enchantment

Morning Trip (337)

/ Elisa / 2 Comments

“How can the divine Oneness be seen?
In beautiful forms, breathtaking wonders, awe-inspiring miracles?
The Tao is not obliged to present itself in this way.
If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it
everywhere, even in the most ordinary things.”
–Hua Hu Ching, taken from The Essence of TAO by Pamela Ball

Morning Trip (332)

/ Elisa / 1 Comment

“Surely there is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and all depths; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that your intellect owes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that you hold all in fee and upon no condition and by no tenure whatever; that in the world of mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the ignorant tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel that there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments, no kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay a reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel ingenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in which for one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated by racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with fire. Surely it is sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that within its curious bastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all worlds and all beings, is the supreme sovereign of itself.”
–Robert Green Ingersoll

Inspired by this post by Robin. Thank you Robin!

Morning Trip (286)

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“At around age six, perhaps, I was standing by myself in our front yard waiting for supper, just at that hour in a late summer day when the sun is already below the horizon and the risen full moon in the visible sky stops being chalky and begins to take on light. There comes the moment, and I saw it ten, when the moon goes from flat to round. For the first time it met my eyes as a globe. The word ‘moon’ came into my mouth as though fed to me out of a silver spoon. Held in my mouth the moon became a word. It had the roundness of a Concord grape Grandpa took off his vine and gave me to suck out of its skin and swallow whole, in Ohio.”
–Eudora Welty, One Writer’s Beginnings

Morning Inventory

/ Elisa / 4 Comments

I woke this morning. There appear to be more things wishing to have my attentions, some of which–of course, I do not feel like obliging. However, things do seem to be progressing in what I term to be an orderly fashion. I think an orderly fashion means that I can manage without being overloaded. I’m making breakfast, trying oatmeal, chopped dates, coconut, and some pumpkin seeds.

I decided to use the quiet to take my inventory and my place. Today, this did not occur in a beating myself up manner! Actually, I clicked on my blogroll to one of my friend Kathy Drue’s blogs. She utilized this blog–Opening the Door and Walking Outside, as a one year commitment. Last year, at some point it became my ritual or habit to revisit the blog daily. I think that I stopped a bit soon this year. There are parts of one year and then another year, at such places I may have become confused about which I have visited and which that I had not. So, this morning I thought I’d go over and see which ones I may have missed. I might have to choose to do the entire year over again, just to be sure 😀

“I cannot seem to locate human satisfactory words to unlock what I think and what I feel and what comes to all of my senses when I walk the Earth. I wish I could locate a way to express it and to share it with others. I’d like to offer them the joy that I know and that seems so unfamiliar to them. The best over all word I can locate is being able to find enchantment. I have faith that I shall be able to share it or express it adequately when and if i need to do so with each person that comes along(ok so maybe I just say that or not–it seems to work out that way in the end). I would not be grounded nor sane with life on life’s terms had I not the implied challenge that I accepted to do this daily thing with you. I appreciate you beyond anything I could say with simple words.”–Elisa, Comment from The Honeymoon is Over, January 1, 2009.

The first thing, upon which I chose to reflect (ok fine it popped into my head unruly and unbidden) was, Wow! Look who I am when I am grounded and taking care of myself. Next part of me muttered about yeah and look at the mess now–you didn’t even feed the body a decent breakfast. I’m very glad for this thought because it got me the most excellent oatmeal! It also reminded me that back then I could do as I wished, and I wished to be careful of me. It made every day amazing, no matter life on life’s terms. Sometimes this making took effort and desire. I think that I have forgotten this, or have stopped responding to the nudge to partake. Part of me is wishing to berate. Another part is pointing out the Winter at The Tree Place Solstice Series and the magic that came to me from it, when I wasn’t looking, when I was only acting as if, going through the motions.

The last thing, which was the first gleaming spark of joy to my inner flame, if I look even closer past the reactions, was that I do have so much of me to express. When I do not do so, I am tired, I am ill, I am less than. I erode into the world, my batteries become corroded. I notice that I still do not have a way to express all that I wish in the ‘right’ words, or sounds, or images. Sometimes this is a color or a scent or a feeling. A label just doesn’t seem to fit or forces it to be a perception of others which isn’t precise, and then becomes not enough. I can feel unseen and unheard. Not honored.

I am the bell, ringing out across cold winter lands, echoing back, mirrored. There are two things that come to mind about this bell. It could be vain and proud and simply wish to sound to gain praise from others about the qualities it possesses. The other is a sort of acknowledgement of the ring being a bit of puzzle in existence, a part of the whole, not just walking alongside, invisible and observing not affecting. What happens if we each feel that invisible and stop contributing to the whole?

I just moved from tears to smiles in a few moments here. I was feeling sad and then I heard…the wind whispers on your face and it talks through the trees…it does this always, no matter your regard nor your thanks. 🙂

Lips Like Sugar

/ Elisa / 1 Comment

Happiness is not the opposite of depression. The pursuit of happy is much like trying to be hot or to be cold. The concept of happy robs all of the enchantment of simple experience,
creating both the illusion of depression and the biochemical state of the brain caused by the stress of trying to obtain a thing that does not exist. The illusion of leaving depression comes from the lift from moving forward and taking action on each daily thing. The relief of the state of depression does not equal happy, it equals healthy choices, though such choices can come from avoidance of unpleasant feelings and emotions. Perhaps underneath it all, humans are so used to listening to others that we have some thing to escape, that we are always attempting to create an alternative to heaven–the ultimate escape artists.

Enchantment

/ Elisa / 2 Comments

“Do not all charms fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy?
There was an awful rainbow once in heaven:
We know her woof, her texture; she is given
In the dull catalogue of common things.
Philosophy will clip an angel’s wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine
Unweave a rainbow”
– John Keats

Enchantment--by elisabeth connelley