Poem – Lead.Learn.Live.

And suddenly you know: that was enough

May 17, 2013 By David Kanigan 17 Comments

Remembering

And you wait. You wait for the one thing
that will change your life,
make it more than it is -
something wonderful, exceptional,
stones awakening, depths opening to you.

In the dusky bookstalls
old books glimmer gold and brown.
You think of lands you journeyed through,
of paintings and a dress once worn
by a woman you never found again.

And suddenly you know: that was enough.
You rise and there appears before you
in all its longings and hesitations
the shape of what you lived.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Wiki Bio for Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). Credits: Image by Stephan Vanfleteren. Poem: Thank you Whiskey River.

Filed Under: Grow, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: enough, Happiness, hesitation, Letters to a Young Poet, Life, Literature, living, longing, memories, Poem, Poet, Poetry, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rilke, thinking, thoughts, waiting

The voyage into the interior is all that matters

May 16, 2013 By David Kanigan 17 Comments

“We’ve all led raucous lives,
some of them inside, some of them out.
But only the poem you leave behind is what’s important.
Everyone knows this.
The voyage into the interior is all that matters,
Whatever your ride.
Sometimes I can’t sit still for all the asininities I read.
Give me the hummingbird, who has to eat sixty times
His own weight a day just to stay alive.
Now that’s a life on the edge.”

― Charles Wright

Charles Wright, born 1935, is often ranked as one of the best American poets of his generation. Born in 1935 in Pickwick Dam, Tennessee, Wright attended Davidson College and he served four years in the U.S. Army, and it was while stationed in Italy that Wright began to read and write poetry. His many collections of poetry and numerous awards—including the Pulitzer Prize, the Griffin International Poetry Prize, and a Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize—have proven that he is, as Jay Parini once said, “among the best poets” of his generation. Yet Wright remains stoic about such achievements: it is not the poet, but the poems, as he concluded to Genoways. “One wants one’s work to be paid attention to, but I hate personal attention. I just want everyone to read the poems. I want my poetry to get all the attention in the world, but I want to be the anonymous author.”

Credits: Poem Source – Thank you Journal of a Nobody. Photograph: thank you ojojunkie. Bio: Poetryfoundation

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: american poets, Charles Wright, Hummingbird, Literature, Photography, Poem, Poetry, poetry prize, Pulitzer Prize, thinking, thoughts

Don’t edit your ugly out of your bio

May 14, 2013 By David Kanigan 32 Comments

“Don’t google your name. Ever.
Don’t “search” for yourself
on anything that glows in the dark.
Don’t let your beauty
be something anyone can turn off.
Don’t edit your ugly out of your bio.
Let your light come from the fire.
Let your pain be the spark,
but not the timber.
Remember, you didn’t come here
to write your heart out.
You came to write it in.”

— Andrea Gibson

Llama Image Source: Etsy.com. Poem Source: Andrea Gibson via JournalofaNobody. Andrea Gibson Bio @ wiki.

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Andrea Gibson, Beauty, flaws, llama, Pain, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Poetry slam, Spoken word, ugly

There are moments when you…

May 8, 2013 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

“…There are moments on the brink, when you can give yourself to a lover, or not; give in to self-doubt, uncertainty, and admonishment, or not; dive into a different culture, or not; set sail for the unknown, or not; walk out onto a stage, or not. A moment only a few seconds long, when your future hangs in the balance, poised above a chasm. It is a crossroads. Resist then, and there is no returning to the known world. If you turn back, there is only what might have been. Above that invisible crossroads are inscribed the words: Give up your will, all who travel here…”

~ Diane Ackerman

Passage Excerpt from nytimes.com.

Eddie Catlin – Actor. Peter Batchelor - Narrator / Voice. Music Credits: ”Preparing” by In The Nusery. ”Hope Renewed – Instrumental” by Martin Sebastian Holm.

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Diane Ackerman, fear, Future, Inspirational, Inspire, Live, living, moments, plans, Poem, Poetry, present, self doubt, Video, will, YouTube, youtube video

Sit. Feast on your life.

May 8, 2013 By David Kanigan 25 Comments

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you have ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott, Love After Love

Derek Alton Walcott, 83, was born in Saint Lucia in the West Indies. He is a poet and playwright who received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. He is currently Professor of poetry at the University of Essex in the U.K. In addition to having won the Nobel, Walcott has won many literary awards over the course of his career including an Obie Award in 1971, a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award, a Royal Society of Literature Award, the Queen’s Medal for Poetry. (Source: Wiki)

Photograph of Derek Walcott (in 2003) by Richard Avedon. Poem Source: journalofanobody

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Carribean, Derek Walcott, Image, Literature, Love, Mental health, Nobel, Poem, Poetry, Saint Lucia, self assurance, self love, self-image, West Indies

Spring Follows Winter Once More

May 1, 2013 By David Kanigan 6 Comments

Lying here in the tall grass
Where it’s so soft
Is this what it is to go home?
Into the Earth
Of worms and black smells
With a larch tree gathering sunlight
In the spring afternoon
And the gates of paradise open just enough
To let out
A flock of geese.

~ Tom Hennen

I felt my blood pressure rising after hitting the send button a few minutes ago on the “bad manners” post. I needed something soothing…so I flipped open Tom Hennen’s new book and voila…magic.

Poem Source: Tom Hennen – Darkness Sticks to Everything (p.72). Image Source: Thank you TogetherGreen

By The Creek Bank (Tom Hennen)
The Life of a Day (Tom Hennen)

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Nature Tagged With: earth, grass, Inspirational, Nature, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Spring, tall grass, Tom Hennen, Winter

By the Creek Bank

April 28, 2013 By David Kanigan 8 Comments

There is some secret that water holds that we need to know. I edge up close to the creek and peer into it for a revelation of some kind, an explanation of the world. Some things I think I know: that the sun rises, that the darkness heals, that animals are intelligent, that rocks are aware, that the earth has a sense of humor. The spring wind is blowing hard. The aspens along the bank make sounds of wood rubbing together, dry boards of an old house in a storm. Fair-weather clouds break loose on the bottom of the western horizon and drift one by one across the blue sky. Below me in the creek there is a clear pool full of minnows. I get down on my belly and carefully put my hand in the water among the small fishes. The minnows jerk past my numb fingers, swift as black seconds ticking. I cannot catch even one.

