Summer Thunder

As we enter the steamy months of summer, everything seems to expand and become larger than life, including rain storms. There is something awe-inspiring, fear-provoking, and finally soothing when listening to a summer rain storm. Perhaps not so unlike our thoughts and emotions? So, for this very rainy, awe-inspiring, reading a book on the couch, kind of 4th of July, I share with you a mindful haiku...

Rumblings of thunder
Now the rain's steady cadence
Listening to summer

Mindful May Musings

The simplicity and sparseness of the haiku again spoke to me today. I won't be composing a daily haiku this month, but at least an occasional expression of mindfulness may find its way to this blog. Feel free to share your own Mindful May Musings in the comment section.

Plum Blossoms

Pastel petals nod
As the rain kisses each branch
Blossoms unfurling

Boston Spring Haiku

Last November I challenged myself and my blog readers to compose one haiku a day as an exercise in mindfulness. While I am not sure I am ready to recommit to a daily haiku quite yet, I do find myself using the beautifully simple construct of a haiku to view the world through a more mindful lens. Today as I drove along the Charles River on my way to Boston this haiku took shape.


Boston Spring

Sailboats gliding by
Snowstorm predicted tonight
Springtime in Boston

Renewal

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe filled with slush"~ Doug Larson
 Crocus 4-1-11
For those of us in the Northeast (and other areas of the country too, I hear) it has seemed like a never-ending winter...days of bitter cold and snow followed by more bitter cold and snow. But now the hint that spring may be on its way...a few blades of grass have become visible under the graying snowbanks. Somehow the turning of the calendar to March leads us to shift ourselves to the possibility of renewal.  The promise of spring, with later sunsets, birds songs in the morning, crocuses bravely waking up from their winter slumber to meet the sun, are all reminders of the impermanence of nature and even with a shoe full of slush there is reason to take a breath and be grateful for renewals.

Day 23 Mindful Moments Challenge

Feeling amazed and grateful at the ability to connect with others around the globe today. Trying to figure out what time 10:00 PM GMT+1 is here in New England, so those of us on three continents will be able to see and chat with each other in real time. Can we be mindful when we use technology? We often see technology as a disconnect from the real and present world, yet it can also foster connection in a way simply unimagined a few short years ago.  BTW, 10:00 PM GMT+1 is 4:00 PM EST :-)