"Happiness" Floats...

The other day I unexpectedly felt "happiness" 
flow through, amidst other darker emotions too...
It wasn't really "happiness", but more a calm
contentment, out of the blue...

And not even contentment,
more just a
still inner Quietness that grew...

A smile of the Heart

And just as easily as it came,
it went...
It just floated up -
and away...

Strange...

I did not create it...
It was causeless "happiness"
just visiting...

I met it with gratitude...

Mystic Meandering
April 2, 2025

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

It was never my "goal" to be "happy."
Never pursued it, never felt "entitled" to it.
Occasionally it does come to visit :)

Love Letter to my Body...

Dear Body,

After 75 years I am aware of your fragility and impermanence,
and yet you still struggle to remain -
as difficult as that has become...

I know this life experience has been very hard for you...
I will do my best to take care of you - to comfort you...
Body, just rest now; allow yourself to sink down
and relax - sleep...

You don't have to keep it all together...

(deep breath and body releases its tensions)

I know you suffer - and I'm sorry for
how you labor and struggle.

You have done well to house me here with all that
you have been through - and I have taken you for
granted.

I will help you as much as I can while you still continue
to support me here...

I am sad that you are declining - my companion.

I don't know how much longer you can sustain me here.
I am sorry that I haven't always treated you well;
not eating the right foods; indulging in what *tastes* good
to the palate - and gave me comfort.

Needing care for yourself - you help me to caregive another -
draining your life energy...
But you just keep going as best you can...

I will give you rest and comfort now...
In the elder years...

With deep gratitude...

Your Indweller...

Mystic Meandering
Jan 25, 2025

~

Photo - moi 
1949

 

Gobble Trouble - A Turkey Story

Only wanting to save myself time,
and not have to cook a turkey for hours,
I went on-line...

I thought I had planned well ahead...

ordering a"pre-cooked" turkey instead...
from a local grocery -
to be picked up
Thanksgiving mid-day
ready to serve...

But I guess I Googled the wrong key word
assuming "pre-cooked" meant the bird
was cooked in the store and placed under
a warming hood...

But no!

The story did not go the way I saw it in *my* mind...

Sent my husband to pick up the "cooked" turkey
at the appointed time...
Arriving home -- I saw the look in his eye -
that said something had gone awry...

The "cooked" turkey was frozen - he said...
We were both dismayed at how this had played...

I called the store, there must have been a mistake!
But it had closed, so their employees
could enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner plate...

I sputtered and agitated
wondering what I should do...

Instructions said thaw in refrigerator
2-4 days!  But that wouldn't do...

You'd a thought when I talked to
customer service pre-ordering the thing
she would have warned me it would be fro-zen
 but I didn't understand her Mandarin...

So it sat in the sink - only an 8 pounder,
but hard as a rock -
while I dealt with the shock...

I turned on the faucet following the sink thawing
instructions, which would take 4 hours! - or longer...
Still doable - I thought - but the pressure turned up
my self-imposed holiday expectations,
for a Thanksgiving feast
that was turning into a fait accompli...

Two hours into thawing I began to stress
about the mess I had gotten into,
making assumptions,
trying to live up to "tradition" - in my own
Thanksgiving rendition -
sitting in the sink hard as a rock,
the Turkey that is :)

A command decision had to be made.
Thanksgiving dinner would be delayed.
All 3 of us agreed without much sorrow,
after all it's just another day, my sister
reminded, and there's always tomorrow.

So now what to do bout - dinner...

Home made bunless hamburgers and 
roasted red potatoes
would have to make do...

While the Turkey gobble sat in the sink
waiting to thaw through...

I finally remembered, as I lay down my head,
that it's not about the meal
on "Turkey day" - 
but real gratitude instead...

Mystic Meandering
Nov. 28, 2024

Photo - the Turkey

 

Moment of Joy - Mary Oliver

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate...

 ....sometimes something happens better than all the
riches or power in the world.  It could be anything, but
very likely you notice it in an instant...

 Anyway, whatever it is, don' be afraid of its plenty...

Mary Oliver
from: Swan

Original Title - Don't Hesitate

With thanks to Whiskey River

~

Personal Note:  This happened to me a couple of days ago
Suddenly the shroud of darkness lifted, and there was causeless joy,
and LIFE, and gratitude, peace and contentment
just waiting underneath...
It was joyous :)
And then it disappeared after a day just as it had arisen...

A moment of Joy...

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Graced With Gratitude...

Gratitude arises
like a warm flame
in the Heart;
a flame that
comes alive
on its own
from within

Overtaking me by surprise...

It's a gratitude of
unknown origin -
not contrived,
or cultivated,
but
deeply felt in the
core of my Being;
only awareness is 
needed...

