Love is Powerful

Reason is powerless in the expression of Love. — Rumi 

Reason is powerless in the expression of Love. — Rumi 

Celebrate The Summer Solstice With a Mantra, Healing Chakras, and a Poem

Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and it holds significant spiritual symbolism. It represents the triumph of light over darkness, new beginnings, and the peak of nature’s abundance. Here are three of my favorite things…

🌻 Summer Solstice Mantra:

Om Hrim Shivaya Namaha
This is a powerful invocation of Shiva (consciousness) and Shakti (energy). The bija sound “Hrim” amplifies the transformative power of Om Namah Shivaya, making it especially resonant at this sun-drenched turning point in the year.

🌻 Solar Plexus Chakra:

Another way to celebrate the summer solstice is to embrace our inner light by connecting with our solar plexus chakra. Awaken to and be aware of our inner radiance and true power.

The solar plexus chakra–Manipura–is where we derive our sense of self and personal autonomy. It’s our distinct source of personal power that allows us to live life freely and authentically. Associated with a bright yellow color, we can empower our solar plexus chakra by meditating and with yoga poses like the plank and variations of warrior, or any pose that focuses on our core strength.

🌻 Poem:

Summer Stars

Bend low again, night of summer stars.
So near you are, sky of summer stars,
So near, a long-arm man can pick off stars,
Pick off what he wants in the sky bowl,
So near you are, summer stars,
So near, strumming, strumming,
So lazy and hum-strumming.
–Carl Sandburg

Surfer Girl

I updated this post to honor the life and genius of the Beach Boys Brian Wilson. You can’t write about a surfer girl without that song in your head, right? Listen to Surfer Girl at the end ⬇️

Riding the waves, enchanted fairy-girl style…

A girl adrift, where sunlight streams,
Through liquid glass, a world of dreams.
She dances free, a silver thread,
In currents soft, where fishes fed.
The water whispers, soft and low,
As gentle eddies gently flow.
A world of wonder, cool and deep,
Where secrets sleep and shadows creep. 

Art: Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Poem: Author unknown

“Do you love me, do you, surfer girl?”

butterfly girl 🦋 metamorphosis

“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued,
is always just beyond your grasp,
but which, if you will sit down quietly,
may alight upon you.”

Nathaniel Hawthorne

🦋

Artwork by Elisabeth Ladwig (Elisabeth on Earth)

Do You Hear It, Too?

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Pexels.com

I heard a whisper
Coming from the trees
And, in that moment
I was gone,
Gone away
To return, to where I’d come from

By Athey Thompson

ChildLIKE / ChildSOUL: Thoughts by Hermann Hesse

There’s a huge difference between being childlike and childISH. I’ve been (wrongly) accused of being childish or of not “growing up” (whatever THAT means) when the truth is that I’ve retained the quality of childlike wonder and joy regarding the world we inhabit — especially when it comes to simple things like a butterfly or a seashell or whales or stargazing or a spectacular beach sunset. At the end of the day, these things are what’s important, at least for me.

Hermann Hesse, poet and author of “Siddhartha”, wrote about this same character trait:

“All children, as long as they still live in the mystery, are continuously occupied in their souls with the only thing that is important, which is themselves and their enigmatic relationship with the world around them.

Seekers and wise people return to these preoccupations as they mature.

Most people, however, forget and leave forever this inner world of the truly significant very early in their lives. Like lost souls they wander about for their entire lives in the multicolored maze of worries, wishes, and goals, none of which dwells in their innermost being and none of which leads them to their innermost core and home.”- Hermann Hesse

We should never ever lose the part of us that points up to the sky and says, “Look at the moon!”

Here’s another point of view; not so sweet, but wild and ferocious…

Art curated on Pinterest. Credit to the owner.

Lily of the Valley

May’s birth flower is Muguet de Bois, Lily of the Valley. Every year on my birthday, my mom would give me a brand new set of Coty perfume and dusting powder. I felt SO grown up! I savored its divine fragrance as long as I could, and then stashed the empty bottle in my drawers to scent my clothes.

Little thoughts written by Athey Thompson
Photos taken at home by Athey Thompson

Tides Fall and Rise

The day returns, but nevermore
Returns the traveler to the shore,
And the tide rises, the tide falls.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Love’s Way

Love shall always
Find a way
Even through
The darkest of day

Love shall always
Find a way
Even through
The darkest of day

A Little Poem by Athey Thompson
Pic curated from Pinterest. Credit to the artist.

LovesLight

If the house of the world is dark, love will find a way to make windows. Rumi 

My child soul is eternally fascinated by these sparkly decorator houses that light up. There could be a whole world happening inside, if that’s the story we tell ourselves. It might seem like a fantasy but who’s to say what’s real and what isn’t? For me, that’s the endless appeal.

In this story, the bunnies live happily ever after, full of love in their sweet little home.