~ Tom Hennen

Tom Hennen was born in Morris, Minnesota and grew up in a farming family. His poetry was informed by a lifelong and intimate relationship with the prairie. He lives in Minnesota.

Related Posts: The Life of a Day by Tom Hennen
Poem Source: Tom Hennen – Darkness Sticks to Everything (Cooper Canyon Press, 2013, p.96).
Image Source: Thank you Ms. Simms

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Nature Tagged With: Black and White, child, childhood, creek, grass, Inspirational, memories, Middle Age, minnows, Nature, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Spring, Tom Hennen

You work hard? Sorry. Not close to these work horses.

April 25, 2013 By David Kanigan 23 Comments

“Every year a given tree creates absolutely from scratch ninety-nine percent of its living parts. Water lifting up tree trunks can climb one hundred and fifty feet an hour; in full summer a tree can, and does, heave a ton of water every day. A big elm in a single season might make as many as six million leaves, wholly intricate, without budging an inch; I couldn’t make one. A tree stands there, accumulating deadwood, mute and rigid as an obelisk, but secretly it seethes, it splits, sucks and stretches; it heaves up tons and hurls them out in a green, fringed fling. No person taps this free power; the dynamo in the tulip tree pumps out even more tulip tree, and it runs on rain and air.”

- Annie Dillard

Credits: Thank you Susan @ Licht Years for another wonderful photograph. Quote Source: Thank you (yet again) WhiskeyRiver.

Filed Under: Inspire, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: Annie Dillard, Forest, horticulture, inspiration, Nature, Poem, Quotes, tree, tree trunks

Portrait of a Poet

April 24, 2013 By David Kanigan 24 Comments

Portrait of a Poet from Kendy on Vimeo.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Music Tagged With: inspiration, kendy, Life, living, Mai Vallee, Poem, Poet, Poetry, Video, Vimeo

Rain on trees. Wave on stone.

April 23, 2013 By David Kanigan 25 Comments

“There is a language older by far and deeper than words. It is the language of bodies, of body on body, wind on snow, rain on trees, wave on stone. It is the language of dream, gesture, symbol, memory. We have forgotten this language. We do not even remember that it exists…”

- Derrick Jensen

Image Source: Weheartit. Quote Source: Thank you WhiskeyRiver

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Black and White, child, Derrick Jensen, dream, girl, Language, memory, Natural, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Rain, stone, Trees, Waves

Running. With Shodo.

April 20, 2013 By David Kanigan 22 Comments

5:25 am. Headline machines spewing darkness: “Curled up on a bloody boat.” (CNN) “A Grim Day for a Small Town. Bodies recovered after blast. (WSJ) ”Raped. Delhi 5 year old in serious condition.” (BBC News) This last one too much for me. I shudder. Evil. Mimi describes her contrasting realities this morning. And I’m in search for a contrast to my mental image reality. I turn away from the gloom.

5:55 am. 47F. Drizzling. I’m out the door. Need a new route. Need a change. A new path. I’m determined to run long. Man looking for accomplishment. Looking for my body to ache. The kind of ache deep in your bones. A soreness that hurts – - the achy hurt – - your body telling you that you pushed it today. That’s it.

19-year old boy shivering under tarp in the boat. Curled up. Lying is his own blood. Chopper circling..spot lights illuminating the darkness. Is his Mother watching? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspire, Life Tagged With: boston, Boston Marathon, Buddhism, Exercise, Fitness, Forsythia, Poem, prose poetry, Running, Shodo Harada, Story, Weight Loss, West Texas, Zen

Alas, how easily things go wrong

April 19, 2013 By David Kanigan 29 Comments

“Alas, how easily things go wrong!
A sigh too much, a kiss too long
And there follows a mist and a weeping rain
And life is never the same again”

~ George MacDonald, Phantastes

Source: Image - yama-bato. Poem - Journal of a Nobody

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life Tagged With: Black and White, George MacDonald, Kiss, mist, Phantastes, Photography, Poem, Poetry, Quotes, Rain, sigh, wrong

The Wind

April 15, 2013 By David Kanigan 21 Comments

I lift my head from my reading.

To watch. To listen. To inhale.

High winds from the northwest swaying the tall pines. The gusts rustling the branches. The tree tops whistling. The sweet smell of tree resin drifting over the fence from the neighbor’s pruning. It was yesterday, Sunday afternoon. I was lounging in the backyard. Licking my wounds from my long run. Tucked under a comforter…seeking protection against chilling 20 mph winds. I put Knausgaard down and start thumbing through blog posts. ”Wind” synchronicity switches on.

First Thomas Merton: “No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees.”

Then Cat Stevens with “The Wind“: “…listen to the wind…To the wind of my soul…Where I’ll end up well I think, Only God really knows…”

Then Carl Sandburg takes it deep and home: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspire, Music, Nature Tagged With: Carl Sandburg, Cat Stevens, Music, Music video, Poem, Poetry, Thomas Merton, Video, Wind, YouTube

In that fierce embrace, even the gods speak of God

April 9, 2013 By David Kanigan 31 Comments

Self Portrait

It doesn’t interest me if there is one God
or many gods.
I want to know if you belong or feel
abandoned.
If you know despair or can see it in others.
I want to know
if you are prepared to live in the world
with its harsh need
to change you. If you can look back
with firm eyes
saying this is where I stand. I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heat of living
falling toward
the center of your longing. I want to know
if you are willing
to live, day by day, with the consequence of love
and the bitter
unwanted passion of your sure defeat.

I have heard, in that fierce embrace, even
the gods speak of God.

– David Whyte
from Fire in the Earth

Minutes after learning of Margaret Thatcher’s death yesterday, I came across this poem from David Whyte. Coincidence, hmmmmm. From Death. To embracing that fierce heat of living. The image is of Robbie Williams, as we continue to ride the UK train this morning…whose portrait…if you can look back with firm eyes…seemed to captured the spirit of Mr. Whyte’s marvelous poem. This is where I stand...

Source: Thank you (again) WhiskeyRiver. Image: SolarNavigator.net

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: David Whyte, embrace, God, Live, living, Margaret Thatcher, Poem, Poetry, prose poetry, Robbie Williams

Sunday Morning: The Ear is stunned. The Nose is outraged. The Eye is confused.

