Sense of Oneness

Two events—Prairiewoods’ Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) eight-week class and a weeklong silent retreat—deepened my sense of oneness. Both experiences helped me slow down and become more aware of everything around me. One example is eating. In the MBSR class, we ate a single raisin in excruciatingly slow fashion, first examining it visually, then feeling…

Spiritual Courtyard

The Prairiewoods courtyard is a spiritual intersection red stream flash Left to right Observed if not absorbed yellow stream flash Right to left Do my eyes deceive? Should green be near? Perhaps Earth to sky? This traffic light of mini super beings are simply song birds of the spiritual courtyard enjoying life shared and together.…

Together We Grow

“Behold, my brothers, the spring has come; the earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall soon see the results of that love! Every seed has awakened and so has all animal life. It is through this mysterious power that we too have our being and we therefore yield to our neighbors,…

Tree Hugger

“Trees heal.” —Susan Bauer-Wu, A Future We Can Love A tree in Gatesville, Texas. I grew up in west Texas, where there are few trees, the southernmost part of the Great Plains. My mother, however, grew up in central Texas, where there are many beautiful live oak trees. On a visit to my grandmother, who…

Becoming the Elder Tree

“Elders belong to the earth, honoring all the names of love. They tend the universe, offering blessing to everything wild.” —Belden Lane, The Great Conversation: Nature and the Care of the Soul Prairiewoods’ Grandmother Oak is one of my most important elderhood mentors. She has grown for three centuries into a beautiful arbor elder, living…

Entanglements

“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” —Mary Oliver, Sometimes My lifelong goal as a writer: to articulate the ways that how we treat the earth and the body are deeply rooted, and how grief, love, and care for the natural world in the tending of the dying and dead…

Sometimes

My favorite poet, Mary Oliver, wrote in Sometimes: “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” —Mary Oliver, Sometimes Straightforward, simple directions for telling a bit of my story. When I received a congratulatory birthday note from the Iowa House on my 80th birthday, I gasped in astonishment! “80, how can…

Start Living

“It is not uncommon for people to spend their whole life waiting to start living.” —Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now As we approach the end of May, one of the busiest times of the year, it may bring closure to another school year for students and teachers. People graduate from various training programs and…

Nature’s Embrace

Remember the truth that is being whispered in the peaceful stillness. Listen to the birds rejoice as they glide through the sky, being bathed with sunlight. Join the tree branches in their swaying dance, praising their creator. Embrace the wind’s gentle caress as it rolls over your cheeks and swirls your hair. Welcome the harmony…