Midsummer Dreams: What Brings Joy?

“Here, beneath this tree, she had lain on her back in the sun and watched the butterflies. Part of her would linger there for ever: a footstep running tip-toe to the creek, the touch of her hand on a tree, the imprint of her body in the long grass. And perhaps one day, in after years, someone would wander there and listen to the silence, as she had done, and catch the whisper of the dreams that she had dreamt there, in midsummer, under the hot sun and the white sky.”
— Daphne du Maurier, Frenchman’s Creek.

Art by Lucy Campbell

Three of my favorites in one painting: a wolf, a raven, and trees. I’d love to curl up and hibernate in a mighty oak guarded by my beloved animal family — to dream of butterflies and seashells and other simple but profound bearers of joy.

Open Your Heart…

Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.Mary Oliver

Words by Mary Oliver – Art by Leonardo Di Aetherhart – Curated from Novelicious

Plant Seeds of Serenity

With all the powerful planetary energies at play right now and everything else in this country that almost too horrible to even think about, it seems like a great time to get grounded, to literally get back to what’s simple and healing — and that’s where you’ll find me, in the garden planting seeds of serenity (and flowers).

A garden must combine the poetic and the mysterious
with a feeling of serenity and joy.
– Luis Barragan

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

Incoming Tide

Photo by Enchanted Seashells

This particular beach is a favorite for locals to surf and tidepool, so we are always a bit vague as to the specific location to protect it from being overrun by ill-mannered tourists who trash our beaches.

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.

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.

Small Delights | Kleine Freuden

“Accustom yourself every morning to look for a moment at the sky and suddenly you will be aware of the air around you, the scent of morning freshness that is bestowed on you between sleep and labor.

You will find every day that the gable of every house has its own particular look, its own special lighting.

Pay it some heed…you will have for the rest of the day a remnant of satisfaction and a touch of coexistence with nature.

Gradually and without effort the eye trains itself to transmit many small delights.” –Hermann Hesse

The 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to the German author Hermann Hesse.
Photos by Enchanted Seashells

Sea Heart

Photo credit Enchanted Seashells

“Heart is sea,
Language is shore,
whatever sea includes,
will hit the shore.” Rumi

Shades of Twilight. Colors of Dusk.

“It is almost impossible to watch a sunset and not dream.” Bernard Williams

Photo by Enchanted Seashells
Photo by Enchanted Seashells
Photo by Enchanted Seashells

These photos were taken before we had a few days of much needed rain. There was no flooding around here but I saw video of devastating mudslides in the fire-damaged areas around Malibu — in addition to a medium-sized 3.5 earthquake in the same same general vicinity.

Today was super sunny and warm, a perfect time to spend hours in the garden cleaning up from the storm and getting the raised bed ready for spring planting.

I haven’t had any visits from my coyotes or bobcats in about a month and I’m not sure why. Hopefully, they’ll return soon because I miss my animal family!

Shadow and Light

“Anyone who perceives their shadow and light simultaneously sees themselves from two sides and thus gets in the middle.” – Carl Jung

Photo credit Enchanted Seashells

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