Male

Stillness is breathing deep

Answering the call

of the heart.

Stillness

is soaking in the breeze

on a hot summer day.

Stillness is the present moment

with all your thoughts

running through your head

while feeling relief

-even for a moment

from all it takes to survive.

Stillness can be found

on the drops of dew

that cling to the earth

when the air passed over it

its movement lit only by the moon.

Stillness can be learned

by watching the clouds

easily drift across the sky

with no predetermined destination.

Stillness 

is a state of expansion

beyond the thoughts held within the mind

beyond the strategies for surviving.

Stillness is the space

between the thoughts

allowing the thoughts to come and go

without attachment.

It is seeing thoughts as manifestation of our experience as humans.

It is practicing moments within moments.

It is practicing subtle quiet spaces.

It allows us to be the clouds 

and release

expectation and need.

Stillness

is being on the path,

Floating easily

with no destination.

It is not work.

It is arriving.

Wherever you are.

Order

Watching this day wake up and spring into life I was considering how sitting each day brings order to the mental emotional clutter of my heart.

The clearer my heart becomes the more I see the natural order of the universe, the seasons, and life...

the more peaceful I feel.

I like order.

It makes sense to me.

Even within chaos and growth there is a subtle order that is rooted in survival. 

Wet Web

The rivers and the creeks are up.  

The precipitation seems about as relentless as my cough.  

The woods are quiet - not even squirrels or chipmunks are out.  

A few days ago I googled where birds go when it rains... I had my suspicions but wanted to confirm.  Like us, they try to stay dry and warm, and like us, they reach a point where they just have to get out to survive.  Guess I'm going to have to get out and get bird seed they like if I want my friends to come back - if the sun ever shines again. (I am probably one of the few people still not minding the rain - please don't hate on me) 

A cool fact I didn't know is that birds have an oil on their feathers - it's not even enough to be a drop.  It repels water so their down doesn't get wet.  Birds are so cool.