My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and asking deep questions.
After two days of overcast skies, cold, rain and snow, the skies are clearing. And, the weather app predicts we are going to see warmer weather this coming week. A morning drive out to Reservoir Ridge Natural Area after coffee lifted my spirits. Loved seeing a touch of blue sky peeking out from behind clouds and listening to meadowlarks singing from the meadow. It was a moment to experience real life, cold and all, and grateful to be alive. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
What is saving my life now is the conviction that there is no spiritual treasure to be found apart from the bodily experiences of human life on earth. My life depends on engaging the most ordinary physical activities with the most exquisite attention I can give them. My life depends on ignoring all touted distinctions between the secular and the sacred, the physical and the spiritual, the body and the soul. What is saving my life now is becoming more fully human, trusting that there is no way to God apart from real life in the real world.
I sit quietly on a rock looking out over the meadow and Dixon Reservoir. I feel gratitude for this morning sanctuary, this sacred and holy place.
With my journal and pen in hand, I try to express what I am seeing and experiencing. My sense of hearing is alert to the chatter of the magpies and the songs of robins and meadowlarks. I feel the gentle but cool breeze that reminds me it’s still early spring. I’m noticing the color green beginning to dominate in the trees and grasses of the meadow. I watch the ever changing and beautiful clouds along the eastern horizon as they add a feeling of mystery to this moment.
Within me is a knowing that what I’m experiencing is an expression of the Divine and the miracle is that we are here at all.1This was inspired by the quote “The miracle is that we are here at all” by Richard Wagamese, Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations
It’s always a good way to start my day by watching the dawning of a new day. It helps me to filter out the bulls**t the world will throw out there. So, after making a chai latte I made my way to Pineridge Natural Area. There is something healing and nurturing about sitting above Dixon Reservoir and being a witness to its gifts. Yes, the day is ours to make.
today is the day for us all to celebrate that divine moment again, to believe together that we are loved, all blessed, all given grace to breathe the fresh air of a new beginning
I pushed the order button on March 2nd for a beginners Native American Style flute, also called a Love flute. I could give you a list of reasons for justifications but it had more to do with impulse than anything else. I have always connected to the sound of Native American flutes. It’s not a loud instrument, does not require a battery or power outlet, has little maintenance, you don’t need to read music, and you can easily take it anywhere. I have never played a wind instrument in my life so this is my first. And, I quickly discovered I wanted a flute made by the hand of a craftsman and out of wood. Some are beautiful works of art and some are simple works of art. I chose a simple work of art and one designed for a beginner.
Danja portrait
While taking sunset photos and selfies of me practicing on my Native American flute on Thursday evening, I met a wedding photographer, Danja, who was shooting a young couple’s engagement photos near me. Afterwards, they thanked me for serenading them while they did their photos. I was surprised by their comment because I’m not sure I would call what they heard as serenading. It was more about trying to keep all squawks, squeaks and whistles to a minimum. Then Danja asked if she could take a photo of me playing the flute. The top image is what she sent me the next morning. Thank you for the image, Danja!!
Self-portrait
I’ve discovered online lessons and courses through youtube and a couple of websites to help me along this journey. I’m taking one online course now. As you know I enjoy spending time in the natural areas and I can think of no better place to play a Native American flute than in nature. I’m finding these locations are ideal to practice learning how the flute and I can make music together. I’m 74 years old and do not know when I will take my last heartbeat. So it seems reasonable to give this some good old discipline, practice, and be both patient and gentle with myself. I plan on carrying it when I ride the bicycle along the trails, stopping when I find a secluded area and play. My hope is for the flute to be another tool on this spiritual journey I’m traveling.
I have come to realize how poor a communicator I have been in the past. How well I may think I have expressed a thought is always limited and I need to accept that fact. How well I think I have listened and understood is always going to be limited and I need to accept that fact. In my experience learning to communicate in these later years of my life has been a wonderful adventure. I find it enjoyable to converse with someone who is also willing and open to learning the craft of communications. It is at these times we connect, come to understand each other and find our differences may be gifts rather than obstacles.
Cattails along the edge of Big Bass pond at Arapaho Bend Natural Area
“Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.”
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that its center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.