A gratitude
not for being alive,
but for Aliveness ItSelf.
for the Aliveness that
is Life;
that dances and sings
the Cosmos
into being;
that imbues existence
with LIFE!

For the color and movement
of life being lived
in every minute detail;
for the opening and
unfoldment of life
that has its own
course,
its own
way,
unfolding Itself in
total freedom of Being

I am truly graced with Gratitude -

beyond words...

Mystic Meandering
October 2015

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Perspective - Vaclav Havel

There are no exact guidelines.  There are probably no guidelines
at all.  The only thing I can recommend at this stage is a sense
of humor, an ability to see things in their ridiculous and
absurd dimensions, to laugh at others and at ourselves, a sense
of irony regarding everything that calls out for parody in this
world.  In other words, I can only recommend perspective and
distance.  Awareness of all the most dangerous kinds of vanity,
both in others and in ourselves.  A good mind.  Gratitude for 
the gift of life and the courage to take responsibility for it.
Vigilance of spirit."

Vaclav Havel

with thanks to Whiskey River

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Light abstract on wall...

 

Gratitude - Marge Ackley

We [I] offer gratitude to and for all friends

Who create, remake and refine one another;

Who point to stars and keep us from the dark;

Who help us hear the music in the silent spaces...

Who hold us and will not let us go.

Marge Ackely

with thanks to Love is a Place

~

Photo - I believe this was taken by Cate Kerr
at Beyond the Fields We Know

 

The Loom of Creation - Ginny Lonsdale

called out
sung into being
through the loom of creation
dipped
coloured
immersed
kneaded
patterned
woven again

re-woven
I
came to Be, HERE.

Somewhere, along the
colour, spin and weave
of YOUR material story,
I remembered:

it is YOU

singing and breathing me.

- the rapture and exultation,
ardent love for YOU,
the treasure of your earth,
tears of joy outpour from a heart
filled with gratitude and wonder
for the privilege of being called forth,
to take a place HERE.
it is Our joy to hug and welcome each other.
Why not love
that which you have made?

it is Our joy to hold hands and dance.
Why not love
that which breathes me, adores me?

it is Our unity
that allows me to disrobe
and live in your clearing

HERE...

I am enfolded in your eternal embrace
naked and secure
in Your immeasurable Peace.

[.....]

Ginny Lonsdale

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
Light shining in sink :)

 

Mystical Alchemy...

We are born from the fathomless Cosmic "darkness",
the Eternal Depths of the Primordial Womb
before Light began...
from which Light emerged;
a mystery...

Without knowing how or why...
We simply are...
Life ItSelf - simply being...

Born of the Ineffable Mystery,
the Cosmic Igniter of the Divine Flame
ignites the Ember of our Heart
through the remembrance of Love -
in "Mystical Alchemy."

Without the need for certainties of the mind,
or intellectual "understandings."

Only visceral awareness of the
Presence of Divine Love
illuminating the Heart
through Grace...

Pure Bliss...
Pure Blessing...

Ever in Gratitude

~

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 2017

Waking Up to Bliss...

I woke this morning surprised by Bliss...

It was just there -
undisturbed by my mind...

Just this Bliss
bubbling up through me.

There was only Openness...
with/about life...

And there was Gratitude,
that apparently comes with Bliss...

Gratitude for my bed, my pillows,
for the sheets, and the body "I" inhabit,
that struggles so often...

I woke this morning feeling FREE...

Not free from anything -
just Freeness - unencumbered...

I was Freeness ItSelf...

And there was LOVE...
As if I could reach out to everyone with my Heart,
and just Love them!

It was a natural, organic urge for love and kindness
that rose from somewhere inside...

I woke this morning feeling - JOY!~

Quiet Joy...
Internal Joy...

I did not conjure up any of these...
I did not meditate on them,
or "practice" them...

They were already here...

They just happened!

I was graced - unexpectedly
when I wasn't looking for them...

I didn't want to lose this -
this Bliss, this gratitude,
this joy and love for life;
this unfettered Freeness.
So I just lay there...
basking in Bliss -
until it left, just as it came...

It was all inside;
not happening TO me,
but was taking place inside me...
It had nothing to do with me at all!
Something was coming alive within...

Was this "The Kiss of The Mystery"?
Most assuredly...
unbidden...

This realization arose from the Silence of Bliss:
One cannot "Awaken" one's self.
One's self does not "Awaken" - but
Something inside us
Opens
for no apparent reason,
spontaneously...

and creates in us a new way of seeing and being
in the world...

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 7, 2020

~

Photo - Mandala Art
Mystic Meandering

Graced with Gratitude...

Last night
Gratitude arose
like a warm flame
in my Heart;
a flame that
came alive
on its own
from within.

Overtaking me by surprise
as I lay there waiting for sleep...

It was a gratitude of
unknown origin -
not contrived,
or cultivated,
but
deeply felt in the
core of my Heart;
just there...

Only awareness was
needed...

It was a gratitude,
not for being alive,

but for Aliveness ItSelf,
for the Aliveness that
is Life;
that dances and sings
the Cosmos
into being;
that imbues existence
with LIFE!

For the color and movement
of life being lived
in every minute detail;
for the opening and
unfoldment of life
that has its own
course,
its own
way,
unfolding ItSelf in
total freedom of Being.

I am truly graced...
With Gratitude -
beyond words...

Mystic Meandering
Oct. 2015


~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
street light through ice on window
2011

Contemplative Experience - Thomas Merton

Contemplation is not trance or ecstasy, or a tendency to find
peace and satisfaction in liturgical rites; nor is it the hearing
of sudden unutterable words, nor the imagination of lights;
not the emotional fire and sweetness that come with religious
exaltation  It is not enthusiasm, not the sense of being "seized"
by an elemental force and swept into liberation by mystical
frenzy...

Contemplation is no pain-killer.

It is life itself - fully awake, fully alive.
It is spiritual wonder.
It is spontaneous awe at the sacredness
of life, of being.

It is gratitude for life,
for awareness and for being.
It is a vivid realization that life and being
proceed from an invisible, transcendent
and infinitely abundant Source.

Contemplation is, above all, awareness of
 the reality of Source.

And in that realization, the contemplative suffers the
 anguish of realizing that he no longer knows what "God" is.
This is great gain, because "God" is not a what",
not a "thing."
That is precisely one of the essential characteristics of
contemplative experience...realizing that there is no
such "thing" as "God", because "God" is neither a
"what" or a "thing", but pure Who [Pure Being],
the "Thou" before whom our inmost "I" springs
into awareness [being].

Thomas Merton
Christian Monk

From: New Seed of Contemplation

~

Personal Note - His description is somewhat
different from the "mystical experience".  Still -
I relate to some of his description.  In the end, "It" is
 all Pure Beingness/Pure Awareness/Pure Consciousness.

Come to Peace

Even in the midst of chaos there is Peace...

Even in the midst of complexity there is Simplicity...

Even in the midst of confusion there is Stability...

In everything there is still the presence of Love...

MM

2006

~

The further I wake into this life, the more I realize
that the extraordinary is waiting quietly beneath the skin
of all that is ordinary.  Light is in both the broken bottle
and the diamond, and the music is both the flowing violin
and the water dripping from the drainage pipe...

Mark Nepo

From: The Book of Awakening

~

With gratitude for the little things...

_/\_

How the Day Keeps Us - John O'Donohue

No one knew the name of this day;
Born quietly from deepest night.
It hid its face in light,
Demanded nothing for itself,
opened out to offer each of us
A field of brightness that traveled ahead,
Providing in time, ground to hold our footsteps
And the light of thought to show the way.

The mind of the day draws attention;
It dwells within the silence with elegance
To create a space for all our words,
Drawing us to listen inward and outward.

We seldom notice now each day is a holy place
Where the Eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
into an eternal continuity that keeps us.

Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.

So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.

John O'Donohue
Original Title: The Inner History of a Day
From: To Bless the Space Between Us:
A Book of Blessings

Mystical Alchemy

We were born from the fathomless Cosmic "darkness",
the Eternal Depths of the Primordial Womb
before Light began...
from which Light emerged;
a mystery...

Without knowing how or why...
We simply are...
Life ItSelf - simply being...

Born of this Ineffable Mystery,
the Cosmic Igniter of the Divine Flame
ignites the Ember of our Heart
in Mystical Alchemy.

Without the need for certainties of the mind,
or intellectual "understandings."
Only visceral awareness of
"The Presence" that
Illumines the Heart
through Grace...

Pure Bliss...
Pure Blessing...

~

Ever in Gratitude,
A Humble Lover of "The Mystery"...

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 2017

"Mystical Alchemy"...

We are born from the fathomless Cosmic "darkness,"
the Eternal Depths of the Primordial Womb
before Light began...
from which Light emerged;
a mystery...

Without knowing how or why...
We simply are...
Life ItSelf - simply being...

Born of the Ineffable Mystery,
the Cosmic Igniter of the Divine Flame
ignites the Ember of our Heart
through the remembrance of Love ~

in "Mystical Alchemy."

Without the need for certainties of the mind,
or intellectual "understandings."
Only visceral awareness of the
Presence of Divine Love

Illuminating the Heart
through Grace...

