have fun being alive!

i voiced these words to a wee rabbit and her mama
this early AM on my meditation stroll..

have fun..
perhaps frivolous in this day when all is a rumble..
the climate crisis,
the #metoo watershed,
the political predicaments,
the senseless violence -

fun is enjoyment..
in joy..
the bliss of resting in a spiritual blessedness..
the skillful means of accepting the tender intimacy
with all that being fully alive brings -
the allowing of life to offer the ten thousand things
at our feet.. bowing ..  and letting go ..

a spiritual blessing might be:
may all the moments of your life
and the lives of every being
be one of wakefulness,  
flourishment, wisdom,
kindness.

fun..
a user friendly 3 letter word..
though i will say, it was not much fun to
be crashed into by a hit & run driver..
WHAT A SURPRISE - O MY O!
(she was found ! she has insurance!)
and it did not feel like a spiritual blessing..
hum? wait a minute ..
karma ripened, eh?
that in itself is a blessing..
cheque! done!
while it isn't quite amusing
filling out insurance forms,
getting estimates,
driving around in a jalopy..
(mila rubie is sooo self conscious!)
feeling sore and achey all over
i am, indeed, having fun being alive -
thank you very much!

remember that there are two kinds of lunatics:
those who don't know that they must die, 
and those who have forgotten they're alive.
                    ~ patrick declark

in our yoga practice..
sukha is an energetic state of being
that reveals itself when we are in the flow
of what is..this is it!
able to see and be in the world without any blinders..
savoring the robust taste of exactly THIS..
dukha,  the reverse of sukha,
is often explained as a vulnerability
to suffering actually inflicted upon ourselves
veiling our authentic nature - joy -
recognize that?

loving the all of life..
& having fun doing it..

i remember a saying from a comrade on the path ~
nothing outside the self..
along with the words of marcus aurelius ..
look within; within is the fountain of all good.

so it seems then..
it is up to our wise olde selves
to bring to our table of aliveness,
a feast,
made up of a fluttering impermanence,
an open palm rather than a tight fist,
a wee smile that invites an ease of being,
a willingness imbued with the delectable clarity of just this..
a breath..
it takes only one breath

if this life assailed by many ills
is yet more fragile than a bubble on a stream,
how wonderful it is to wake from sleep
and having loosed one's breath,
to breathe in once again?
              ~ nagarjuna

empty nest

morning had broken..
it was 4:30 am and i am
walking the tightrope yellow line
down the middle of bayview edison road..
it will be a bright day..
warm and windy as usual..

halfway to the slough trail,
i catch a fawn doing ice rink leaps
above the grass at the trailer park..
she/he stops as she catches wind of me..
i stop too
we gaze at the gazer in one another..
my fortune from the day before said:
your tenderness is your greatest strength
the medicine cards claim the deer as gentleness -
whoa! lo! a second prancing dancer skids
in behind her /his sibling and their 4 eyes
hold my 2 eyes in a most gentle stare down..
then mama comes along and the spell is broken..
we are all on the move again..

the lone duck who i've been keeping my eye on
is still alone this morning and appears to enjoy the solitude
her mate has left her with..
what do i know..?
except that i appear to enjoy the solitude
my mates have left me with !

birds and beasts and jewelled insect free
know me full well; one brotherhood are we.
                      ~   james thomson

my legs had lost their "start up" pain
and it was a joy of joys to be moving along the path
with the pace of..dare i say.. a dancing fawn..

as i closed in on the finish line up the road
to the wee abode, walking backwards as is my usual stride
to get the full spectrum of calf and gluts and whatever toots -
i see the winged one..
the fledging is huge..immense in wing span ..
the aura is at once powerful and tentative..
i am witness to the first flight ..
the eaglet youth circles exactly above my head
and turns back to the nest..
the nest that i have watched
for days
months
years now..

ecstatic and in full wonderment
i am so excited i spin and yelp -
arriving at complete standstill
 .. in awe and admiration..

what must it take to move off the edge of the nest
into the thin bright air of emptiness and clear light?
what must it feel like to open the tightly folded wings
that had held one a' capture to sticks and twigs?
what must it be to fly, fly away from the known
to the unknown?

everything harmonizes with me 
which is harmonious to thee, o universe.
nothing for me is too late nor too early
which is in due time for thee.
everything is fruit to me
which thy seasons bring, o nature.
in thee are all things, from thee are all things,
to thee all things return.
            ~ marcus aurelius

if all this was not enough to set my own wings flying..
i ended up on a whale watching boat that afternoon
with three lovelies and a band of scamps looking for
cetaceans in the salish sea..
we found them..
a plenty..
the great sea pandas in number,
coming in for a plunder -
right before our very eyes,
the blessed porpoise was late lunch for the orcas..
leapin' and hoppin' on a moon shadow
rolling and romping with great glee
robustly, lushly, huskily licking their lips..
do whales have lips?

become the one that when you walk in,
luck shifts to the one who needs it.
if you have not been fed, be bread.
               ~ rumi

as one animal to another, it was a day to remember...
nature never did betray the heart that loved her.
                 - wordsworth