Let It Go by Dana Faulds

Let go of the ways you thought life would unfold, the holding of plans or dreams or expectations – Let it all go.

Save your strength to swim with the tide.

The choice to fight what is here before you now will only result in struggle, fear, and desperate attempts to flee from the very energy you long for.

Let go. Let it all go and flow with the grace that washes through your days whether you received it gently or with all your quills raised to defend against invaders.

Take this on faith; the mind may never find the explanations that it seeks, but you will move forward nonetheless.

Let go, and the wave’s crest will carry you to unknown shores, beyond your wildest dreams or destinations.

Let it all go and find the place of rest and peace, and certain transformation.

In Praise of the Earth by John O'Donohue

In Praise of the Earth

Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth.
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.

And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.

When the ages of ice came
And sealed the Earth inside
An endless coma of cold,
The heart of the Earth held hope,
Storing fragments of memory,
Ready for the return of the sun.

Let us thank the Earth
That offers ground for home
And holds our feet firm
To walk in space open
To infinite galaxies.

Let us salute the silence
And certainty of mountains:
Their sublime stillness,
Their dream-filled hearts.

The wonder of a garden
Trusting the first warmth of spring
Until its black infinity of cells
Becomes charged with dream;
Then the silent, slow nurture
Of the seed’s self, coaxing it
To trust the act of death.

The humility of the Earth
That transfigures all
That has fallen
Of outlived growth.

The kindness of the Earth,
Opening to receive
Our worn forms
Into the final stillness.

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth
For all our sins against her:
For our violence and poisonings
Of her beauty.

Let us remember within us
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the wind,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken,
To live to the full
The dream of the Earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit, and light.

~ John O’Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

This is the Time to be Slow by John O'Donohue

This is the time to be slow,
Lie low to the wall
Until the bitter weather passes.

Try, as best you can, not to let
The wire brush of doubt
Scrape from your heart
All sense of yourself
And your hesitant light.

If you remain generous,
Time will come good;
And you will find your feet
Again on fresh pastures of promise,
Where the air will be kind
And blushed with beginning.

John O’Donohue

From To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings.

Silence by Hafez

A day of Silence 

Can be a pilgrimage in itself. 

A day of Silence 

Can help you listen 

To the Soul play 

its marvelous lute and drum.

Is not most talking 

A crazed defense of a crumbling fort? 

I thought we came here 

To surrender in Silence, 

To yield to Light and Happiness, 

To Dance within

In celebration of Love's Victory! 

The Age of Not Knowing by Maira Kalman

What era are we in?

The era of not knowing.

In that there is so much to know,
the only recourse is not to know.
Or, we are incapable of knowing what we need to know.

Which, like everything, can have a good side and a bad side.

The bad is that we don’t know what will happen.
And the anxiety this provokes is vast and constant.
What new terror lurks?

The good is that we don’t know what will happen 
and it could be a pleasant surprise.
The other good is that we can decide what we need 
to have happen in the moment. And take action.
Go down the stairs and go outside.
Go up the stairs and into the room.

We don’t know the outcome of doing something.
Again, it is impossible to know. 
But the life must be lived and the chances must be taken.

And perhaps it won’t be all bad.

 You never know.

For the Senses by John O'Donohue

May the touch of your skin

Register the beauty

Of the otherness

That surrounds you.

May your listening be attuned

To the deeper silence

Where sound is honed

To bring distance home.

May the fragrance

Of a breathing meadow

Refresh your heart

And remind you you are

A child of the earth.

And when you partake

Of food and drink,

May your taste quicken

To the gift and sweetness

That flows from the earth.

May your inner eye

See through the surfaces

And glean the real presence

Of everything that meets you.

May your soul beautify

The desire of your eyes

That you might glimpse

The infinity that hides

In the simple sights

That seem worn

To your usual eyes.