Tag: Reflection

Reflections: Nothing In The World is Permanent

February 1, 2012

This quote caught my eye earlier today…

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy. ~~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge, 1943

Reflecting on the subject of taking delight in something “while we have it,” I think back to times of great joy. We know instinctively in the midst of sheer joy, that that joy will not last forever, but we still revel in it while it is happening.

And then, is that joy not our solace, when we slip down into a period of the dark nights of soul. It is there, lost in the dark nights of soul, that we reflect deepest sometimes. And that reflection at first can appear messy, like the reflection of the clouds amidst the winter trees in the marshes.

Difficult as the path may seem, it is taking the journey through the dark nights of the soul that clears our hearts and allows us to find strength in the notion that “nothing in the world is permanent.”

(Photo: Reflection In Hellcat Swamp ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

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Reflections

January 24, 2012

Reflections on now…

I find myself now in a place forced to stay some what less mobile (an understatement), than this fiercely independent woman is accustomed to enduring. My bottom line has always been, I just don’t stay down well. I’ve always had to do for myself in life, and my daughter, as I raised her alone. So what to do now that I am in this forced state of limited mobility?

The universe sometimes gives us a shove when a gentle push doesn’t work anymore… I’ve now been gifted with the time to clean up some serious procrastinations that have been hanging up my life.

That’s the blessing… If there is one to be seen in this mess…

First, I am taking some time and heeding the message that sometimes when the going gets tough, the tough do need to slow down and take some time to heal.

(Photo: Reflection Through the Trees at Hellcat Swamp ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

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On The River: Reflections

January 20, 2012

It’s a beautiful day here on the river…

As I sit here at my desk, to my left I see the river sparkling with a fervent, intensely brilliant reflection of the sun. Not a cloud in the sky, with my desk facing south, the sun sits at 11:23 outside of my window.

To the right of my desk, outside of the bay window in which my desk sits, I watch as the ice floes float down stream, creating ever changing patterns.

Housebound as I am for a few more days, I am re-minded every day how blessed I am to live here on the river with my slivers of river views that constantly fill my heart and soul with love and gratitude.

The mighty Merrimack River is rooted in my body, mind and soul. As a small child I grew up along the river in West Newbury. At eleven, we moved to Newburyport and short walk to the Chain Bridge area.

It was one year after moving back to this area (a little over 3 years ago) when I realized that more than anything in this breathtakingly beautiful estuary, abundant in Mother Nature’s gifts, it was the river that most spoke to me.