Expressing Peace. Doodle Do. 72.
Doodles
Do you like to doodle? I do. Though I sometimes say I’m sketching, a doodle is a doodle is a doodle.
The fun of doodling is just that: it’s fun. No rules. No judgments. No standards. Just fun.
And that’s why it’s a peace-giver. You can be free from spelling words right or keeping them on the paper’s lines. Free to create the lines — straight of curvy, wiggly or dashed — all over the page.
And the bigger the page the better.
Lesson: peace is not just seeing or hearing or smelling something outside myself. Peace comes to me, comes from me, by the actions I perform. Those actions are ways I create peace for myself. That’s a lesson to myself, btw.
For 100 days I “sketched each day”. Anything that caught my attention: a thought, what someone said, an idea, an image. (I did quite a few sketches of my messy desk!) After each small sketch, I was definitely relaxed. I felt peaceful because I’d let my mind relax, taken a break from the “had to do” consciousness, and had fun.
I started with a small notebook and a handful of colored pens. I always had them with me because you never know when doodling will call. Now I also have an over-sized drawing pad that’s replace my over-sized desk calendar. It offers constant invitations to scribble, sketch, doodle. An invitation to peace.
And from there it’s easy to remember: these tiny bits of peace that I enjoy are stars in the endless universe that is Peace. If my little bits of peace are fun, that awareness of Peace is fundamental.
Happy Friday!
Supreme Sketch Artist,
the talent I have is in my willing-to-doodle,
my joy in putting pen to paper without worry
that it won’t be art.
It will be fun.
It will be restful.
It will be a reflection of your Peace.
It always is. It doesn’t matter
if the eyes aren’t even or the words
made more sense than the picture
(it’s worth a thousand anyway).
How neat and sweet, Dear GOD,
to doodle what I want and have it be
the peace-filled way I see it.
And so it is. Amen. Amen.
Enjoy Peace. Sketch Peace.
Expressing Peace. Listening. 71.
Listening to Peace
We’re familiar with peaceful listening: soothing music, ocean waves, birdsong.
Listening itself– the art and science of listening, regardless of what’s heard — brings peace.
Mom often said, “You hear me, but you’re not listening to me.” She distinguished between my ears automatically receiving sounds and my mind not paying attention to what I heard, which meant whatever she was telling me. Hearing is easy; listening is hard. For me, at any rate.
This afternoon I sat outside my office, just to listen. I didn’t force myself, didn’t tell myself to pay attention, to concentrate, or to take in every single sound. I wanted whatever I heard to feed my mind, my heart. That would be listening, I figured.
The listening was good; the peace was outstanding. After 15 minutes I had listened to — distinguished — dozens of sounds: a crisp door opening, laughter that rose and rose and floated away, a car without a muffler, voices intent on keeping something secret…….
Accomplishing distinction meant peace. Clear sounds, all of them beautiful, meant peace. The mindfulness of separating the sounds meant peace.
I am thankful at how easy it was. Easy after years of striving to become a better listener.
I settled at the table outside. I thought, “I’m here. What will I hear?”
I attended, allowing my ear-mind connection to pick up surrounding sounds.
I received. A sound would become predominant and perk my hearing.
I accepted. I felt the sound enter my hearing…my mind…my heart.
The more my listening embraced each sound’s subtleties, the more my heart felt joy. That joy meant peace.
Listening Spirit,
thank you for the power to hear
to receive and recognize and respond
to the world around us.
And thank you more that we can listen.
We can let go attempts to wrestle
understanding from what’s heard.
We can let sounds caress
awareness from our hearts
up to our minds.
We can respond to the world we love
to hear, to listen to.
And so it is. Amen.
Amen.
Hear Peace. Listen to Peace.
In: Beauty, Inner Peace, Music, Peace, Prayer, Praying · Tagged with: Joy, Listening, Peace, praying
Expressing Peace. Mindfulness. 70.
Mindfulness
Jon Kabat-Zinn says, mindfulness “wakes us up to the fact that our lives unfold only in moments.” He then defines mindfulness as the awareness that comes when we pay attention—on purpose—in the present moment, while suspending judgment.
I finally understand that being mindful is not having a mind full, rather it is being mindful (attentive, conscious, ultra-aware) of the here and now.
It takes practice. At least, it’s taken me practice. Still does.
Meditation is most frequently recommended to increase one’s mindfulness. That suggests it may be the best approach. There are these easy-to-follow steps to meditation:
- Turn off all distractions.
- Sit comfortably, your weight evenly distributed either in your chair or sitting on your crossed legs.
- Sit with good posture, without holding your back rigid.
- Close your eyes.
- Breathe in slowly, fully, expand your abdomen. Hold your breath. Exhale fully, collapse your belly.
Those steps set the stage. Pay attention to your breath: the steady inflow of air, the silent pause as you hold it in, the steady and complete release of air.
Thoughts will interrupt your breath-focus. Inevitably. They should; if they didn’t, mindfulness wouldn’t matter so much. You enhance your mindfulness when you accept each interruption without any self-blame and return your attention to your breathing.
Remember mindfulness is “the awareness that comes when we pay attention—on purpose—in the present moment, while suspending judgment”. Letting those thoughts go and returning to breath-focus becomes easier and easier, you become more mindful. You are practicing, perfecting your mindfulness.
Good Friend, GOD,
the ability to settle on the present moment
offers both power and peace.
Seeing the candle flicker and having no thought but that
frees and eases my awareness.
Listening to the silence in my mind, knowing
that is meant to be its sound,
opens my heart with gratitude for all that is.
I turn mindful intention
to the present moment of your Presence
filling me with Good
and Peace;
my Self lets go of everything
but here and now.
Thank you, Good Friend.
Amen. Amen.
Enjoy Peace. Express Peace.
In: Commitment, Inner Peace, Intention, meditation, Peace, Peacefulness, Prayer · Tagged with: meditation, Peace, Prayer, praying
Expressing Peace. Scent of Peace. 69.
Scent of Peace
The scent of peace spoke to my memory this morning. As strong as in grandmother’s bathroom 60 years ago, the Jergen’s Lotion almond scent called my attention.
The scent of peace is coffee beans, fresh from the bag. Their aroma buzzes its way as it is ground to rich brown sand, brewed to share its scent with morning.
The scent of peace swirls from the grass mowed close enough to make me want to sneeze. It’s summer’s sayonara. I hear the “bless you!” through the peace that loves inside my mind.
These fragrances — and so many more — distinct in what each brings to mind. Distinct, the peace associated shapes to match the scent. Robust. Ticklesome. Inviting. Arousing.
Our senses receive the physical world around us. Many signals are tied to experiences that brought us peace. Remembered, they bring us peace again.
Reminder of Peace,
the gentle clues and hints you give
allowing us to remember instances that pleased us
and in reflection make us peaceful.
The scents that stir our minds and fill our hearts
with what are now peaceful memories.
Aromas may recall events that changed our lives
or happenings that mattered not
except for peace the smell now lets us feel.
The chance to dance in memory with the fragrant hint,
to walk a path that curves beside the trees
and have the scent remind us of a friendly talk,
to savor coffee’s strong essence linking back
to early morning desires you have fulfilled.
We thank you, GOD.
We breathe in your Peace, enjoy its scent.
And so it is. Amen. Amen.
Enjoy Peace. Express Peace.
In: Home, Inner Peace, Peace, Peacefulness, Prayer, Praying · Tagged with: Peace, praying, spiritual simplicity
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