April 7, 2013 By David Kanigan 12 Comments

“I owe much to my excursions to Nature. They have helped to clothe me with health, if not with humility; they have helped sharpen and attune all my senses; they have kept my eyes in such good trim that they have not failed me for one moment during all the seventy-five years I have had them; they have made my sense of smell so keen that I have much pleasure in the wild, open-air perfumes, especially in the spring—the delicate breath of the blooming elms and maples and willows, the breath of the woods, of the pastures, of the shore. This keen, healthy sense of smell has made me abhor tobacco and flee from close rooms, and put the stench of cities behind me. I fancy that this whole world of wild, natural perfumes is lost to the tobacco-user and to the city- dweller. Senses trained in the open air are in tune with open-air objects; they are quick, delicate, and discriminating. When I go to town, my ear suffers as well as my nose: the impact of the city upon my senses is hard and dissonant; the ear is stunned, the nose is outraged, and the eye is confused. When I come back, I go to Nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in tune once more.”

- John Burroughs

John Burroughs (1837 – 1921) was an American naturalist and essayist important in the evolution of the U.S. conservation movement. John Burroughs was the most important practitioner after Henry David Thoreau of that especially American literary genre, the nature essay. By the turn of the 20th century he had become a virtual cultural institution in his own right: the Grand Old Man of Nature at a time when the American romance with the idea of nature, and the American conservation movement, had come fully into their own. His extraordinary popularity and popular visibility were sustained by a prolific stream of essay collections, beginning with Wake-Robin in 1871.

Burroughs was the seventh child of ten children. He was born on the family farm in the Catskill Mountains, near Roxbury, New York. As a child he spent many hours on the slopes of Old Clump Mountain, looking off to the east and the higher peaks of the Catskills. As he labored on the family farm he was captivated by the return of the birds each spring and other wildlife around the family farm including frogs and bumblebees. In his later years he credited his life as a farm boy for his subsequent love of nature and feeling of kinship with all rural things. During his teen years Burroughs showed a keen interest in learning. He read whatever books he could get his hands on and was fascinated by new words or known words applied in new ways. Burroughs’ father believed the basic education provided by the local school was enough and refused to support the young Burroughs when he asked for money to pay for the books or the higher education he wanted. At the age of 17 Burroughs left home to earn the money he needed for college by teaching at a school in Olive, New York. Burroughs went on to take various teaching positions.

(Source: Wiki)

Credits:

Quote: Thank you Rob @ thehammockpapers.blogspot.com. Source: The Writings of John Burroughs, p.245
Image: Thank you Anake Goodall via Jared Ropelato. Photo is titled Across the Lake – Glacier National Park, Lake McDonald in Crystal Ford, Montana

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Nature, Quotes, Uncategorized Tagged With: american naturalist, Essay, essayist, Glacier National Park, Henry David Thoreau, John Burroughs, Lake McDonald, Montana, Nature, nature essay, Outdoors, Poem, Poetry, prose poetry

sit quietly, you happy lucky idiot

April 2, 2013 By David Kanigan 23 Comments

if you have time to chatter
read books
if you have time to read
walk into mountain, desert and ocean
if you have time to walk
sing songs and dance
if you have time to dance
sit quietly, you happy lucky idiot

- Nanao Sakaki

Nanao Sakaki (1923-2008) was a Japanese poet. Quote Source: Thank you whiskeyriver.blogspot.com from What Book!?: Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop. Image Source: Thank you Mme Scherzo

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Buddha, chatter, Dance, dancer, Flamenco, Flamenco dancer, Nanao Sakaki, Photography, Poem, Poetry, read, time

Held my breath as we sometimes do to stop time

March 29, 2013 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

Snow Geese

Oh, to love what is lovely, and will not last!
What a task
to ask

of anything, or anyone,

yet it is ours,
and not by the century or the year, but by the hours.

One fall day I heard
above me, and above the sting of the wind, a sound
I did not know, and my look shot upward; it was

a flock of snow geese, winging it
faster than the ones we usually see,
and, being the color of snow, catching the sun [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Nature Tagged With: Bird, Inspirational, Inspire, Mary Oliver, memory, moments, Photography, Poem, Poetry, present, snow geese, snow goose, Sun

People Will Never Forget How You Made Them Feel

March 3, 2013 By David Kanigan 37 Comments

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” I’ve learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. I’ve learned that you shouldn’t go through life with a catcher’s mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I’ve learned that even when I have pains, I don’t have to be one. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I’ve learned that I still have a lot to learn. I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”~ Maya Angelou

I’ve heard the last sentence of this quote (many times) but never the entire passage. It has stuck with me for several weeks. And I had no idea who the woman, Maya Angelou, was. (I may be the only one on the planet. Francine/Joyce, don’t scold me.) So, I started with Wiki and then went to an Oprah Interview. What a life. What an inspiration. A few excerpts from Wiki and Oprah’s talk: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Books, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: And I will Rise, Inspirational, Inspire, Maya, Maya Angelou, Oprah, Oprah Winfrey, Poem, Poetry, Quotes, YouTube

We Say Everything Comes Back

February 24, 2013 By David Kanigan 26 Comments

“We say you cannot divert the river from the river bed. We say that everything is moving, and we are a part of this motion. That the soil is moving. That the water is moving. We say that the earth draws water to her from the clouds. We say the rainfall parts on each side of the mountain, like the parting of our hair, and that the shape of the mountain tells where the water has passed. We say this water washes the soil from the hillsides, that the rivers carry sediment, that rain when it splashes carries small particles, that the soil itself flows with water in streams underground. We say that water is taken up into roots of plants, into stems, that it washes down hills into rivers, that these rivers flow to the sea, that from the sea, in the sunlight, this water rises to the sky, that this water is carried in clouds, and comes back as rain, comes back as fog, back as dew, as wetness in the air.

We say everything comes back.”

- Susan Griffin

Source: moody blues by Andy Kennelly on Flickr via Sundaug.

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: earth, Environment, Essay, oregon, Pacific Ocean, Photography, Poem, prose poetry, Rain, river, Soil, Susan Griffin, Water

Is that a path or a rut?

February 22, 2013 By David Kanigan 28 Comments

“What we don’t know chains us, leaves us sitting in the valley with a stupid smile. We discover our ignorance as we go. After a lifetime, if we’ve been attentive, we should fall to our knees before the vastness, the ungraspable minutiae of our world. We should suspect that it constitutes our God. And we so-called experts of this or that, could we have done more than play our one chord? Wisdom is to know, at best, that we make only a little good noise, a few small dents. It’s why the wise laugh a lot, why the laughter of metaphysicians echoes in the spaces they probe. We walk out of our houses into the enormity of our task. What kind of ant is that? Who named the phlox? Is that a path or a rut?”

