Finally Friday Week Four: I Am Alive

The Bird Totem on Puget Sound

Okay...It's Sunday! I'm having trouble getting here on Fridays, but it will happen. When Friday comes, I'm out experiencing life because.....well, I am alive!

I think it's easy to forget.

It's easy to get wrapped up in this drama or that drama. Thinking can take such a great hold on the mind that it's easy to forget that life is happening right now.

For the past three or four days, life has been pulsating and vibrating in me. It has been so blissful, rapturous even, that it has often felt overwhelming or hard to contain at times. I was afraid, for a few split seconds, that it would swing the other way and my thoughts would take me down a deep dark path, but it hasn't happened.

I know life has it's ups and downs, but if I stay here in the present and fully experience life as if it is happening to me for the very first time, I experience something indescribable. In fact, words don't often do it justice, but I'm here to write, so I'll do my best. This poem spontaneously came to be right now:

Totem of Life

Do you ever look at the ocean? Really see it.
Do you see the waves, the deep blue, the vastness of it,
A lone boat in the distance at dusk with just a flickering light.
You feel you are on that boat.
You can feel the solitude and peacefulness of the moment.
The boat reflecting back at you,
And you, a lone person on a cliff staring out at the sea,
Are also sharing a moment with that boat and its sailor.

And then, did you see that hummingbird?
The one that hovered above your head,
It's tiny green body full of life,
pulsating with it,
flittering, fluttering from flower to flower,
Did you see it?

And the smell of those flowers....
Of lilies and lilacs.
The sun beating down on your head
Warming your entire body from head to toe,
You tingle with this sensation.

And then the sun going down,
Crimson and orange and pink—
Darker and darker.
The Bird Totem next to you comes alive too.
The outline of it,
Like a person, almost, watching the sunset with you.
A totem of life, of lives...so many lives culminating.
All of life's secrets, prophesies, legends and myths
Become known in that moment.

I didn't expect I'd write a poem today, but it came out that way for some reason. It's these pieces of life woven together. I am witnessing more, feeling more. Who knows how long it will last. I seem to have this curiosity with life these days. When I walk to class, I see the cherry blossoms looking at me like one thousand eyes penetrating my being. The purple crocuses hidden under a bush cry out for attention. I can't rush to class and miss them. All around is this beauty reminding me that I am alive. When I enter this space of now, I understand everything at once.

What have you witnessed about life lately? 

365 Inspirations—50: Early Spring Flowers

“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”– Buddha

We are having a very mild winter in Washington State. It's been in the 40s and 50s. We usually have somewhat mild winters, but this one is particularly mild. Today was a bright sunny day and it feels like spring outside. My husband and I decided to walk around Greenlake, which is about a three-mile walk. We do it often.

We have a huge Camellia tree in our front yard by our front door. It was planted long ago. I think it was the tradition back in the 40s and 50s in the Seattle area to plant certain kinds of trees and bushes when houses were built. Ours is a 1940s bungalow.

The Camellia tree was probably just a shrub when it was planted, but it's huge now. We don't normally start seeing blooms until very late in February or the first week in March, but I found that one little bud decided it was time to open. It made me happy.

We have a beautiful Buddha statue that sits under the tree. It's a nice greeting every time we come home from somewhere.

I noticed, on our walk around Greenlake, that other flowers like Daffodils and Crocuses have made their appearances, but aren't quite ready to bloom.

I think I'm ready for spring, even though we didn't really have much of a winter. I would have liked to have seen a little more snow on the lower levels, but I'll take the spring flowers!

Have you noticed any spring flowers coming up where you live? 

365 Inspirations—Five: Rhododendrons in Winter

“Nobody sees a flower - really - it is so small it takes time - we haven't time - and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.” 
― Georgia O'Keeffe

Winter is here. Where I am a from it tends to be cold, rainy and dark. On occasion, we have snow or sun, but it doesn't last very long. We had snow in mid-December that lasted a day or so. Everything was frozen and silent. Nothing seemed to be growing under the blanket of snow. For many animals, it's a time to go into hibernation and wait for spring. Sometimes I feel like doing the same.

A few days ago I went on a walk with my husband. It was very cold outside and I had on my down jacket, gloves, and hat. The trees were bare. Fortunately, the sun was out and that tends to make all the difference in the world in the winter in Seattle.

As we got closer to Puget Sound I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't believe what I was seeing along the side of the road. It's January and a rhododendron bush (our Washington State flower) was fully in bloom. I have only ever seen these flowers bloom in the spring.

I got closer to the bush to examine the flowers. They were a pale pink and were in clusters. What were they doing there? Why were they blooming?

I have no idea, but they made me happy. They made me believe that anything is possible. That even in nature, there are no set rules. Things and people can change.

Just because all the other flowers are blooming in the spring doesn't mean that this bush has to do the same. Why not show it's true colors at a time when there are no colors to be found? Why not do something different?

We could use a little color this time of year and I was inspired by this little rhododendron bush. I hope that I can also be an inspiration to people in times when life may seem cold and dark. I hope that I can also show vibrant colors when there are none to be found.