Blossoming in Place

 "Bloom where you are planted." ~ Saint Francis de Sales

This particular lesson has returned to me many times in my life.  I recall first seeing it as a child, and I know it was written on something in the home where I grew up, but I can't quite recall where. 

I was reminded of it today.  Wherever we find ourselves, we can still blossom.  We are here on Earth to grow.

Flower photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Letting Change Happen

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." ~ Alan Watts

We resist it, sometimes - probably often.  Mightily.  Yes.  And sometimes it happens so quickly or so unexpectedly, it simply happens, and there is no time to react.  

Change.

For something that is such an integral part of being human, you would think we'd be experts.

But we usually aren't.

I may be thinking about it in a way that isn't exactly accurate, or maybe just one particular way, and this may seem a bit obtuse - when I was a child, I recall playing the piece Tarentella on the piano.  I was very young, and it was an easy piece, but not-so-easy when you are learning.  What IS "easy", really, when you are learning something new?  

I loved playing that piece.  I would play it over and over.  I can still remember a part of the picture that was on the page (there was a dancer and a spider, as I recall), and you can look up the history of it if you like, which is rather more intricate than anything I've known.  How it came to me tonight - and how I realize in this moment it rather beautifully relates to the quote by Alan Watts - is this notion of a dancer who isn't really paying attention to the music that is playing, and change is happening all around, but the dance just keeps continuing.  This is so very relevant to the era in which we find ourselves, unlike anything most of us have known.  

We think the dance can be the same, and we try to keep our patterns going.  But the music isn't playing in the way it was before.  

Everything is different.

And when we finally manage to notice, deeply notice, we can either decide to keep resisting or to flow with it.  

That's how life moves forward.  We let change happen.  Because it will.  And we will dance, in new ways, when we do.  And the music will accompany us and expand us when we let it.

Sacred Forest Sunset photo by Susan Larison Danz.

 

Blossoming

 “And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ~ Anais Nin

Blossoming has everything to do with authenticity.  No two flowers are identical. 

Celebrate who you are.

 

 

Spring Blossoms photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Thankfulness now: It's logical!

"The most thankful person is the most fully human." 

~ Thomas Goodwin

How often is it said when we look back on our experiences, we find ourselves so very thankful for every single one?  Take any piece of you away, no matter how small, no matter how grand, no matter how joyous, no matter how dire, and you simply wouldn't be you!  Experience is growth.  Experience is transformation.  Experience is you!  So we find that we are grateful, grateful for every piece, every part of life that helped us come to be.

That brings us to this minute, this very moment now.  It doesn't matter what this moment brings.  It could be big.  It could be challenging.  It could seem insignificantly small.  No matter what it is, some day, if the logic holds and it most certainly does, you will be thankful, thankful for this moment.

So if you know you will be thankful then, why not be thankful now?  You have nothing to lose starting early!   Every piece matters....

 

Weeding

"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful; for beauty is God's handwriting..." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I have gotten behind (way behind!) on my weeding.  And because weeds in my gardens can no longer stay, I set about the task, just now, for a time, a little at a time, or so I thought.

I was in for a bit of a surprise.

The more I weeded, the fewer weeds I saw.  It seems many of the weeds had integrated into Beauty, no longer weeds at all...

Reclamation

"...the seed still unbroken

the star still unburnt..." 

~ Ali Smith, "How to be both"

I found the altar scattered on the ground today, many pieces missing.  How it came to be and not I cannot know.

Nature restores all things to what they Are, even as it always builds Anew.  The entire forest is an Altar, as is our entire Planet Earth...

Fallen

“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn't understand growth, it would look like complete destruction." 

~ Cynthia Occelli

While walking I noticed a tree, off the trail and inaccessible.  It had fallen, perhaps in the winds last month, perhaps last year, perhaps last week.  Cut off from its roots, it came to rest, suspended.

.

I moved an ivy plant the other day, in my home, with care.  Last year when I picked it up, I broke a vine, the greater portion of the plant cut off and fallen to the floor.  How long did it take the leaves to know the roots were there no longer?  How long did it take my plant to grow fresh new leaves and vines?

Perhaps it wasn't a tree at all, fallen in the forest.  Perhaps it was a branch masquerading as a tree.  Perhaps the real tree thrives, hidden from my view, preparing for the Spring.

What Wings Are For...

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings." ~ William Blake

I was about a mile down the trail when a woman approached, wearing a "California State Parks" jacket.

"Did you see the bald eagle?" she asked, her binoculars in hand.

I never bring my binoculars on my walks anymore. I prefer my Nature the natural way - up close and personal. Why I took the binoculars this morning, I really couldn't say, but in my rush out the door, I just knew I had to grab them.

She was also in a rush. She said she had never been to Oregon, and she had to check out of her hotel soon. But she had heard there were eagles here, so she had made a special stop.

And sure enough, even without binoculars, there it was, quietly sitting on a branch. From the stark jaggedness of where it perched, one might think it was a vulture.

I have seen the eagles before, but not every day. When they fly above my head, it is always a miracle. My life is filled with miracles lately, and eagles seem to follow.

And then the woman had to run. I asked her if she had seen the forest. "No."
My sacred forest is a magical place, somewhat like the entrance into Narnia. It doesn't look like much at first until you wander in. It was not something to be missed, even for 5 minutes. And so she hastened off, eager to stop by the forest, leaving me alone.

This time I needed binoculars. Yes, there it was. The eagle. Still as could be. Always distinctive, always impressive, the white contrasting with the black, without a doubt an eagle. I could have stood there and enjoyed that view for hours. Nothing moved.

I shifted my view to the nest. I had seen it many times, far too distant to make out any real details. But I had my binoculars today. I had listened...

And to my surprise, there it was. The baby eagle appeared in the nest, staying safely inside, yet tentatively stretching out and testing its beautiful wings. It was a kind of an awakening, as if easing into knowing just what wings are for. My eyes filled with tears, understanding...

And then I saw her, on a branch below, yet another. "Are You My Mother?" came to mind, a favorite long ago. Was she guarding? Or showing the way? When would her baby fly?

The moment was sacred, as if frozen in time, until I thought to reach for my camera. By the time I had it ready, the baby was suddenly up on a branch. How did it get there? Did it walk? Did it climb? Did it jump? Or did it Fly? The mother knows...

Look closely....yes, there are 3...this is the best my little phone could do...yet perfect.

Photo Copyright Susan Larison Danz, 2014