Stretching...Mind and Body...

Good Morning,

As I write this post I'm sitting in a room with 9 other people and we are participating in a Mindfulness Writing Retreat this week.  We have been doing yoga and meditation and I'm being stretched in more ways than one.  The yoga movements are stretching my body and there is no doubt that this is something I need to bring into my life every week.  The movements feel good and I'm relaxed, yet energized, after each session.  

I'm also being stretched mentally.  We are doing some LONG meditation sessions.  I have participated in meditation before and have taken a couple of other meditation courses, yet, I have never sat in meditation for as long as we are at this retreat.  I really enjoy it and I am amazed at how quiet my mind can become if I focus on my breathing or another sound.  Since we are on a golf course I have been able to focus on birds chirping and the smack of golf balls being hit.  Believe it or not...smacking golf balls has helped me focus.

Meditation As A Way To Talk To God

When I meditate I am able to quiet my mind enough to talk to God.  So many times when I start to pray (or talk to God) I get sidetracked and the next thing I know I'm making a mental grocery list, thinking about what I'm going to wear for the day or where the kids need to go after school.  

Am I the only one that does this? 

It has gotten harder to find the time to meditate because my boys are getting older and we have so much more going on than we used to but I feel it's really important in my prayer life.  Focusing on quieting my mind helps me reach out to God.  I can put aside all those racing thoughts of everything that has to be done and focus on communicating with God.  Maybe 5 minutes....maybe 15 minutes...maybe an hour (although that is rare). 

One of the courses I took a couple of years ago was based on the book, Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton.  In this course we explored the spiritual disciplines that Barton discusses in the book.  One of which is solitude and includes meditation.  Another of the spiritual disciplines is scripture and encountering God through Lectio Divina, which I believe was originally a Catholic practice of spiritual reading.   I have written about Lectio Divina before and the Solo Devotional Book (The Message/REMIX: Solo Devotional).  This way of reading scripture has helped me immensely in understanding it and applying it to my life.  I encourage you to read this book if you desire a change in your spiritual life.

Although I'm slightly stressed at thinking about the amount of work piling up in my office...I'm glad I'm here. 

Oh, the meditation chimes just went off...back to yoga...

Namaste.

--jackie

When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear A Flower On My Hat...

Since we're right in the middle of Gardening Season I thought I'd do a re-post of a poem I wrote last year.  You can find the original post HERE!

 

WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR A FLOWER ON MY HAT

I'll lunch with the ladies and have a lovely chat,

about peonies, daisies and others such as that.

I'll drink Pepsi from a glass bottle with a straw,

and not worry about enjoying a delicious bear claw.

When I'm an Old Woman with a flower on my hat,

I'll spend my days in a dress and garden boots,

sauntering through my garden and admiring the new shoots.

I shan't care about the latest style in women's wear,

because I'd also be happy wearing a flower in my hair.

I'll whisper sweet words to my little struggling lilac shrub,

the one that seems to appear a little smug. 

I'll say, "You know you want to...Be Proud,

and I'm sure you'll gain an admiring crowd".

When I'm an Old Woman, the one with the flower on my hat,

I'll spend my evenings having a chat,

with my sweet little neighbor who is almost 95,

she's the one I've lived next door to for the last 25 (years that is).

She and I,

We'll trade seeds and also laugh about all those pesky weeds.

When I'm an Old Woman with a flower on my hat,

I hope to snuggle with a grand baby on my lap,

I'll tell her about peonies, daisies and others such as that.

I'll tell that same grand baby that a garden is no good unless it is shared,

and also that kindnesses aren't meant to be spared.

I'll whisper to her that blessings and love,

can be sprinkled on others like rain from up above.

When I'm an Old Woman with a flower on my hat,

I'll ponder that my children were like my garden.

I planted, I watered and sometimes pulled weeds, 

then I stood back and watched what they were to turn out to be.

The most important thing that I hope to know,

is that I took the time to enjoy watching them grow.

--jackie

Decoration Day...

This day we celebrate as Memorial Day was once known as Decoration Day.  It originated after the Civil War to commemorate the fallen Union Soldiers.  I have grown to love poetry over the last few years and the following poem was originally published by Longfellow in The Atlantic in 1882.  Hauntingly beautiful.

Decoration Day

Sleep, comrades, sleep and rest

On this Field of the Grounded Arms,

Where foes no more molest,

Nor sentry's shot alarms!

Ye have slept on the ground before,

And started to your feet

At the cannon's sudden roar,

Or the drum's redoubling beat.

But in this camp of Death

No sound your slumber breaks;

Here is no fevered breath,

No wound that bleeds and aches.

All is repose and peace,

Untrampled lies the sod;

The shouts of battle cease,

It is the Truce of God!

Rest, comrades, rest and sleep!

The thoughts of men shall be

As sentinels to keep

Your rest from danger free.

Your silent tents of green

We deck with fragrant flowers

Yours has the suffering been,

The memory shall be ours.

                              -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Happy Memorial Day!

--jackie

Peace and Quiet...

Can you have too many Hydrangea Bushes?  I don't think so.   Seven...that's how many I counted today in my yard and I'm thinking about another one.  All but one of them are in my backyard...where I spend most of the time when I'm outside. 

Peaceful...and Quiet...That's what they say to me...and Old Fashioned like what you might see at your Grandma's house.

The pink one in the above photo is under my office window at the back of the house, but it looks to me like it belongs in front of a shabby old farmhouse with white peeling paint.  My farmhouse porch would be surrounded by hydrangeas and I would be sitting on my porch swing with a warm breeze blowing.  I'd be looking out at my garden and see hollyhocks, pole beans and heirloom tomatoes. Now, that's a sweet daydream.

 

You know, I've been nursing these beauties for approximately seven years now.  They have had just a few blooms in those years.  This year...they are covered.  I feel like all my nurturing has paid off.  Or it's some quirk of nature...which is what happens so often in my garden.  

See that bowl of water in the photo above?  It's my DIY bird bath.  An old stump with an overturned clay pot placed on it and the dish of water on top...with a pretty rock in it.  I catch someone taking a bath in it almost every time I go out back.  It's surrounded by Lemon Balm, Hostas and Daylillies with my Blue Hydrangea in the foreground.   It's one of my favorite spots in the garden.  Lately...this is where I spend my early mornings before everyone else is awake.  Drinking coffee with vanilla caramel creamer, contemplating my day, praying and enjoying the peace and quiet of summer mornings.

 

Time for a refill on my coffee...I hope you find some peace...and quiet...today as well.  Have a great Sunday.


--jackie

Summer Journaling...

The unofficial start to summer is here.  School is out and the weather is warm.  It feels and looks like summer here in Mid-Missouri.  We just have a few plans this summer.  We hope to do a lot of outdoor activities like fishing, swimming and picnics.  I hope to be able to pull the boys away from riding bikes and skateboards and hanging out with friends and do a little journaling with them.  They both like to write and enjoy taking pictures so I'm hoping we'll be able to work it in this summer.  If nothing else, I hope to fill my own journal with thoughts, dreams, photos, magazine cutouts and sketches...just like I used to do as a young girl.

However, I'm not a young girl anymore as my 25th high school reunion is this summer...GASP...how can that EVEN be possible?  With age...and responsibilities like kids, a job and a house to run it's harder to feel those carefree summer feelings that I had when I was younger.  Summers were magical and really seemed to go on forever.  I hope to capture some of that in my journal this summer.



Here are some summer journals that are inspiring me...

Summer Planning...

Great Idea For The Boys...

Garden Journaling...

And Writing...

---jackie