~ Stephen Dunn, Ignorance - Riffs & Reciprocities

Stephen Dunn (born 1939) is an American poet. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his 2001 collection, Different Hours. He was born in Forest Hills, Queens in New York. Dunn completed his B.A. in English at Hofstra University and his M.A. in creative writing at Syracuse. He has taught at Wichita State, University of Washington, Columbia University, University of Michigan and Princeton University. Dunn lives in Ocean City New Jersey.

Sources: Quote - whiskeyriver.blogspot.com. Image: Jakupwashere

Filed Under: Grow, Inspire, Life, Quotes, Uncategorized Tagged With: God, Humor, Intelligence, laugh, Life, lifetime, living, Middle Age, path, Poem, Poetry, Princeton University, prose poetry, Quotes, rut, Stephen Dunn, Syracuse University, Wichita State University, wisdom

Rain. Yes.

February 16, 2013 By David Kanigan 29 Comments

Woke up this morning with
a terrific urge to lie in bed all day
and read. Fought against it for a minute.

Then looked out the window at the rain.
And gave over. Put myself entirely
in the keep of this rainy morning.

Would I live my life over again?
Make the same unforgiveable mistakes?
Yes, given half a chance. Yes.

~ Raymond Carver, “Rain“

Sources: Poem - larmoyante. Photo: weheartit.com

What if a demon were to…

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Inspirational, Life, living, memories, Middle Age, Mistakes, mortality, Poem, Poetry, prose poetry, Quotes, Rain, rainy morning, Raymond Carver

The Life of a Day

February 13, 2013 By David Kanigan 31 Comments

“Like people or dogs, each day is unique and has its own personality quirks which can easily be seen if you look closely. But there are so few days as compared to people, not to mention dogs, that it would be surprising if a day were not a hundred times more interesting than most people. But usually they just pass, mostly unnoticed, unless they are wildly nice, like autumn ones full of red maple trees and hazy sunlight, or if they are grimly awful ones in a winter blizzard that kills the lost traveler and bunches of cattle. For some reason we like to see days pass, even though most of us claim we don’t want to reach our last one for a long time. We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, no, this isn’t one I’ve been looking for, and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when, we are convinced, our lives will start for real. Meanwhile, this day is going by perfectly well-adjusted, as some days are, with the right amounts of sunlight and shade, and a light breeze scented with a perfume made from the mixture of fallen apples, corn stubble, dry oak leaves, and the faint odor of last night’s meandering skunk.”

~ Tom Hennen

Tom Hennen, author of six books of poetry, was born and raised in rural Minnesota. After abandoning college, he married and began work as a letterpress and offset printer. He helped found the Minnesota Writer’s Publishing House, then worked for the Department of Natural Resources wildlife section, and later at the Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge in South Dakota. Now retired, he lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Image Source: Andreas Wonisch

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: inspiration, Inspire, life moment, Live, Nature, Outdoors, Poem, Poetry, present, prose poetry, Tom Hennen, Zen

Like, A Horse with No Name.

February 12, 2013 By David Kanigan 28 Comments

In 7th grade, a substitute teacher introduced us to poetry. Well, sort of. He circulated a copy of the lyrics for America’s hit song: A Horse With No Name. The class lit up like fireflies offering up their interpretations. DK, shoulders slumped, head down, was pretending to be reading the lyrics – - sat nervously hoping he wouldn’t be called on. The 30 minutes of inadequacy never vacated short term memory. (Samuel Beckett: I’m like that. Either I forget right away or I never forget.“) I came across the poem below by George MacDonald and I found it moving me…Spring fever perhaps….and as my eyes slowly worked down one line and then the next, I found my spirits lifting…Hey! I understand this. I get it. I like it. No, I love it. And, then. Reality. I reached the last line and was stoned.

Through all the fog, through all earth’s wintery sighs,
I scent Thy spring, I feel the eternal air,
Warm, soft, and dewy, filled with flowery eyes,
And gentle, murmuring motions everywhere—
Of life in heart, and tree, and brook, and moss;
Thy breath wakes beauty, love, and bliss, and prayer,
And strength to hang with nails upon thy cross.

- George MacDonald, Diary of an Old Soul

So Sensei. My wise readers. Help me out. Explain what the last line means. So, I can get to sleep. Or, better yet, tell me you have no idea either. And I’ll sleep like a baby.

Source of Beckett quote and MacDonald Poem: journalofanobody

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Life, Quotes Tagged With: George MacDonald, God, inadequacy, insecurities, Jesus, memories, Poem, Poetry, Prayer, prose poetry, Quotes, Religion, Samuel Beckett, School, Spring, Story, Winter

Hold the moment…

February 7, 2013 By David Kanigan 22 Comments

“Every moment is a poem if you hold it right.”

~ Lauren Zuniga

Sources: Lauren Zuniga web site. Image from Adrian’s Little Universe. Quote from apoetreflects

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Black and White, Lauren Zuniga, Life, Live, moment, Peace, Poem, Poetry, portrait, present, Quotes, Zen

Welcome Home

February 2, 2013 By David Kanigan 31 Comments

Here it comes again.

The heaviness in the chest.

And, in the shoulders.

It lifts.

It drips away.

Why does it show in flight? In the heavens.

Happiness?

No. Bigger.

He’s right. It’s Joy. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: fly, Home, Inspirational, inspiring, joy, Life, living, Peace, Poem, Poetry, prose poetry, San Francisco, Story, Zen

I lied to myself. I toed the line, but it wasn’t my line.

February 2, 2013 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

This is a cross between my customary Saturday morning work-out inspiration clips, a poetry reading and a nature walk – all shackled together into one captivating production. Charlotte Davies is the poet and narrator. Her voice, both soothing and haunting, rhythmically pulls you along the beautiful cinematography. As one commenter stated: No words. Just one. Ikaragarria! Good Saturday morning.

Revelation, a Visual Poem. from sebastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life Tagged With: Charlotte Davies, Exercise, Fitness, Forest, Gym, inspiration, Life, living, Nature, Outdoors, Poem, Poetry, Run, swim, Video, Vimeo, walk, Weight Loss, woods, Work-out, YouTube

6:53 am. And inspired.

