Posts Tagged ‘Notice’
Walk On
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Walk on
to the snow covered mountains
a view from a rear seat
of a new blazing sky
yet ignorant of the lessons
of that land
Teach me…walk on…
Arches
looking in or looking out
rested in your rocks
I could not shield myself
from the bitterness
shutting myself down
away from you
Heal me…walk on…
Raven
wings flapping
like window shutters
soaring above me
so I could see my God
my faith rebounding
Love me…walk on…
O Zion
praying to you
gave me unfamiliar faces
encouraging me to climb
up through the path
to the top or
to the beginning
Show me…walk on…
Bryce
your hoodoos captured
my heart and saved my soul
like the trees burnt
to ashes into the soil
by mighty lightening
Hold me…walk on…
Wisdom
a warming gift
of stories told and retold
the footprints are
a journey through land
a pathway to a healing heart
and an abandoned soul
Carry me…Walk with me…Walk on…
Walk on…
Mary Anne
(Written after traveling to Utah and hiking the National Parks)
“Just Listen. Nothing Else to Do…”
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
I had the incredible opportunity to attend a weekend workshop with Byron Katie in New York City. Katie facilitates The Work, which allows you to question the thoughts that cause suffering. It was quite the experience (see my last blog). I often found myself holding my breath as people shared their life stories – the ones that caused them the most suffering. I was in awe and overwhelmed at the same time.
Sitting in a packed room, I was trying to figure out how to process what I was hearing. I decided to text a friend a mine a few lines Katie had said that really touched me. I thought this would allow me to open up more to the experience and feel less alone in the crowded space. About a half hour after sending the text, I received her reply, “Just Listen. Nothing else to do…”
I smiled down at my cell phone and exhaled. My body began to relax and my mind quieted. The text became my new mantra: Just listen – nothing else to do. My whole experience of the workshop shifted as I became more present in the room. Suddenly, I noticed how this huge ballroom with over 300 people became more intimate.
In this new space, I could really listen to Katie’s powerful words and noticed how they just floated in the room. With each breath, I inhaled the words that created an opening in my mind and heart. Here are just a few examples:
“Change the thought and it shifts. There is no other way.”
“It hurts until it doesn’t.”
“When you believe the thoughts about the world, you miss it.”
“My job is to love because it hurts when I don’t.”
“Nothing is ahead of its time.”
“People change when you question what you believe about them.”
“It’s what we believe that hurts.”
“If I see something unacceptable in another person, I have to look at me.”
“The past is over. Look at it without experiencing it.”
“It falls away – a little bit at a time.”
“We are who you believe us to be.”
“Love the one you are with. Sit. Rest. Meditate.”
I am so grateful to my friend for reminding me how to be open with such simplicity.
Just Listen – Nothing Else to Do…