Breathing in, I center myself
Breathing out, I feel free
“Today is my day to dance lightly with life,
sing wild songs of adventure,
invite rainbows & butterflies out to play,
soar my spirit, and unfurl my joy.”
—Jonathan Lockwood Huie
I think this is a passion flower, blooming so beautifully in a low dark corner, even though it was so hard to see. It calls to mind this quote:
“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”
–William W. Purkey
A beautiful spring day and sacred circle dancing led by Maureen and Andrea at my neighborhood park…
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.”
—John Muir
“I know nothing, except what everyone knows if there when Graces dances, I should dance.”—W. H. Auden
“The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.”—Empedocles
“When our eyes see our hands doing the work of our hearts, the circle of Creation is completed inside us, the doors of our souls fly open, and love steps forth to heal everything in sight.”—Michael Bridge
We can be gardeners of the soul, soil.
“There are two ways of being creative. One can sing and dance. Or one can create an environment in which singers and dancers flourish.”
—Warren G. Bennis
“O Divine Presence, you have danced your way into my innermost being. O Mystery of Life, you have tended and nurtured me. You have enriched my spirit and watered my dryness. You have poured your abundant love into the veins of my soul. In the darkest of nights, you have surrounded me with your love. O Divine Presence, your radiant energy surges through my being. I bow to the profound mystery of your sacred life within me.”
—Joyce Rupp, “The Cup of Our Life”
One year, when I was learning to use a photo editing program, Adobe Photoshop, my teacher wanted us to jump right in and use the digital paintbrush. Very intimidated by the thought of painting, my teacher suggested something to ease the process, to turn on some music, and paint what the music suggested. I listened to “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper.
As I listened, the image evolved (above) and these words popped into my head:
Om
Breathing in, I know that Spirit fills me…
I remember a Divine Spark is dwelling within
Always there, always available
A deep well which refreshes
Focusing on the breath of Life
I start to relax in peace
Light spreads
Dissolving fears anxiety
Joy dances upwards
Stars sparkle…
This is a ollaborative group collage that some friends and I did for Amma’s Circle of Love Letters….
“One moment is eternity;
eternity is the now.
When you see through this one instant,
you see through the one who sees.”-Wu Men [1183-1260], quoted in “The Enlightened Heart”, edited by Stephen Mitchell
May the bird call
be my voice
the wind
be my breath
the rivers
be my blood
the soil
be my skin
the rocks
be my bones
the grasses
be my hair
the branches
be my fingersMay earth spinning
be my danceLet no part of me
ever be separate again
Let no part of you
be unknown to me
Earth of my body
Body of the Earth-Karen Zeiders
dancing on a string of spider web by my front door. . .
” We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.”
-Chuang Tzu
This is available as a greeting card on Etsy.
“I am happy even before I have a reason.
I am full of Light even before the sky can greet the sun or the moon.
Dear companions,
We have been in Love with God
for so very, very long.
What can we do now
but Forever Dance!”
—Hafiz
