the goods: list 17

• Megg's blog: More to Me.
• an excerpt of a commencement address given by Sue Monk Kidd & Ann Kidd Taylor. listen here. Ann's words speak to me: "The novelist John Gardner suggested that the true search in life is for one's 'necessary fire.' I believe he was referring to the genuine, inborn desire in one's heart - the one that feels required, as if it is part of your purpose for being here. Your necessary fire is an endeavor that holds the possibility to bring you alive, but also one with which you have a deep compatibility, a true affinity." what is your necessary fire? Sue & Ann's new book, Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story, will be published in the fall.
• as part of my daily morning practice, i read an excerpt (one a day, a vitamin of sorts) from Thich Nhat Hanh's work, Peace Is Every Step. this morning i underlined these words in the passage entitled, "Walking Meditation", "Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet." and, these words, "Every step makes a flower bloom under your feet."
• i am reading, often in the moments before sleep, Everyday Spiritual Practice. this work is a collection of essays on spiritual practice written by various writers & edited by Scott M. Alexander. always words & phrases like these resonate & delight: "connected"; "sense of oneness"; "to know our place and our value"; "essence"; "continuous play of creation"; "appreciation"; "using all of our senses"; "feeling the ground"; "dedicate"; "flow"; "cradle"; "whispering"; "observe"; "miracle"; "practice"; "impeccable"; and, "deep currents."
• feeling at home in the north. grateful for my proximity to dear, dear friends - friends with whom i feel at home. in particular, three women, two men & two wee boys. i feel lucky. so lucky. and, cared for. and, hopeFULL.
• with most of these dear, dear friends (see above) i spent the weekend exploring this new geography. by the ocean. in the sunshine one day & underneath a heavy blanket o' clouds the next day. walking. driving. laughing. tearing. making alive & awake choices. speaking. listening. hugging. holding.
• these are my prayers & intentions for the week: listen for the heartFULL "yes!" live conscious. schedule my days. be powerFULL. speak the truth. create.