January 30, 2013 By David Kanigan 27 Comments

Here’s my picks for the inspiring posts of the week.

Thank you Canadian Art Junkie for sharing the photo above in her post Shaun Lowe: Canola, Sunshine & The Sea. See her post for more wonderful photographs of eastern Canada.

Steve Gutzler with his post titled 7 Keys to Building Irresistible Energy:“I’ll be honest, one of my favorite compliments is when people take note of my energy and passion. But having such energy has been a life struggle of mine. When I was a young man in my early 20′s, I was diagnosed with a blood disorder. For over three years I woke up every day with a low grade temperature and lacking energy. I’d drag through my days. My attitude was good but my immune system was ravaged…Well, fast forward to today. I’m healthy with no hint of fatigue. I train 4-5 days a week and I eat like an athlete. I strive to get seven hours of sleep and I’m working most days by 5 AM. What I like most about where I am at is how grateful I am for what I have. I am fearfully and wonderfully made, not perfect but I’m sure grateful for what I have!”…Read entire post for Steve’s 7 Keys to Building Energy at this link.

Maybe It’s Just Me who describes herself and her blog as “The life of a middle aged hippie on Maui, eating raw and vegan and staying healthy. I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain in fall 2012 with my husband and son“…do we need more inspiration than this?!! Her beautiful post shares her sensations as she returns home to the various places she’s lived. The post is titled: As We Relive Our Lives In What We Tell You and this excerpt is returning home to Maui: …there is no better feeling than coming home to a place that I love. I went up onto the roof deck today to look at the clouds, the palm trees, and the volcano rising above, and again later on, to watch a glorious sunset over the ocean. I was content to just sit and feel the warmth of the island air on my skin. Skin that desperately cries out for sunshine and humidity, and that whispers “mahalo” every time I return home to Maui.” Read her entire post at this link.

5:28 am. And inspired.

January 23, 2013 By David Kanigan 11 Comments

Thank you David Tribby for the inspiring panoramic shot of the City of Chicago. And, now, on to the inspiring posts of the week:

James Altucher, pro blogger, @ The Altucher Confidential with his post on his morning ritual titled The Six People You Must Find Today: …Once you do this, oxytocin will explode through your body, lighting up all of your pleasure centers. (1) Someone to love. Write the name and why you love this person. (2) Someone to thank. You must call them and thank them. If you can’t call them, just write their name down. (3) Someone to be grateful for…Read entire post at this link.

Judy @ petit4chocolatier with her post: Chocolate Cupcakes with Soft Blue Butter-Cream Icing with Little Chocolate Sprinkles. She had me at her post title. And then she stole my stomach with wave upon wave of delectable cupcake photos. I wanted to come through the screen to get at these. Pan through Judy’s other posts. Amazing.

4:02 am. And inspired.

January 16, 2013 By David Kanigan 27 Comments

Thank you Sandy @ Another Lovely Day for the amazing photo share of the Egyptian sunrise over the Red Sea.

And, now, on to the inspiring posts of the week:

Julie @ jmgoyder – Wings & Things from a retired dairy farm in Western Australia…with her series of posts on Gutsy9, an abandoned baby peacock that was adopted by Julie. Start at this post: Tips on Raising a Baby Peacock and then pan forward to the photos and updates. I look forward with anticipation to Julie’s updates on Gutsy9. Here’s an excerpt: So I have been raising Gutsy9 myself and he and I are totally imprinted on each other now. He is a pied, so half white and half blue so it will be interesting to watch him grow up. At night he sleeps in a box in the veranda and during the day he sits on my shoulder. Read on for the 6 tips at this link. And, don’t miss Julie’s Bio/About page. You won’t be disappointed.

Linda Petersen @ Raising 5 Kids With Disabilities And Remaining Sane Blog rings the bell again with a wonderful post titled Life Is Like A Tiny Bag of Jelly Bellies. Linda shares a number of little events that give “her a boost and make her happy.” Here’s a few of her Jelly Bellies…”(1) seeing a grandfather walking along, holding the hand of his joyous granddaughter, all dressed up with coat and fancy hat, skipping happily along, ribbons trailing, (2) hanging a picture on the wall and having it come out straight the first time, (3) finding a $10 bill in the pocket of a coat I haven’t worn in a long time, (4) a hug from a child, especially if it is accompanied by and “I love you.” Hit this link to read more.

[Read more...]

Now

January 13, 2013 By David Kanigan 11 Comments

Most days I cling to a single word.

It is a mild-mannered creature made of thought.

Future, or Past.

Never the other, obvious word.

Whenever I reach out to touch that one, it scurries away.

—Laura Kasischke, opening lines to “Riddle” from Space, in Chains

Laura Kasischke was awarded the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry for Space, In Chains. She is currently a Professor of English Language at the University of Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan (MFA 1987) and Columbia University.

Image Source: Wedebrand via Here And Now. Quote Source: Apoetreflects

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: be present, Billy Kidd, Black and White, fear, Future, Laura Kasischke, Luisa Bianchin, now, Past, Peace, Poem, Poet, Poetry, portrait, quiet, Quotes, thinking, thoughts, Worry, Zen

Path of Beauty

January 11, 2013 By David Kanigan 40 Comments

A woman walks in the Musée du Louvre, alone.
The museum is completely empty.
We follow this young woman in her dreamlike journey through the different rooms of the museum, between amazement and beauty, art and poetry.

I’ve never been to the Louvre. Or to Paris. (I know. I know. You’ve tiring of this rant.)

I’d like to take this walk to end a long week (and esp. when the museum is completely empty).

Wonderful two minute clip. And paired with sweet, dreamlike-fitting music by Sigur Ros.

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Music Tagged With: Art, Artist, Beauty, dreamlike, inspiration, Louvre, Museum, Music, Paris, Poem, Poetry, Sigur Ros, walk, YouTube

5:03 am. And, Inspired…

January 2, 2013 By David Kanigan 18 Comments

Good Wednesday morning. The peaceful, easy feeling photo above of the Alouette River, Pitt Meadows, British Columbia was taken by Kevin van der Leek.

Paulette Mahurin @ The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap with her post The Touch That Changed My Life: “While in grad school at UCLA, I had a clinical rotation at a VA outpatient hospital, when a homeless man was brought in to the emergency room. He was filthy with a foul odor, as if he hadn’t changed his clothes in days nor took them off to go to the bathroom. I saw him come with the paramedics and the commotion that ensued with a lull before anyone started treatment, to gown and glove up, goggles over eyes, all body parts covered…Read More at this link. Inspiring. Period.

