Category Archives: meaning

Mark Nepo on presence and directness

“We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved, and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed and beneath every sadness is the fear that … Continue reading

Posted in awakening, congruence, consciousness, Disconnection, encounter, fear, loneliness, Mark Nepo, meaning, mindfulness, organismic experiencing, presence, touch, vulnerability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Henri Frederic Amiel on Mystery

Toko-pa is a regular here…and here we are grateful for this post on her Facebook page of Henri Amiel’s beautiful words and the gorgeous painting by Katherine Goncharova. This sense of respecting the mystery at the heart of ourselves, each other … Continue reading

Posted in awakening, beauty, cognitive, compassion, consciousness, creativity, cultural questions, encounter, feminine, growth, meaning, non-directive counselling, Palace Gate Counselling Service, presence, rewilding, self, self concept, spirituality, surrender, Toko-pa, transformation, vulnerability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Francis Weller on Grief

“Grief is subversive, undermining the quiet agreement to behave and be in control of our emotions. It is an act of protest that declares our refusal to live numb and small. There is something feral about grief, something essentially outside … Continue reading

Posted in creativity, cultural questions, Disconnection, emotions, empowerment, Francis Weller, gratitude, grief, loss, love, meaning, non-conforming, perception, political, power and powerlessness, presence, rewilding, vulnerability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Thanks by W.S. Merwin

“Listen with the night falling we are saying thank you we are stopping on the bridges to bow from the railings we are running out of the glass rooms with our mouths full of food to look at the sky … Continue reading

Posted in core conditions, cultural questions, Disconnection, gratitude, grief, loss, love, meaning, natural world, paradigm shift, perception, poetry, sadness & pain, spirituality, violence, vulnerability, W.S. Merwin | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Francis Weller on our shrunk & impoverished experience of being alive

Two favourites, Jewels Wingfield herself, and Francis Weller…. Here are the words, for those who have difficulty following Facebook links:- “Modern technological society has forgotten what it feels like to be embedded in a living culture, one rich with stories … Continue reading

Posted in awakening, community, consciousness, cultural questions, Disconnection, Francis Weller, grief, interconnection & belonging, meaning, paradigm shift, presence, rewilding, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Small Gods – Martin Shaw

http://drmartinshaw.com/essays/ Click on the link above for another powerful piece from Martin. Here’s a taste:- ‘Once upon a time there was a lonely hunter. One evening, returning to his hut over the snow, he saw smoke coming from his chimney. … Continue reading

Posted in accountability, awakening, beauty, communication, community, consciousness, creativity, cultural questions, Disconnection, ecological issues, embodiment, encounter, grief, healing, immanence, interconnection & belonging, love, Martin Shaw, meaning, metaphor & dream, myth, natural world, non-conforming, paradigm shift, perception, physical being, poetry, political, presence, rewilding, surrender, transformation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Adrift – Mark Nepo

‘Everything is beautiful and I am so sad. This is how the heart makes a duet of wonder and grief. The light spraying through the lace of the fern is as delicate as the fibers of memory forming their web … Continue reading

Posted in beauty, emotions, flow, gratitude, grief, immanence, joy, loss, love, Mark Nepo, meaning, presence, rewilding, spirituality, surrender, tears, transformation, vulnerability, wonder | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On the Wildness of Children – Carol Black

http://carolblack.org/on-the-wildness-of-children Click on the link above to visit Carol’s website for this well written and profoundly important article. Gratitude to Embercombe for alerting us to this piece via their Facebook page. “But as Odawa elder and educator Wilfred Peltier tells … Continue reading

Posted in autonomy, awakening, boundaries, Carol Black, child development, cognitive, community, conditions of worth, conflict, consciousness, consent, creativity, cultural questions, Disconnection, education, ethics, fear, growing up, human condition, meaning, natural world, paradigm shift, parenting, political, power and powerlessness, rewilding, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Jeff Foster on Sadness and anger

Some extraordinarily important words from Jeff about our relationship with emotions perceived as ‘difficult’ and the judgments these attract…. We are often struck by how common those judgments are, even among the ‘spiritual’ and even among therapists – as if … Continue reading

Posted in acceptance, anger, boundaries, congruence, Disconnection, emotions, human condition, Jeff Foster, loss, love, meaning, perception, power, presence, sadness & pain, self, self concept, shaming, spirituality, surrender, transformation, vulnerability | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Robert Macfarlane on the Celtic culture of retreat, & wildness

‘[The] Celtic Christian culture of retreat originated in the Ireland of the fifth and sixth centuries. Begun by St Patrick in the 430s, and inspired by the desert saints of the preceding centuries, the practice of retreat spread to what … Continue reading

Posted in boundaries, community, human condition, interconnection & belonging, meaning, natural world, perception, Robert Macfarlane, spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment