A new chapter opens

A New Chapter Opens

The air is filled with the richness of possibility
A special kind of freedom stretches before you

May you be filled with hope about the experiences ahead
May you embrace the opportunities that walk into your path
May you move with grace as you dance with the unfamiliar
May you step confidently as you engage in new adventures
May you find wisdom in even the most unexpected places

Be awake and curious, open and unattached
Listen to your heart as it whispers your dreams

Know that you are enough, just as you are
Trust everything to unfold beautifully

Step boldly into a future that is uniquely yours
Intentionally create the memories which will write the story of your life

 

I wrote this poem for my husband when he retired in January. Today the words seemed so fitting when I replaced the “you”‘s with “I”‘s and “me”‘s. While I wrote these words for a special occasion, it seems like a little prayer that can be used any day – because we always have a chance to start anew – this moment, this day, this week, this month, this year – not just this milestone, to be intentional about what we want to create and about the choices we make and actions we take.

 

* I took this photo in Sicily, somewhere on our drive around Piazza Armerina. I picked it because it’s one of Jim’s favorite landscape shots from the trip.

think of a flower

Being
Unknown

Think of a flower,
growing in the ground.
Think of the roots that anchor it,
that bring up nourishment.
Think of how it grows
without a thought of serving others.
It does not worry of tomorrow.
It does not think of yesterday.

It does not compare itself
to the other flowers,
to the grass,
to the sunshine, or
to the animals that share its earth.
It simply grows
with great dignity and power,
in its own way, at its own pace.

It blossoms for itself,
and yet the beauty that it brings
contributes to the great beauty of the whole planet.
It can be enjoyed by many
or seen by none,
and this does not diminish its beauty,
or its power,
or its strength.

And when it finishes its cycle,
it dries and withers.
Still there is no fear.
There is no worry.
There is no regret.
And in no time,
it begins the upward progress again
to a new blossom.

This week I received this beautiful poem from my new friend, Maria Gonzalez, best-selling author of Mindful Leadership, who recently joined me and my colleagues for the 2nd Annual Mindfulness@IBM Summit on 4/26.  She saw it on the wall of a Hospice facility, next to the Roof Top Garden. It is a beautiful invitation to awareness, awakening, surrender and openness. Among the words, may you find a beautiful seed to flower your day.

If you know the author of this beautiful piece, please let me know!

 

Learn more about Mindfulness@IBM.

* I took this photo on the roadside of a morning run near the J&J Ranch in  Rothbury, Michigan.

the world that awaits you

Last week I shared a poem I wrote about a new beginning. Here is another poem about new beginnings written by John O’Donohue, which I treasure – not only for the beautiful message that resonates deeply within me, but also for the lovely way that it came to me. After finishing an 8-week Mindfulness by Design virtual series with my colleagues Katiuscia Berretta and Annahita Varahrami, and as we were embarking on the new year of 2018, Kat sent this gift to me.

I believe in beginning again, over and over. I see fresh starts in moments throughout the day, each new day awakening, the perspective that a trip can bring, a new  opportunity to make a difference, meeting a new found friend, in flower buds opening to the sun…

I am inspired by the invitation of courage and energy and openness that comes to me through this poem.

For a New Beginning
By John O’Donohue

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

 

* I took this photo of a peony growing in my backyard. You can see this same flower in full beautiful bloom.