Pure Bliss...
Pure Blessing...

~

Ever in Gratitude,
a humble Lover of The Mystery...

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 2, 2017

Riding A Pale Horse...

A Pale Horse of an unpredictable destiny
arrived at my door recently;
an intense illness,
causing the body to feel disembodied
and disconnected from Source...

It invited me to ride...

I was anxious, unsure of where it would take me.
But I had no choice,
I had to ride;
to ride the illness out - half willingly, half resisting.

Strangely, all awareness of "Presence" vanished.
as if I had been cowled to the Truth
that I had "known" for so long -
or thought I knew -
that ultimately we are Pure Awareness...
But "I" was caught in the body-mechanism
and its struggle...

Frightened

I rode - as if in a weird dream,
through a strange land of un-awareness,
while still *trying* to be aware
of "The Truths"
that I had known...

But they eluded my senses, my awareness, my mind -
even my Heart...

Confused

I rode for 3 weeks - empty,
until, fatigued,
I faintly felt the exuberance and euphoria of Life
bubble up from within...
The veil of un-awareness had briefly lifted...
and with it, the shattering of all certainties
I once held to be true;
a burning away of the dross
in the alchemy of fever...

The fever broke
and I relaxed...

into Gratitude...

just Gratitude...

- and breathed...

Sometimes that's all you can do...

fall into Gratitude and Breathe...

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
January 27, 2017

Walk The Divine Life - Clare Blanchflower

What will it take
to rest
all your weight on to the foot
that walks the divine life?

What will it take
to saturate the
fear of living
With the peace
of loving presence?
To dance in
the freedom of reality

Dive deeper
than this surface
of mind that thinks
it knows something
Stop questioning
the grace that life
is spilling out
and rest
Listen
Be

What will it take
to feel,
to truly feel
it all
Right down to the
transparent
bones of clarity
And admit
you know not
what to do
Know not how to
live
Crack open

Rest your forehead
to the ground
Bow at the feet of life
In the glory of
your personal
disempowerment
Meet the true power
that you are
The richness
of love
that swoons in the
heart of Being

Allow praise
to dance on the
tip of your tongue
Allow gratitude to tumble
from your lips
Trust that
the idiosyncrasies
of life
are happening
for you
by you
are you

Fall into the silence that is
roaring with aliveness
Drowning out
the voice in
your head that wants you
to dance a small dance
in a circle
around and around

What will it take
to recognize
that life is
blessing you with
the honour
of unfolding
from your smallness
into the largesse of Being
Whole

Allow awe to take up residence
Be taken
by your unknowing
May the tears of surrender
swirl into a river of flowing love
that carries you
right to the heart of your
inner most Being

Clare Blanchflower
Original title: "Fierce Grace"

~

Photo - Incredible contemporary art piece
that the photo does not do justice to...

My interpretation?:

One standing single-pointed
helping the other to take the step...

The Gift of "The Quiet"...

I awoke to "The Quiet" filling this space...
A palpable Nameless Presence in the air this morning,
as if "It" had taken up residence here,
in this space of dwelling...

I breathed "The Quiet" in,
and with curiosity
turned my awareness more keenly to
"The Quiet",
and was comforted...
by this unbidden Presence.

Through fluid eyes I understood that
only "The Quiet Presence" truly occupies this space,
not the *things* in the rooms, or the rooms themselves,
but only the ubiquitous space of "The Quiet"
that matter reality dwells *in*
beyond sight, beyond form...
Every sound, every form dwells within "The Quiet"
and "The Quiet" dwells in them...

I surrendered in Love and Gratitude to "The Quiet"
that dwells here,
that fills the space here - tangibly -
forever present in each breath
of this space that"I"
occupy as well...

Hush...

"The Quiet" Presence
dwells among us
and in us...

Holy-Holy

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Meanderings
Dec. 5, 2016

~

If you celebrate Christmas
may you experience
the gift of "The Quiet" Presence
filling your space today...
and every day...

_/\_

Photo - have no idea what this is a photo of,
probably a "mistake" - but can you see
the faint outline

 of a heart in the center
of that "cloud"?  :)

A Pause for Gratitude...

A Pause for Gratitude...

Gratitude for the Beauty of the Natural World

with its contrasts...

For the Joy of Imagination and Play

And Meditative Moments

For Moments with Mom - coloring

one of her mandalas

she is blind in one eye and losing her sight in the other
and yet she colors!

For Mystical Moments

And an unexpected November Rose

Whether you celebrate the American Thanksgiving or not,
may Peace, Joy, and Gratitude sit at your table today...
and every day...