Rumi -The Guest House

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

Autumn

Autumn stirs, from somewhere very deep within, certain yearnings... I crave a long walk in the woods and to hear the swish of leaves around my feet. I want to drape myself in colors bright and warm as a symphony of maple foliage. To breathe in deeply and let the crisp air fill me with nostalgia. Also, I would like to slow everything down a bit. The days melt into night much faster now, and life is poised to change. I would love to just sit under the trees one day and learn from them how to change with life's cycles so gracefully. So gorgeously.

May I learn to let change flow through me and to shed to the wind what once was vibrantly important, trusting in the light that in good time will awaken another aspect of me to emerge and unfold into life.

Defiantly Joyful

My first post! This site is an homage to the sunflower that bloomed in the crack between the highway and the median this summer. It is about the courage that it takes to open oneself to life fully, every day, and to be enriched by the pain as by the beauty. It's about the role models, music, philosophies, friends and experiences that make life rich. It's about joy cultivated from wisdom. It's not about being "happy" all the time or even most of the time. It's about promising yourself that, no matter how hard life might get, you'll never become embittered and jaded, that you will always seek to feel the joy again.