Linda Petersen @ Raising Five Kids With Disabilities and Remaining Sane Blog with her post I Have Raised My Children Right in the Most Important Area: “I am sure that every parent questions how they have raised their children. I know I have. I have not been strict enough in making them eat all of their vegetables and clean their rooms, (mainly because I don’t eat all of my vegetables and clean my room.) I know to some people this is a major parenting faux pas. However, I have raised my children right in the most important area…caring for others…” Read the rest of this inspiring story at this link. And don’t miss Linda’s ABOUT page.

Small miseries

December 31, 2012 By David Kanigan 51 Comments

A post by Amanda Patterson on Rudyard Kipling triggered a stream of thoughts this morning. Kipling was born yesterday in 1865. I couldn’t recall ever reading anything by Kipling but I’ve certainly heard of him. (DK. Mr. Contemporary. Always looking forward. Never much for history. Not much for looking back. What possibly could I learn from a life 100+ years ago? PAST IS PAST.)

Kipling, “born in India, was sent to England to live with a foster family and receive a formal British education at the age of 6. These were hard years for Kipling. His Foster mother was a brutal woman, who quickly grew to despise her young foster son. She beat and bullied Kipling, who also struggled to fit in at school. Kipling’s solace came in books and stories. With few friends, he devoted himself to reading. By the age of 11, Kipling was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A visitor to his home saw his condition and immediately contacted his mother, who rushed back to England and rescued her son from the Holloways.”

Yet, here’s a man who survived this childhood and flourished. He said:

Small miseries, like small debts, hit us in so many places, and meet us at so many turns and corners, that what they want in weight, they make up in number, and render it less hazardous to stand the fire of one cannon ball, than a volley composed of such a shower of bullets.

And said:

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble.

And said:

This is a brief life, but in its brevity it offers us some splendid moments, some meaningful adventures.

And a man, who produced this poem in 1895:

Why…

December 29, 2012 By David Kanigan 23 Comments

Why am I afraid to dance, I who love music and rhythm and song and laughter?
Why am I afraid to live, I who love life
and the beauty of flesh and the living colors of earth and sea and sky?
Why am I afraid to love, I who love?
Why am I afraid, I who am not afraid?
Why must I pretend to scorn in order to pity?
Why must I hide myself in self-contempt in order to understand?
Why must I be so ashamed of my strength, so proud of my weakness?
Why must I live in a cage like a criminal, defying and hating, I who love peace and friendship?
Why was I born without a skin? Oh God, that I must wear armor in order to touch or be touched.”

~ Eugene O’Neill, The Great God Brown and Other Plays

Eugene O’Neill (1888-1953), was an American playwright who won the 1936 Nobel Prize in Literature ”for the power, honesty and deep-felt emotions of his dramatic works, which embody an original concept of tragedy.” His plays involve characters who inhabit the fringes of society, engaging in depraved behavior, where they struggle to maintain their hopes and aspirations but ultimately slide into disillusionment and despair. O’Neill wrote only one comedy (Ah, Wilderness!): all his other plays involve some degree of tragedy and personal pessimism.

Source: Thank you Whiskey River for quote. Wiki and goodreads for bio. Black and White for image.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: afraid, aspirations, Communication, contempt, Dance, despair, Eugene O'Neill, fear, Friendship, hopes, Life, Literature, Live, Love, Music, Nobel Laureate, Peace, Pessimism, plays, playwright, Poem, Poetry, Relationships, weakness

Sunday Morning: You never found us. It was the other way around.

December 9, 2012 By David Kanigan 16 Comments

The Moment

The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,

is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can’t breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.

by Margaret Atwood

Sources: Poem via Growing-Orbits via chasingtailfeathers. Image: Plagved

We have time

December 5, 2012 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

We have time for everything
Sleep, run back and forth,
regret we made an error and err again
judge others and absolve ourselves,
we have time to read and write,
edit what we wrote, regret what we wrote,
we have time to make projects and never follow through
we have time to dwell in illusions and stir through
their ashes much later.

We have time for ambitions and diseases,
to blame destiny and details,
we have time to look at the clouds, at the ads, or some random accident, we have time
to chase away our questions, postpone our answers, we have time
to crush a dream and reinvent it, we have time to make friends,
to lose them, we have time to take lessons and forget them
soon after, we have time to receive gifts and not understand them. We have time for everything.

No time, though, for a little tenderness.
When we’re about to do that, too, we die.

~ Octavian Paler (1926-2007. Romanian writer, politician, journalist and activist.)

Source: For Quote, Thank you Yama-Bato. For photo: Cristina Otero

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: anxious, Black and White, gentle, Gratitude, hurry, Life, Live, Octavian Paler, Peace, Poem, Poetry, portrait, Quotes, Romania, rush, tenderness, time, Worry, Yama-Bato, Zen

You Reading This, Be Ready

November 25, 2012 By David Kanigan 20 Comments

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life -

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?

- William Stafford (The Way It Is)

Sources: Poem – Thank you WhiskeyRiver. Photograph: Rangefinder

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: awareness, be present, be still, confidence, Gratitude, Life, Live, Mental health, moment, now, Peace, Poem, Poet, Poetry, present, Psychology, quiet mind, Self-respect, thinking, thoughts, William Stafford, Zen

Let there be an opening into the quiet…

November 4, 2012 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

Let there be
an opening
into the quiet
that lies beneath
the chaos,
where you find
the peace
you did not think
possible
and see what shimmers
within the storm.

~ John O’Donohue (“Blessing in the Chaos”)

John O’Donohue (1956-2008) was an Irish poet, priest, Hegelian Philosopher and an author best known for popularizing Celtic spirituality.

“When you cease to fear your solitude, a new creativity awakens in you. Your forgotten or neglected wealth begins to reveal itself. You come home to yourself and learn to rest within. Thoughts are our inner senses. Infused with silence and solitude, they bring out the mystery of inner landscape.”

Photograph (not of Donohue) was taken by Raymond Depardon via goodmemory. Quote Source: Thank you crashinglybeautiful via litverve.

