Nothing More Confining

There is nothing more confining than
the prison we don't know we are in.

William Shakespeare

The Way

What stands in the way
is the way.

Marcus Aurelius

Be Kind

There are three ways to ultimate success:
The first way is to be kind.
The second way is to be kind.
The third way is to be kind.

Fred Rogers

Worried

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well, hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism, lockjaw, dementia?
Finally, I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.

Mary Oliver

Joy Comes Back

When you finally realize that joy

is less fireworks
more firefly

less orchestra
more birdsong

she will come back much more often

for joy will not fight
with the fast pace of this life

she dallies not in the shiny or the new

she breathes in the basic
shimmers in the simple
and dances in the daily to-and-fro

joy has been beckoning you

for many a year my friend

you were just too busy doing, to see

the very next time joy wraps 

her quiet warmth around you

as the garden embraces your weary body

in its wildness

tip her a nod

you cannot force her to stay

but if you are a gracious host

joy comes back.

Donna Ashworth

The Patience of Ordinary Things

It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes,
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they're supposed to be.
I've been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?

Pat Schneider

No Further Away

Peace dwells in the ordinary.
It's no further away than that.

Byron Katie