Trying

They say, these bumptious know-it-alls,

not to try.

Just do it, they command.

To say you will "try"

dooms the effort to failure.

 

Having shown that I know the drill,

may I continue?

If I but try, I can see myself

making a go of it.

In the here and now,

not in the distant past or the perilous future,

I can work my way past the obstacles,

eschewing ostentatious gestures,

simply putting one foot ahead of the other,

calmly,

without haste,

and with no wondering whether the game is lost.

It may well be;

wouldn't be the first loss in the history

of the world.

Get over yourself.

 

Another thing they say,

those New Age gurus:

Show up. Pay attention.

Do the work. Don't attach to the outcome.

 

Now, doesn't that just put the whole thing

in a nutshell?

This is why I know that all I need to do

is make the effort.

Try, in other words.

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Ann Tudor
Food blog: http://fastandfearlesscooking.blogspot.ca

Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InfallibleNana

FB: https://www.facebook.com/fastandfearlesscooking

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JI4758O

 

It Doesn't Matter Which Way Is Home

Really

we have no idea what matters,

given how passively

we allow ourselves to be buffeted

by what we proclaim to be reality.

Reality,

I can tell you,

is something other

than the mingy vision we see.

 

Maybe I'm wrong.

But I'd rather err

in the direction of expansiveness

than settle for

the everyday version of reality

that thunders at us from all sides.

 

Which way is home?

All ways—

but they reveal themselves

only through the welcoming doors

of the caring we bring to our hearts.

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Ann Tudor
Food blog: http://fastandfearlesscooking.blogspot.ca

Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InfallibleNana

FB: https://www.facebook.com/fastandfearlesscooking

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JI4758O

 

Small Things

 

Button, button,

who's got the button?

Hands in prayer-position,

the It party-guest passes from one person

to the next,

inserting flattened hands

between the similarly flattened,

very receptive,

pairs of little hands.

Guests sit in circled chairs

watching keen-eyed

to distinguish the

true deposition of the button

from the mock deposit.

 

Now who has the button?

Where has it been left?

Was the It sufficiently skilled

to fool all the watchers?

 

Only two people among all these party-goers

(poker-faced, if they're smart)

know

who has the button.

 

Small things are easily hidden.

Look! You can hide a button

in your prayer-folded hands,

then pass it along,

in secret,

to a friend.

 

Small things disappear

if you so much as blink.

 

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Ann Tudor
Food blog: http://fastandfearlesscooking.blogspot.ca

Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InfallibleNana

FB: https://www.facebook.com/fastandfearlesscooking

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JI4758O

 

Insights

Insights R us.

Sometimes, I should add.

Insights R me on a good day—

one that starts in the dark

after a deep sleep,

one that sees me sitting,

legs covered with an afghan

to ward off the chill.

Don't imagine me in lotus mode;

my hips abandoned that unnatural pose

years ago for the relative comfort

of a straight-backed wooden chair.

 

And where (indeed, where?)

was I?

Hunting for insights, right?

Sitting in the deep silence

of the Moon, setting humbly, without pomp,

in the west.

I sense that sinking Moon rather than see it,

for my eyes are closed

and my mind gives over its usual predominance

and lets the heart rule—

or the breath—

until, steeped in what is,

I am open to the lightning flash

of insights,

which come or not

depending on their whim.

 

Good when it happens.

Equally good when it doesn't.

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Ann Tudor
Food blog: http://fastandfearlesscooking.blogspot.ca

Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InfallibleNana

FB: https://www.facebook.com/fastandfearlesscooking

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JI4758O

 

My Annual Christmas Reminder

I send out this piece every year in mid-December, mainly as a reminder to myself. (You might want to admire the way I reduce my own list of things-to-do by recycling this Scene from the Journey instead of writing a new one.) Here's the message:

 

This is such a time of list-making for me. The list I made this morning includes "make lists," proving that the high-tension time is well on its way. So I decided to make a new list for myself.

CALM DOWN. If it doesn't get done, will the world end? Don't get frantic about trifles (or truffles, either, though I wouldn't mind having one right now).

SIMPLIFY. You envision a Christmas dinner made up of X number of dishes. Well, how terrible would it be if you served X minus 1? Or X minus 2? Or even X minus 3? (Is Chinese take-out completely out of the question?)

SMILE.

LET GO OF the idea that you are solely responsible for the holiday happiness of everyone you know.

Bring an OPEN HEART to every encounter.

GIVE to those who are less fortunate. Whether it's time or money that you give, and whether it's a lot or a little, giving will help everyone, including you.

And as a gift to all of you, I offer this prayer from the Dalai Lama:

May the poor find wealth,
those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find new hope,
constant happiness, and prosperity.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
and those bound be free.
May the weak find power and
may their hearts join in friendship.

To paraphrase Tiny Tim, blessings on us every one!

 

 

Copyright © 2018 Ann Tudor
Food blog: http://fastandfearlesscooking.blogspot.ca

Musings blog: http://www.scenesfromthejourney.blogspot.com

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/InfallibleNana

FB: https://www.facebook.com/fastandfearlesscooking

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JI4758O