Breathe

Not the unconscious type of breathing where your body does it's thing and your brain is out of touch. But the type of breathing, the type of breath where you consciously control the rate of inhalation and exhalation. Where you slow down the rate and consciously release the air.

Breathe, as if you were slowing time, considering the movement of the clouds and the growth of grass. Doing so, taking in the wonder that is life you discover the wonder of God's creation and that is far large and more intimate than you would going about your daily tasks!

Thought for The Day - Phases...of the Moon

I'm Listening 24 x 36 Oil painting

Silver light over head
Tonight it is bright
Tomorrow it's gone
Hidden by clouds and mystery
Next week, no glow at all
Beating a ragged path across the sky
Year in and Year Out...

The patterns of our lives are too large and expansive to track, but we can perceive today's rhythm. And tomorrow, next week and three years from now, it changes. At times we are the master of our destiny and come too many sunny or cold days, we are changing our climate like migratory birds!

The phases of our lives are greater than crawling, walking upright and eventually bent over; we are multi-leveled beings, driven and tossed by the whims of love, greed, anger and hate. And just when we think we will never settle down, we look up and find we've been sitting in a comfy chair for far too long.

It is the phase(s) of our life.

Thought for The Day - It's Quiet for this time of the...

Somber

Introspective

Meditative

Solitude

Realize, you are never alone.

I've always been one to consider, to contemplate and absorb. I can remember from very early childhood, watching a television show and realizing, if it was a drama or detective show, in the first five minutes, the premise of this episode would be revealed. If it was an hour long show, the next 50 minutes would be dedicated to revealing the twists, pitfalls and ultimately the resolution. Pretty much always.

Watching my mother prepare dinner - and now my wife - the timing is nearly the same: prepare it with enough time to eat, clean, sit down for a bit and prepare for the next day.

Taking time to examine details usually requires concentration. Not that you and I, in a pinch, can't figure things out in the heat of the moment, but usually we can't be distracted by twelve other things. We need a moment to reflect. And the best time to do so...

Is early in the morning, while the house is quiet and the traffic - in and out of the house is at a minimum.

When you're out walking. Perhaps you walk for exercise, or to see who's where in your neighborhood. You might walk to the bus or train or to work. But it's a great time to take in your surroundings and determine where you "are" in the grand scheme of life.

When you're driving. You may be one of those people who require silence when you're driving. I prefer to have music playing, but there are times when the silence works as well.

It's always quiet at this time of the _________ because in those moments, your thoughts turn inward. We are more prone to listen, to consider and to be aware that while we are one being in the universe, the very fact of existence is known because we are there to experience it.

Be.

Thought for The Day - A Little Wider

Elastic 18 x 24 pastel

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream..."

It's amazing what peripheral vision takes in! Sitting still, in my little space, it isn't that the paintings behind me are "dancing," it's the energy from them drawing my attention and I'm prone to respond! Bright oranges, indigo blues and energetic pinks want to be seen!

Sitting on the train, cars zooming by on the I-290 on either side of the train - or sitting still depending on the pace of traffic - a well maintained Tesla catches my eye. And though I nod my head for a quick "forty winks," I still look up as the train slows to another stop to include more riders on this ride. And I take it all in; I take note of the people off to earn one more days' wages. My ears absorb the rumble of the train as well as the music playing through my headphones.

I know I'm constantly being stretched to take in more and more, and somehow, it's all absorbed, filed and retrieved when necessary. Constantly growing, constantly expanding. And every now and then, a surprise comes along and changes the entire scene!

Keep your "eyes" wide open..."life is but a dream!"

Thought for The Day - A Thousand Points of View

The Phoenix 18 x 24 Pastels

Surrounded by cameras and flashing lights, you are seen through a thousand lenses...

An average day, nothing special; maybe you're at work, maybe a weekend with errands and a day filled with tasks that can't be completed on a week day. In a moment, for a few minutes, you find yourself in another space and time. Oh you aren't losing your mind, you're perfectly sane, but it was a moment of feeling out of body. "Whew, got to get more rest," you tell yourself and it's off to complete task number 3 out of 28. But still...

Sitting in traffic, rush hour, a sea of brake lights everywhere around you and as many thoughts and emotions in your head; suddenly, once again, it's as if someone pulled back the cover on your ordinary life, as if you were caught up to the third heaven and sat among the saints and angels. A brief moment, awareness shifts slightly and you 'see' 10,000 others in a circle, in one voice, like the sound of an ocean. You feel the sense of awe for One...and suddenly, all eyes and voices are on you...

End of the work day, can't wait to get the heck out of there! Standing at the elevator, caught between the events of the day and the evening yet to unfold, you are at the bottom of the valley...and the bottom drops out. Not sure if it's real or imagined, you look at the walls to make sure they aren't moving and you aren't falling through the floor. And it happens again and again and again...

There is more to you and I than meets the eye. We are not sum of what is perceived and our life is more than the routine.