Like the flowers, We humans crave the light  And lift our faces to whatever sun we find,  Which, like the sun, might offer grace or harm.  Might be the spotlight that we crave,  That need to be the center of attention,  Or simply being in the presence of celebrity;  Might be the thrill of belonging to a group,  Or the furied drive to make it on our own;  Might be the ecstasy that comes with addiction,  Or the pride we take in flaunting our abstinence-  So many temptations to follow lesser suns,  But only one will ever truly make us bloo ..read more

Though I grew up being told  Not to be the poor deluded soul  Who “couldn’t see the forest for the trees,”  I also believe it’s easy to get so distracted  By the majesty of the trees  That you might miss the astounding beauty  Of the tiny flowers   That dot the ground beneath them.  How can we become more conscious   Of the value of both ways of seeing,  And more attuned to the full range   Of what’s going on around us ..read more

From 8:01 to 8:56,   An incredible parade of beauty.  How blessed are we,   To be offered this hour of joy ..read more

We always have that choice:  To appreciate and cultivate   The bright greenness of what’s here, and now —  Or to fixate on our worries   About the thunderclouds in the distance:  Which will you choose today ..read more

Imagine the ache and the promise  Of this slow unfurling;  Like watching your daughter  Budding into puberty  As the support system you’ve provided  Softens and opens —  The sweetness of possibility;  That delicate fragility   When facing the winds of change ..read more

How much easier it seems,   Yet how more rare  To awaken to beauty  Than it is to awaken to injustice.  Beauty requires no response but appreciation;  Injustice, though… frustration, guilt, horror?  Shamed by our inaction or our helplessness?  Feelings that linger,   Haunt our dreams and waking hours,   Though we try instead to focus  On beauty ..read more

We don’t see architectural details like this  On houses any more, but seeing these,  I find myself imagining the pride of workmanship  The builders must have felt   To create such beauty,  And the joy the new owners must have felt  (And the present ones must still be feeling)  To be living with such perfection.  Art and creativity at its best  Can be spiritually uplifting;  As Eckhart Tolle says, “A portal to the sacred ..read more

It’s important, when you feel  Your own light is being blocked,  To shine anyway: there’s always the chance  That the reflected light   From your determined efforts  Is igniting wisdom and beauty somewhere else ..read more

So many fallen blossoms underfoot,  Already having lived out their promise,  On their way to dust and extinction,  And yet I cannot bear to step on them,  But leap across instead,  As if they were a puddle,  Hoping not to crush their delicate,  Ephemeral beauty ..read more

It’s hard to say what’s lovelier here:  The leaves? Or the flowers?  Each has such grace —   But why do we have to choose?  For each, it is the play of dark and light;  The textures and the colors  That in nature, as in life,  Offer both beauty and meaning;  An invitation to explore,   As well as joy and inspiration ..read more