I wasn’t lost but I didn’t know exactly where I was. It was a beautiful place to be disoriented.
I considered freaking out but decided to use my compass instead.
I found my way back.
“I know no one wants unsolicited advice”… she said to me, and then gave it.
It reminds me of when people start out a sentence with,
“I don’t want to be a jerk,” and proceed to be a jerk.
The advice that was unsolicited was ok. It was about my swimming stroke at the local public pool. If you are reading this, thank you.
For the other line, if you don’t want to be a jerk then don’t be a jerk.
Another one is the interrupt with, “not to change the subject, but…”(they change the subject).
A passionflower grows through my kitchen wall so I wind it around the cabinetry, training upward, to the left of the sink. How could I cut back a passionflower who voluntarily showed up in my house?
Recently I heard we might say “I took pictures” in a different way. Not using “take.” For example, we could say, “I received images.” At first I didn’t get it, but I let it roll around in my head and then it was kind of fun to use different words and drop “take” or “capture.”
I walked through these scenes in nature and collected with gratitude these images. Ok, change can be clunky at first.
I froze this moment in my electronic device. No, I received this light into this image memory recorder. How to not sound like a thief? It’s requesting consent to possess a bit of a moment that makes up a larger picture. I am passing through and making an effort to hold some parts still to help me remember.
I think about the flow of my actions.
I work in flow assist
I walk to work
My trade is energy
Trading back and forth
Training energy to move again
To follow its path from before it was in the body
To remember the connection to source
My friend, Ilene said, “I have to remind myself I’m 90. Ilene, you’re 90. You’re 90, kiddo.”
“Another resident asked me, are you happy, Ilene?”
“I had to think a minute.”
“No.”
“I have been happy, and this is not happy. What I do have is gratitude. Gratitude is the opposite of stingy.”
“If you get as old as I am, you better have your shit together!”
[All photos generously shared from Green Island]
I love your poem, very timely as I’m taking a workshop with Master Liu He. At what age do you think Ilene got her shit together? I feel I’m knee deep in that process and feel like I’m a slow learner and maybe even a bit behind schedule. It would be nice to have an older and wiser mentor to help guide me. Although, I am grateful to have friends close to my age and stage of life to confer with, and gratitude is the opposite of stingy.
Readings your musings is the perfect way to start my day, calmly and with intention. Thank you, MA.
Wow. Very nice.
I love your writing! My personal pet peeve is “I don’t mean to criticize, but…” (%@#$)
“The world gifted me with these images, and I am profoundly grateful.”
Beautiful images, wonder-full words. Thank you.