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Quotes Tagged With: basava, Black and White, Buddhism, calm in chaos, calm mind, inspiring, John O'Donohue, mind chatter, Peace, Philosophy, photograph, Poem, Poetry, quiet, quiet mind, Raymond Depardon, solitude, spirituality, still, still mind, Zen

Sunday Morning: Growing is forever, they whispered…

October 14, 2012 By David Kanigan 19 Comments

“A very long time ago, there were no groves because everywhere was a grove with no roads to bisect and no people to erect stones and fences and bridges. The trees were very, very young and had much living ahead of them. The enormity of their lifespan loomed in wooly mists around them, so they stretched out their root fingers and wrapped them around each others’, intertwining and holding very tight. The ferns found pockets of root fingers where they could nestle in and the moss stretched itself out over the soil and everything became very soft. The trees grew and made patterns of light and dark on the ground and the vines swirled in to trace the patterns. Spotted spiders moved back and forth and up and down, making nets to catch the mist, and the mist would linger on the nets in drops that cupped the light. It was very quiet all the time because the trees needed to focus on their lives. It is not easy to grow so much, for so long. Some trees became tired and lay down on the soft ground; others leaned and rested their tops on another. Growing is forever, they whispered, and when one tree had to stop, another would grow out of it and reach very high into the grey and gold sky. The trees rested and waited to the mist to come and cool them. They were very large, but still not very old, and had much more growing to do.” ~ Kallie Markle

Good Sunday morning.

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Music, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: Art, blessing, Calfornia, calm, Gratitude, Human, inspiration, Inspirational, Inspire, Life, Lifestyle, Mental health, Middle Age, Nature, Ocean, Peace, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Redwood, Religion, Sunday, tree, Video, Vimeo, Zen

Come Home to Mama…

October 8, 2012 By David Kanigan 23 Comments

Haunting.

Beautiful.

Spell-binding.

“Martha Wainwright is a Canadian-American folk-rock singer-songwriter. Wainwright sings “Prosperpina”, an elegy (def: an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem) written by her late mother, the legendary folk singer Kate McGarrigle. The song was taken from her forthcoming album Come Home to Mama, the track was recorded in Sean Lennon’s New York home studio and continues a lifelong musical dialogue between Wainwright and McGarrigle, who passed away in 2010. “It’s the last song my mother wrote, and of course I also think that she wrote it for me, and for Rufus,” explains Wainwright, referring to her critically acclaimed crooner brother, Rufus Wainwright. “We wrote songs together, ever since we were children. As we sing her songs, I think her voice can be heard in ours, literally through our pipes.” The film was inspired by the premise of “Proserpina,” which recounts the story of the creation of the seasons by the Roman goddess Ceres, who withholds the world’s bounty for six months every year in protest about her daughter’s abduction by Pluto, lord of the underworld…”

Sources: Thank you pixandum, Wiki and YouTube.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: elegy, folk, folk-rock, inspiration, Inspire, Martha Wainwright, Music, Music video, Poem, Poetry, Prosperpina, Rufus, Singer, songwriter, Video, vocal, YouTube

Every year there is a brief startling moment…

October 7, 2012 By David Kanigan 23 Comments

And every year there is a brief, startling moment
When we pause in the middle of a long walk home and
Suddenly feel something invisible and weightless
Touching our shoulders, sweeping down from the air:
It is the autumn wind pressing against our bodies;
It is the changing light of fall falling on us.

~ Edward Hirsch (“Fall”)

Sources: Thank you Luke @ Crashingly Beautiful for quote and headlikeanorange via goodmemory for image.

Filed Under: Art, Inspire, Life, Nature Tagged With: autumn, blowing, Edward Hirsch, Fall, FJORD, inspiration, Inspire, LANDSCAPE, Life, Lifestyle, Nature, NORDIC WILD, Photo, photograph, Poem, Poet, Poetry, Quotation, Quote, SCANDINAVIA, season, Wind, windy

Sunday Morning Skies

September 9, 2012 By David Kanigan 12 Comments

Laying in just after waking
Covers pulled tight, no chance of moving
Looking through open widows
At a clear blue Sunday sky
Smiling through memories
Those thoughts which fill head
Of the night before, the days to come
The way friends are always near
In a perfect innocence their words
Carry away all worries
Becoming distracted by the self
Coffee and toast on the bedside
Slowly going cold
Sleep still lingers in the eye
A soft breeze blows in
Television on in the background
A morning of rest and recollection
While looking at a clear blue sky
The joy of a Sunday morning

~ Matthew Holloway

Quote Source: Thank you GP. Painting: “Still Life” by Nicholas Hely-Hutchinson. English Painters (1950). Thank you madamescherzo vi art-and-dream.

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: Art, calm, English painters, inspiration, Inspire, Life, Lifestyle, Middle Age, painters, Peace, Philosophy, Photo, Picture, Pictures, Poem, Poetry, Psychology, Quotation, Quote, Sunday, Sunday morning, Worry

Sunday Morning: What did you leave behind

September 9, 2012 By David Kanigan 21 Comments

“At 68, Rob Elliot has guided 200+ trips on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado river in Arizona.”

How do you want to be remembered, when this life joins the wind?
What did you leave, in these chasms, upon these lives, young & curious?
What did you write? What dust in the rain, sand in the rivers?

Those you touched, embraced and kissed, loved… what echoes there?
How will it travel, your wisdom, your story, your suffering and joy?

These walls, silent, deafening, ancient and new.
What did you make them, what did they make of you?
A life running, teaching or learning, what is escape?
What did you find?

Wind, replenishing rain, sun.
Who did these thorns see?
What did these waters wash from you?
The stars, in the abyss beyond, how did they shine, on you?

Will you release the storm, the scars, whirling as they go, yet holding love, life?
The luminous child, the harsh knowing of age, what did you leave behind?

Good Sunday Morning…

OF SOULS + WATER: THE ELDER from NRS Films on Vimeo.

Sunday Morning: Of Souls & Water…

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Music, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: Arizona, Art, canoe, Colorado River, Existentialism, God, grand canyon, Human, inspiration, Inspirational, Inspire, Life, Lifestyle, Meaning of life, Middle Age, Nature, Philosophy, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Prayer, Psychology, rafting, Religion, Religion and Spirituality, Retirement, river, Social Sciences, Sunday, Video, Walking, Water

4:25 am & inspired (not)

August 29, 2012 By David Kanigan 14 Comments

No Mas. Behind (way) on reading. Tank a wee bit empty. Back next week with gusto with Hump Day recognition for the most inspiring posts.

