Good morning Karen. What a lovely post! You are very fortunate to have an empathy strong enough to feel what your fellow living being feel, and draw joy from their experience.
As you have probably gathered from reading my responses and also my newsletter I use my Buddhist practice primarily to deal with the storms I face in life. It basically teaches me to see the great dignity and nobility that existed at the heart of life no matter how much what we see tells us otherwise. It tells me that being able to feel peace, promote it, is connected to our life’s condition from within and not the other way around.
You live in a beautiful place where so much wonder is available to you daily and I feel so fortunate that I am able to partake of it through you. However, I can bet that even if you lived in a concrete jungle, you’d STILL be able yo draw out joy from those surroundings - perhaps in a blade of grass breaking through a crack in the asphalt.
I struggle with change…. Trying to adjust to apartment living…. Hearing people around me…sounds of feet walking from above me… faintly hearing tv or music playing… loud door from parking garage all hours of the night… I miss my peace and quiet if single house living…getting outside my comfort zone to go buy a piece of furniture on my own etc… know I’m stressed as I’m getting cold sore on my lip and not really sleeping good yet…Frida the Feral is good company as she moved with me… Leslie still has Chubbers as I’m not comfortable taking him out at night to potty in the dark😳🙄🤷🏻♀️ Winds of change and turmoils of living to close to people I don’t know… no peace here yet ☹️ So love your posts from nature with peaceful message❤️😍
I read this post this morning and I was really holding it as I walked. It is so hard to adapt to new sounds and changes. I found myself watching the sunrise, thinking about myself and quietly whispering to myself, "I am adaptable and resilient to the changes of life". Over and over. And I knew it was true, even if somehow I've convinced myself otherwise. Then I found myself saying, "I know my Aunt Sharon is adaptable and resilient to the changes of life too. Please help her find peace and rest." I said a prayer that over time, may the sounds that are unsettling transform into sounds that provide the comfort of knowing you are not alone.
Finding peace…. yes, there is deep fulfillment in the morning calm with the sun rising, the birds going about their way, & wildlife in it’s natural setting. I prefer the time before I see the sun crest the mountains. There is an anticipation that I share with the birds as they perch on the very top of trees to feel the warmth of the sun. The stillness seems to still hold magic, and I have started to find a place to sit and soak it all in. It’s a great blessing every morning ☀️🙏
As we in South Florida count down the days to the start of the annual six-month hurricane season, I can very much appreciate your love/hate relationship to winds. The fearsome potential of the outer certainly stirs up the anxiety and dread of the inner! But as you say, just being with it "as it is," and as prepared physically, mentally, emotionally, and prayerfully as one can be, brings its own sense of peace and surrender to what must be endured if it cannot be changed. Your rare snowy egret is a staple of the neighborhood down here! They walk around slowly, looking both sartorially elegant and slightly arrogant, and will perch on cars as if enthroned! They will not be "shooed!" They merely give you The Stare, and proudly walk off unfazed. But when they take flight, they take your breath away at their beauty and grace. Beauty and power combined -- like the winds they ride so effortlessly! Have a blessed Sunday, my friend.
Ah, yes, I totally get that living in Tornado alley. (Though it's been 3 years since our last tornado warning and I hope it lasts another 3 years. I think the last one - and it actually touched down close to my house - was 2019 on my birthday.) So cool about the snowy egrets!! It's funny how different the same birds will behave in different locations!
Good morning Karen. What a lovely post! You are very fortunate to have an empathy strong enough to feel what your fellow living being feel, and draw joy from their experience.
As you have probably gathered from reading my responses and also my newsletter I use my Buddhist practice primarily to deal with the storms I face in life. It basically teaches me to see the great dignity and nobility that existed at the heart of life no matter how much what we see tells us otherwise. It tells me that being able to feel peace, promote it, is connected to our life’s condition from within and not the other way around.
You live in a beautiful place where so much wonder is available to you daily and I feel so fortunate that I am able to partake of it through you. However, I can bet that even if you lived in a concrete jungle, you’d STILL be able yo draw out joy from those surroundings - perhaps in a blade of grass breaking through a crack in the asphalt.
It’s not the place. It’s who you are!
Love your positive outlook…. Just what I needed to hear❤️😍👍
And thank you for keeping me in your prayers 🙏👍❤️
Always and forever.
Thank you sooo much….I am going to use your affirmation every day to get my peace back thx for sharing it👍❤️😍😊
I struggle with change…. Trying to adjust to apartment living…. Hearing people around me…sounds of feet walking from above me… faintly hearing tv or music playing… loud door from parking garage all hours of the night… I miss my peace and quiet if single house living…getting outside my comfort zone to go buy a piece of furniture on my own etc… know I’m stressed as I’m getting cold sore on my lip and not really sleeping good yet…Frida the Feral is good company as she moved with me… Leslie still has Chubbers as I’m not comfortable taking him out at night to potty in the dark😳🙄🤷🏻♀️ Winds of change and turmoils of living to close to people I don’t know… no peace here yet ☹️ So love your posts from nature with peaceful message❤️😍
I read this post this morning and I was really holding it as I walked. It is so hard to adapt to new sounds and changes. I found myself watching the sunrise, thinking about myself and quietly whispering to myself, "I am adaptable and resilient to the changes of life". Over and over. And I knew it was true, even if somehow I've convinced myself otherwise. Then I found myself saying, "I know my Aunt Sharon is adaptable and resilient to the changes of life too. Please help her find peace and rest." I said a prayer that over time, may the sounds that are unsettling transform into sounds that provide the comfort of knowing you are not alone.
Finding peace…. yes, there is deep fulfillment in the morning calm with the sun rising, the birds going about their way, & wildlife in it’s natural setting. I prefer the time before I see the sun crest the mountains. There is an anticipation that I share with the birds as they perch on the very top of trees to feel the warmth of the sun. The stillness seems to still hold magic, and I have started to find a place to sit and soak it all in. It’s a great blessing every morning ☀️🙏
Yes!! I agree. It gets harder as we move towards mid summer to be out in that pre-sunrise time. It’s one of the things I love most about winter.
Love snowy egrets! See them all the time down in Sanibel, but neat to see them farther north.
They are so beautiful! I wish he had come closer!
Thaks again, Karen, for bringing the delight of the morning into pictures and prose.
Thank you Uncle Bill!
Karen, your photos and reflections are like a nature walk in my inbox. Absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you!
As we in South Florida count down the days to the start of the annual six-month hurricane season, I can very much appreciate your love/hate relationship to winds. The fearsome potential of the outer certainly stirs up the anxiety and dread of the inner! But as you say, just being with it "as it is," and as prepared physically, mentally, emotionally, and prayerfully as one can be, brings its own sense of peace and surrender to what must be endured if it cannot be changed. Your rare snowy egret is a staple of the neighborhood down here! They walk around slowly, looking both sartorially elegant and slightly arrogant, and will perch on cars as if enthroned! They will not be "shooed!" They merely give you The Stare, and proudly walk off unfazed. But when they take flight, they take your breath away at their beauty and grace. Beauty and power combined -- like the winds they ride so effortlessly! Have a blessed Sunday, my friend.
Ah, yes, I totally get that living in Tornado alley. (Though it's been 3 years since our last tornado warning and I hope it lasts another 3 years. I think the last one - and it actually touched down close to my house - was 2019 on my birthday.) So cool about the snowy egrets!! It's funny how different the same birds will behave in different locations!