winter white

metta

"We may never find ourselves in situations of such peril that our lives are endangered; yet anguish and pain are undeniable aspects of our lives. None of us can build walls around our hearts that are invulnerable to being breached by life. Facing the sorrow we meet in this life, we have a choice: Our hearts can close, our minds recoil, our bodies contract, and we can experience the heart that lives in a state of painful refusal. We can also dive deeply within ourselves to nurture the courage, balance, patience, and wisdom that enable us to care." ~from she who hears the cries of the world by christina feldman

today's metta/lovingkindness extended to myself:

• may i open my heart to the suffering of others
• may i find the steadfastness not to abandon anyone in this world
• may i be as compassionate to myself as i am to those around me

bunnybunnybunny

sometimes littlefoot likes to explore the loveseat. this time i was graced with her stretching out not once but twice with me there next to her! what a relaxed and comfortable bun!

homeschool philosophy

this lovely post came across my dash this morning and it was too good not to share.

i can incorporate this into metta/lovingkindness:

may i open my loving and courageous heart to myself
may i open my loving and courageous heart to my children
may we listen to each other with open hearts

also:
may i nourish my child's body and mind with the good food and time spent together that we both enjoy

a day off school - with big brother doing something else - sometimes means a pasta date for me and ander

an excerpt from the post:

"I want to open myself to what is, to see my children for who they are and our homeschool for what it is...I can close the plans and curricula and to-do lists for a little while and observe how they tackle something on their own. And I can do this not once or once a year but regularly, every season, so that our homeschool changes as they change. I also need to remind myself of this when we hit a hard patch. Sometimes, yes, there’s something I can change to make things easier or better, but sometimes, the problem is not mine to fix."

what white people need to know

this post explains more eloquently than anything else i have come across what i think white people need to know about the incident involving black people, native american people, and white people at the lincoln memorial recently.

an excerpt:

"White people have a moral obligation to understand how we carry the violent history and heritage of the genocide of Native Americans and the profound trauma of chattel slavery in us. "

"Being aware of how Christians felt entitled to not just space, but spirits, cultures, bodies, families, and homes is a must for white-skinned Americans.  Such awareness would prevent us from making such flat-footed claims about our personal space being encroached upon when a Native Elder approaches us with a sacred gesture."

"When white people walk into a space where black bodied people and Indigenous people are voicing their pain, their perspectives, we carry with us a violent heritage, whether we know it or not...That pain is real whether white-skinned people believe it is not."

and again with the snow

perfect softness

snow

i heard tell we got six inches of snow so far

wisdom

as i took ander to school the other morning, i spotted a raptor - probably a cooper's or a red-shouldered hawk - landing on a tree branch near the school. it landed nearby another one, and ander and i watched from the car windows for a few moments before he headed inside.

they inspired me to write about them. it started as a haiku and then went a different direction.

wisdom
two raptors. hawks?
quiet and settled, near each other but
not too close
on the same branch of a winter-bare tree
watchful gazes into the clear blue sky
guardians of the empty playground, perhaps?
i wonder, what, too, would i know about the incoming storm
if i were they?

https://birdsdowntown.wordpress.com/2012/12/

2019 word of intention

metta

meaning

lovingkindness