WILDLY FREE ELDER
The Artistry of Aging
Tag: Green Renaissance
Day 12: Elder Muse – Dancing With Trees
“A very young voice filtered out from the trees at the local Nature Park where I walk every morning, only 2 blocks from my home. 4-year-old Liam and his father were out in nature for some father and son time this cloudy Sunday morning.
When I engaged with Liam, back pack on and a map in his hand, he told me that they were looking for acorns to plant in the park so more trees could grow. ….”
Day 7: Elder Muse – Embracing Moments
“As I took in the poem I realized that instead of expanding awareness in that moment it felt like a spiritual admonishment of sorts. Glancing over at the plant stand in my bedroom I spied a bumper sticker that I keep there which says “Don’t Postpone Joy”.
The use of “do not” makes me feel a little like a child that is being told to please wake up and listen or tend to the moment more fully. That I simply wasn’t adhering to the precepts for Conscious Life 101, especially as a supposedly wiser elder.”
Day 6: Elder Muse -The Elder’s Journey
” There are no elder rites of passage in our mainstream culture. In fact we must create one for ourselves. Our own unique rites of passage – not a one size fits all.
Opening into a conscious approach to growing older we may still ask the question of ourselves “how do I want to live my life?”. Not “doing what you love” as a profession or job, but instead the question to live in is what opens our heart, inspires our creativity, and brings us peace of mind.”
Day 2/Elder Muse: Seek Silence
“What does silence mean to you? Is it something you fear and fill up with distractions? Or is it something you actively seek as an antidote to a stressful life? Visiting silence can be an adventure, a life changing journey into peace and quiet. In silence we can hear our own thoughts. Silence speaks for the part of life that is beyond words. There is space, inner freedom and creativity. We find a place within us that is centered, a place of trust. As the noisy demands of daily life make us shrink inside, in silence we expand. Don’t underestimate the power of silence.”
Day 1: Elder Muse -Life Is A Marvelous Gift!
“The porch vantage point offers a front row seat to the unfolding moment. The leaves left on the almost bare trees acting as nature’s wind chimes giving witness to the ever changing cloud formations dancing across the expanse of blue, almost like playing tag with each other.
Rain during the night has left a glistening freshness to the air. I breathe in deeply and notice the fecund smell of earth freshly christened with…..”
The Wisdom of Not Knowing
“:Driving home from a temporary job yesterday I was weary and looked forward to arriving home to a friends home where I was house sitting for the week. Then it happened all in an instant.
A brilliant rainbow presented in the sky over the Blue Ridge mountain range entwined with buckets of rain pouring down scattered here and there making driving a bit treacherous. I so wanted….”
The Door Is Wide Open – But Don’t Let The Old Man In
“Facing the fact of our own mortality is something we fall into intimacy with as we enter the elder years of our embodied life.
What is dignified aging? ….”
Letting Go of the End of the Rope
“We were standing in a circle all blindfolded. This was the beginning exercise of the ropes course that some of my “sole proprietor” business women friends and I had signed up for when I lived in Sonoma County, in Northern California.
If you have never done a ropes course it is quite an adventure and a test of courage, balance, trust, discovery, team support…..and willingness to let go and try something that you may never have done before (and may not ever do again!).
Granted this was decades ago I did this, but my body still remembers the experience. More about the standing in the circle blind folded in a moment…..”
Slowing Down – Kiss The Earth With Your Feet
“When we walk like we are rushing, we print anxiety anx sorrow on the earth.We have to walk in a way that we only print peace and serenity on the earth. Be aware of the contact between your feet and the earth. Walk as if you are kissing the earth with our feet.” Thich Nhat Hahn
A Peaceful Heart In A Time of War
“How do we have a peaceful heart and transfer that to others in our every day vastly interconnected life where grief, tears and sorrow are shared….. even though we may be on the other side of the planet from each other ?”
WILDLY FREE ELDER 