Image Source: Thank you phytos via madamescherzo

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Lead, Life, Nature, Quotes Tagged With: Art, Blog, blogger, Blogging, Business, Future, Grow, Happy, Hope, inspiration, Inspire, Lead, Leadership, Learning, Life, Lifestyle, Management, Mental health, Middle Age, Nature, Personal Development, Philosophy, Photo, photograph, Photography, Picture, Poem, Poetry, Psychology, Quotations, Quotes

Late August…

August 28, 2012 By David Kanigan 14 Comments

Author: Margaret Atwood

Source: Teaching Literacy

Related Posts: What touches you is what you touch…

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Art, August, Life, Lifestyle, Margaret Atwood, Mental health, Middle Age, Philosophy, Poem, Poetry, Psychology, Retirement, season, summer, Writer, Writing

4:39 am & inspired…

August 22, 2012 By David Kanigan 34 Comments

Good Wednesday morning. Two missions today: sharing inspiring posts of the week from several of my favorite bloggers and blogger award nominations.

In the category of just so-very-good, is a post from Thomas Ross @ “Only Here Only Now”with his post titled: Affliction.“The worst thing, the most terrible thing, was to see the reflection of my critical gaze in the people I love the most- to understand how I had fed their self doubt all those years. How I had harmed those I loved so deeply…”

In the bucket of yanking on my heart strings, Ray Visotski @ Simple, Village Undertaker with his post “Butterfly Kisses”: I remember Kelliann playing it for me for the first time when the song was a hit. We decided that it would be the song we danced to at her wedding…It may or may not be the first song, as I cannot listen to it without sobbing…) Me too Ray. Me too…

In the bucket of growth and re-birth, Brenna Gee @ Space2Live with her post title Steven Tyler and an Introvert: Expanding Through Music, Stillness and the Inner Garden:(Steven Tyler) Just recently my dad came over to the house – he’s ninety-three now! And I sat down next to him at the piano and he played Debussy’s Clair de Lune… It was so deep and invoked so much of that early emotion laid on top of my adult emotions that I wept like a baby…(and then Brenna)…As for me, I went through a withdrawal process that started with caring for my body…”

I’d drink this sun with my veins if I were green and growing…

August 21, 2012 By David Kanigan 14 Comments

“Winter convinced me I was impermeable.
Today I’ve moved a lawn chair
close enough to prop my legs on the fence
and doze, light pressed like thumbs
against my eyelids. I’d drink this sun
with my veins if I were green and growing,
with chloroplasts instead of follicles.
When I blink away phantom spots, I see a wasp
clinging to the fence board. It strokes
the pine grain with its front legs, back legs
braced as the head bobs, mandibles
harvesting whatever flushes from vesicles
of rotted wood—whatever it is, I can’t see.
The wasp pauses, then flies to my leg
and fondles the stubble there. I will myself
to breath calmly, relaxed, focused
on observing this infinitely interesting
living thing. Then I give way to instinct,
My gasp wrenched to wide-open shout
at the inevitable sting. Once there was
a ceramicist who cast vessels on the scale
of human beings. Asked why he punctured each
one by striking the soft clay with a two-by-four,
he answered, “To let the darkness out.”

~ Laura-Gray Street, Phosphenes and Entopics

Quote Source: atomiclanterns. Image Source: olganoes.com via mydivine–cloudnumber9

Filed Under: Art, Grow, Inspire, Life, Quotes Tagged With: Anxiety, Art, darkness, depression, draw, drawing, inspiration, Inspire, Life, Lifestyle, Mental health, Paint, Painting, Philosophy, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Psychology, Quotation, Quote

Cranky Old Man

August 19, 2012 By David Kanigan 36 Comments

This is a remarkable story and more remarkable poem. And so fitting for a…Good Sunday morning.

“When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appearing in mags for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem. And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this ‘anonymous’ poem winging across the Internet.” (DK: Apparently, everyone has seen this, but me.)

~ Source: anewstartt

6:10am and inspired…

August 15, 2012 By David Kanigan 28 Comments

Good Wednesday morning. Two missions today. Sharing inspiring posts of the week from several of my favorite bloggers and blogger award nominations.

Kicking it off with Ivan Terzic @ My Highlights – Utopia with Face Painting - Magical Self-Transforming

FeyGirl @ Serenity Spell with her post: Anoles of the Rainbow — and a Newly Discovered Color Variant!

Sandy @ Another Lovely Day with her poem: breathing in the quiet

The tide gently,
slowly,
nudges
in between the spaces,
covering the shore,
smoothing patterns,
clearing all traces,
with waves
that are but ripples,
softly
lapping…(hit link for more)

And now on to the Blogger awards of the week:

3:10am and inspired…

August 8, 2012 By David Kanigan 45 Comments

Thank you Glenn Weissel for nominating me for the Sunshine Award. Thank you for Cristi Moise @ Simple. Interesting., ForOnePlease and Ivon Prefontaine @ Teacher As Transformer for nominating me for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. I’m humbled by your nominations.

As to seven facts about me: (1) I’ve never been to Paris. New Zealand. Or Australia. (2) I’m the breadwinner in our family but have absolutely no clout. (3) I have insomnia (like now). The excuse tonight, Zeke crowded me out of bed. (4) We’re empty nesters in less than 3 weeks. (sigh) (5) I’m afraid of heights yet have no fear of flying. (6) I’m a sap with babies and animals (not fish so much). (7) I relish Saturday afternoon naps (and Sunday afternoon naps for that matter). (Bonus Fact) I’m a lucky man in so many ways. Too many too count. And I’m grateful for it all.

In return, I’d like to nominate the following bloggers for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award:

Mimi @ Waiting For The Karma Truck
George W. Mahn III @ Vertical Leap
Bill Moore @ coachbillmoore
Jay Morris @ The wayward journey
John E. Smith @ Strategic Learner
James Young @ JamesYoung Artist
Melody @ Donkey Whisperer Farm Blog
Alex Jones @ Liberated Way
LaDona @ LaDona’s Music Studio
Tim Mushey @ Sell, Lead, Succeed

To accept the award, the rules are:

Link back to the person who nominated you
Post the award image to your page. (Here’s the Link)
Tell seven facts about yourself
Nominate 10 other blogs
Let them know they are nominated

And here’s a few of the inspiring bloggers’ posts of the week:

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