Master of my Fate

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
~ Invictus, by William Ernest Henley.

Facing Fear

I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain. ~ Dune

Trans-formation

Living long enough we all find ourselves surrounded by an old way of thinking, being or loving that is going up in flames.    In that unexpected moment, we usually find ourselves full of fear, feeling trapped by an old way of life coming in on us.  But this is the passage of rebirth that we must move through if our lives are to unfold.  It is the momentary and painful crossing from what is old into what is new.  We must trust that the greater sea we are jumping into will douse whatever catches fire as we move through.   This is what faith is all about.   Mark Nepo

Transformation

As a frightened man in a burning boat
has only one way to the rest of his life,
we must move with courage
through the wall of flame
into the greater sea. 

Mark Nepo

Transformation and Change

"We create patterns that others depend on, and then the last thing we ever imagined happens; we grow and change, then then to stay vital we must break the patterns we created. There is no blame or fault in this. It is commonplace in nature. Watch the ocean and the shore do their dance of buildup and crumble and you'll see this happens daily.

We know we are close to this threshold when we hear someone say, "You're not yourself," or "That was out of character for you." What is difficult at this juncture is to resist either complying with how others see us or withholding who we really are.

The challenge, which I don't do well but stay committed to, is to say to those we love, "I am more than I have shown you and more than you are willing to see. Let's work our love and know each other more fully." Mark Nepo

Transformation

"What a place for trials and transformation did my Lover put me, but never once did He look upon me as if I were not pure.  Dear sisters, all we do in this world, whatever happens, is bringing us closer to God."  Rabia

Transformation

"To change, you must face the dragon of your appetites with another dragon: the life-energy of the soul" ~ Rumi

Love

Before my Soul taught me, Love was for me a delicate thread stretched between two adjacent pegs, but now it has been transformed into a halo; its first is its last, and its last is its first. It encompasses every being, slowly expanding to embrace all that ever will be. ~ Khalil Gibran ~

Mother Wisdom Speaks

Mother Wisdom Speaks

Some of you I will hollow out.
I will make you a cave.
I will make you so deep the stars will shine in your darkness.
You will be a bowl.
You will be the cup in the rock collecting rain.

I will hollow you with knives.
I will not do this to make you clean.
I will not do this to make you pure.
You are clean already.
You are pure already.

I will do this because the world needs the hollowness of you.
I will do this for the space that you will be.
I will do this because you must be large.
A passage.
People will find their way through you. A bowl.
People will eat from you and their hunger will not weaken them unto death.
A cup to catch the sacred rain.

My daughter, do not cry. Do not be afraid.
Nothing you need will be lost.
I am shaping you.
I am making you ready.

Light will flow in your hollowing.
You will be filled with light.
Your bone will shine.

The round, open center of you will be radiant.
I will call you Brilliant One.
I will call you Daughter who is wide.
I will call you Transformed.
By Christine Lore Webber ©

Flowing

There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
...stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in –
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.

—Danna Faulds,
"Poems from the Heart of Yoga: Go In and In"

Change

"We cannot change the world by a new plan, project or idea.  We cannot even change other people by our convictions, stories, advice or proposals but we can offer a space where people are encouraged to disarm themselves, lay aside their occupations and preoccupations and listen with attention to the voices speaking in their own center."  Henri Nouwen

Oneness

"What we reach for may be different, but what makes us reach is the same."  Mark Nepo

Parenting

"There Pain, no single effort more radical in its potential for saving the world
than a transformation in the way we raise our children." - Marianne Williamson

Becoming Human

"You can transcend our embarrassment and take pride in being a human being."  Chogyam Trungpa

Fear

"We cannot escape fear.  We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures.   Take a risk a day...one small or bold stroke that will make you feel great once you have done it."  Susan Jeffers

Change

"Profound shifts in the condition of your soul don't happen easily.   They are always mysterious and happen in spite of your efforts."

Humanity and Growth

“Our humanity is not an attribute that we have received once and forever with our conception. It is a potentiality that we have to discover within us and progressively develop or destroy through our confrontation with the different experiences of suffering that will meet us through our life."
—Xavier Le Pichon

Women's Search for Self

"For many women, the shift from being the bountiful mother to being a person in search of her essence is a difficult period of change.   Naturally, people admire the selflessness of the caring mother, but what's to admire in the search from a self?   This effort will look narcissistic and far from virtuous.  When you make the important move to find yourself, you will probably have to go it alone.   You may have to accept that you will be misread and underappreciated.   Certainly your family will have to adjust."  Thomas Moore

Risk

‎"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far
they can go." (T.S. Elliot)

Transformation

"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." ~ Nelson Mandela