If we were having coffee: Late summer adventures edition

Tasting the sweetness.

Was there ever a time when you felt suddenly alive?  It was like the doors of the world opened for a minute and you could see directly into life.  You were able to touch life directly and were not lost in your fears and worries.  This experience may not have been during a big event like performing in a play or playing in a championship game; it may have been while walking in the woods or talking to a friend.  All of a sudden you felt alive, awake.  This quality of waking up, or penetrating into life, we could call mindfulness.  Mindfulness simply means being aware, being present.  When you are breathing and know that you are breathing, that is mindfulness of breathing.

~ Soren Gordhamer

The rhythms of life

Uplifted.  (A butterfly in take-off position.)

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

~ Thomas Merton

If we were having coffee: The changing light edition

A softness in the light.

I will greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I do this? Henceforth will I look on all things with love and be born again. I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars. I will welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.

~ Og Mandino

A Tuesday stroll

Morning (glory) in the garden.

Stand on the highest pavement of the stair—
Lean on a garden urn—
Weave, weave the sunlight in your hair—

~ T. S. Eliot