"Huntress With The Bow"

Now is it sea or land
Wide waste on either hand;
A nebulous amaze
Of waters, or of sand?

Plume of shuddering white,
Plume of irised light,
Gone - gone!
Was it a star that shone,
Or a sharp wave-onset on
The water-jewelled beach,
The sea's sure long-armed reach,
Swift ebb and overflow?

Proud and high,
Plenilune,
In the dusk-empurpled sky
Runs the moon.

Ashtaroth, to-night you go
A-hunt with beauty-tautened bow;
And where you strike no hand may dare
Pluck forth the arrow quivering there.
-Ella Young

The Bee-Loud Glade

I took a seminar course as an undergraduate on W.B. Yeats. When I read the lines "bee-loud glade" and "for peace comes dropping slow" I knew there was a journey I needed to be on but I had no idea until now where the journey would end. And when I returned from Innisfree yesterday my friend in Wales had written to say her husband was "checking out his bees are all snug and tucked in to their hive for the winter."

I share with you - Innisfree.

The Lake Isle Of Innisfree

I WILL arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the mourning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.
-William Butler Yeats

Thank you, Mom!

You never can tell where an important message might come from - or who the messenger might be. My mother just sent me a quote by Goethe that speaks directly to my new "religion" of taking action:
"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it! Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."

Part of taking action is knowing when to heed the warning signs and when to know they really are not meant for you and plunging right into the dark waters. Scary? Yes, but isn't stagnation even more scary?

Thank you, Mom!

Brahms, the Sun and the Sheep

A fine misty rain all day with the heavy sky so near I could touch it. Then suddenly, with Brahms touching Beauty inside me, the sun broke through and shone magnificently
in the fields below my window. For a few wondrous moments the trees, their wet leaves golden in this season, shimmered brilliantly against the pale blue sky.

Two fields below the dinner bell must have rung, for a flock of sheep quickly darted across in single file. Running sheep from a distance have no legs. They appear as large cotton balls bouncing in the tall grass.

Finding Home...

My third morning in North Leitrim with a mist lingering over the mountain across from me and the sheep all white dots in the fields below. Green everywhere and a few trees beginning to show their autumn colors. Home. Nothing has ever felt so deeply satisfying. Have I been on the path that brought me here for all my fifty-eight years? There is no book written that will tell you where your home will be - you find home by listening to your heart - is she singing? What makes her sing? And then, you get up, put down the book, turn off the TV and make a contract with your soul that you will go Home. Action - no talk and no excuses. Just do it.

In search of Beauty

Today I truly returned home to the waters that nourish my soul at the Brú na Bóinne in County Meath and began my new journey in my new land. I, a pilgrim, in search of Beauty. 

As the late John O'Donohue knew so well "Beauty calls us beyond ourselves and it encourages us to engage the dream that dwells in the soul." 

The rain washed me - washed away the barrenness I felt in California - and opened me to all the possibilities of my life. To be engaged - to be more than an observer and a consumer. To participate fully and wholly in the gifts of this life. To create beauty even as we seek her.

Peter is home now - I am home. 

Silver Bird Awaits...

This is it - dreams become reality this moment. My new mantra "Action-Action."  I'm a believer. 

Next stop...Home!  I feel it already...my life is about now and about tomorrow...