When your fears surrender to your strengths,
You will begin to experience

That all existence
Is a teeming sea of infinite life.

In a handful of ocean water
You could not count all the finely tuned musicians
Who are acting stoned
For very intelligent and sane reasons

And of course are becoming extremely sweet
And wild.

In a handful of the sky and earth,
In a handful of God
We cannot count
All the ecstatic lovers who are dancing there
Behind the mysterious veil.

True art reveals there is no void
Or darkness.

There is no loneliness to the clear-eyed mystic
In this luminous, brimming
Playful world.

~Hafiz

For more poets and poetry, visit the bright new home of Poetry Thursday.