Here, unexpectedly
I rediscovered my love
of words;
yours, and mine.
I take the feeling
deep within
and pour it out
across the screen
lightheartedly.
Or I wait
for the words
to strike,
to pass through,
from who knows where.
A communion
from my heart
to yours.
A hailstorm engulfed the woods.
I walked, partially sheltered by
the bare branches,
cocooned, warm in my coat as
the hailstones drummed on my head.
It passed over, the last balls of ice
bounced off my hair as
I put my hood down.
I emerged into sunshine,
a cool fresh breeze,
and contentment.
You can always find contentment if you walk far enough!
Imagine turning certainty and judgment into wondering, into curiosity. How then would you see this world?
I joined a really interesting coach training course this week, all about releasing judgment.
I thought it would be a good one for me to do, because sometimes I can be very judgemental. The current political climate does not bring out the best in me!
It is so easy to slip into a judging mind-set, comfortable even. It means I don’t have to think, to put myself into another’s shoes, to feel the discomfort of acknowledging that maybe someone else’s opinions are just as valid as mine. To assume that I know why they say what they say, why they do what they do.
And then there are self-judgment, comparison, self-criticism. For as much as I judge other people I also judge myself, and my work.
Two things really struck me:
Instead of comparing myself with others, how about looking back at how I was at a point in the past, or how I would like to be in the future? So instead of looking at the blogger with thousands of followers and feeling discouraged, not good enough, I look back to a year ago when I had less than 10 followers and I realise how far I’ve come. Or I imagine a future where lots of people read my blog and I work out how to get to that point and then take the steps to get there.
Instead of thinking I know why something is as it is, I could be open and curious instead.
Ultimately, judging is just part of being human. I can just notice that I am doing it and let it go. Another one of those under the category ‘simple but not easy’!
What do you think? Do you have any tips for releasing judgement?
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The evening light fades
without effort
Yet I must practice daily
doing
without doing.
The absence of fairy lights
reveals the gloom of January.
Let’s make our own light.
Stepping out
of the seasonal rush,
drivers stop
by the estuary edge.
–
Together we pause,
momentarily,
to catch the light
as it fades.
Evening practice.
Ten mindful breaths
beneath the stars.
I am breathing in the cold night air
as goose calls drift up from the estuary.
We share the same moonlight.
If I could bottle this feeling
of deep relaxed contentment
from an hour and a half
of mindful movement,
I would send it to you
with all my love.
The sun streams onto my desk
distracting me with an open invitation.
I wander outside into the crisp
freshness of September
(I really should be working)
air cool, sun warm,
what a delicious combination.
I stroll, and admire the flowers.
This year’s robins practice their trills
and chase each other around the garden
(I should be working, really)
Dewy cobwebs sparkle.
The Chinese lanterns glow
like orange setting suns.
(Should I really be working?)
I have all the time in the world
to work,
long years of it left,
but this one moment of early autumn,
this particular combination of weather
and flowers and birdsong
will never happen again in
exactly the same way.
So I savour it.
Life in the Fresh Air 