When fear tightens its grip,
ask yourself,
“What would someone do if
they loved themself?”
Now do that.
If I Loved Myself
Tag Archives: kindness
The Kindness of Strangers
Don’t shutter the windows ,
don’t turn the deadbolt just yet while hope survives—
just not inside of you.
One minute past giving up, calling it quits
while you believe as you do because of those that hurt you—
you, the stranger, who has extended so much mercy in your life.
Kindness is not dead even if you believe it true.
You are due, owed your time, ripe for the plucking.
And your story may be much different than you picture it now
as you stand upon the narrow ledge of your own aching heart
thinking no one sees
or worse, cares.
Mercy and kindness travel in pairs on the bus of surprise—that
is how they operate.
You never see them coming until they arrive.
And what if you have locked all the doors to your heart,
how shall they enter?
All the while they’ve been looking for you while you slump pale and cold,
buttressed behind the deadbolt and shuttered window.
This troupe, this Calvary of strangers who arrive most unexpectedly
to see you through the next minute or the rest of your life
here to restore your faith in you, how okay you really are.
You never quite know where and when they will appear,
who or what will waltz or breeze through your door with arms
full of what you need
or run into your burning house
with buckets of water to save you.
So go on, turn out the lights and go to bed.
but this I beg of you,
just be sure to leave the door open a crack
for possibility, please.
Photo and poem by S. (Sawyer) Wolfington
On the Ferocity of Love
It is, on this rainy gray day, I meditate on gratitude. In this bleak opaqueness, it is easy to notice only that, especially after too many long seasons of unchanging gray. It is easy to feel drained of hope for anything better to come.
Yet in a simple meditative state, how wonder-filled the breadth and wholeness of life as it shows up in all its many colors…a gentle reminder back towards my own fierce life force.
Gratitude appearing as a sliver of light on the horizon–my senses tell me as I watch its arrival. It’s Love calling home, coming to find me. Not that I was ever for a second lost to it. Support arriving–beyond circumstance and suffering, of which there is plenty.
My senses inform me, tell me of it in creatively innate ways. In touch of hot and cold, skin and touch, a stroke of kindness or endearment.
I breathe in aromas of love cooking in the oven or the familiar aura of another, the smell or warning of danger, of jasmine in spring.
I witness love in the eyes of a friend, blossoming pink Dogwoods flowers or brilliant white, ship like clouds sailing upon a blue sea sky. I see where love is not felt. I say a prayer or extend a hand.
And on it goes.
Our natural senses are a gateway to the Universe when open.
And nothing good in being alive is so small as to not be noticed and full of wonder at.
We stand here at the apex of everything that has arrived in life before us so as to support us… from the Void or God or Source of all wonder to the Big Bang to stars and their trails through the universe(s) to Mother Gaia, earthquakes, fire, shifting lands. From one cell beings and the creative evolution of our bodies through eons or a single lifetime.
We are here to expand and breathe, feel pain and grow into Love, live and die and change into something else or more.
I hear, sense, touch, see, feel, and I’m alive; and in this moment or moments to come, all is well with my soul, and I’m alive past pain or suffering or complaint or whatever life throws my way.
I am not here to rejoice in the suffering of another, but to support because I have been supported.
Love is creative in its unfathomable myriad of expression, and often arrives in surprise or gift. It will show you how and the way.
Crack open the gate of resistence.. Raise your expectation just a smidge. Find life in the moment in the sidewalk flower growing from its fissures and breaks. Notice things for five minutes.
You and I are here to make a difference, to stand for kindness and the ferocity of Love in the darkest of time or place where love has not been felt or seen…
even within ourselves.
~Love, Me
Having You Here
Sigh…don’t go.
It’s been so nice having you here,
my little pink birthday girls.
Lots of photo shoots, just you and my camera
and the light
while you posed so sweetly for me
again and again every day you’ve been here.
You’re a little tired now—
I can see that.
And life is so brief for all of us and so awash with grace and grief both,
that I dont blame you for exhausting yourself
giving away all that grace.
Flowers in the window should have more function than a window seal,
but I lack a garden here up high…
except for the one you’ve planted in my heart.
Thank you.
🥀
S. Wolfington
Living the Questions
Once upon a time oh so very long ago…I didn’t know…
I stumbled across this faded photo again tonight. A boyfriend and dear friend of so many years and I in front of the fireplace. I didn’t know then how time would pass so fast. There was so much life in front of me. I didn’t know how we would lose one another while we were busy making other plans. How years of illness or homelessness or death and marriages and so many other things would descend upon one or the other of us. I didn’t know how you can lose touch with someone you swore you could never lose.
These days, however, my intuition is stronger than ever. I’m learning the wisdom in living life with a heart that is willing to open to loss or joy or confusion. I’m learning that life with an open heart requires much wisdom. Wisdom–a bit of hardwon gain in exchange for oh so many losses. In that, I’m lucky. Wisdom is partly listening to intuition, that still small voice that says, go here, turn there, you’re okay. Wisdom is also partly resilience, learning how to bounce back from tragedy, how it’s okay to grieve or cry, how to let go of what fails to serve our life or the greater good any longer.
Too many people refuse the necessary changes that get you to wisdom. Wisdom requires boundaries in this world. Boundaries that are necessary for protection of your beautiful heart, for letting go of suffering, for not allowing the entire world, or even a smidgeon of it to take your heart hostage. Your heart is your own. You get to choose whom you share it with, whom and what you open it to. You must treat it well.
Change is inevitable. We are designed for it. We are not meant to hold on to anything too tightly, for in the tightness of our grip, we create suffering.
To be sure, life has a funny way of landing you in the most unexpected places. You never know where that might be or what will happen along the way. but I’m learning to live the questions, as poet Ranier Maria Rilke said to his young protégé. And as in all things, life is an inside job.
I believe it is ours to come into this life to learn how to lessen not only our own suffering but then the suffering of others, as well. Kindness helps, starting with you. But it can take many years to learn that. You are very fortunate, indeed, if you have discovered it and become infinitely and patiently kind with yourself while you learn the special kind of braille that is required to navigate your way through the darkness: Indeed, it is the first step towards living a few answers.
Practicing Emotional Integrity
Photo by S. Wolfington
Wisdom from a higher source–when you need to make a decision, don’t know what to do, or take a strong stand,
here are some basic rules to get you through–
- Determine desire vs. need.
- Work for the greater good of all.
- Set clear boundaries.
- Practice honesty, kindness and gentleness.
- Stay focused.
- Take care of yourself.
- Set priorities.
- Study past tendencies and patterns to avoid future troubles.
- One thing at a time—don’t overcommit.
- Share your gifts freely with others.
- Listen to and follow your conscious.
- Surrender the need to be an authority or always“right”. Self righteousness leads to a fall.
- Practice emotional integrity.
S. Wolfington
The Baggage of Hatred
“Well, my conclusion is: Hate is baggage. Life is too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it”, Danny in ‘American History X’” 1998
The other day I was parked in Costco
parking lot and getting ready to exit my car
when another car parked alongside me.
Inside, with the windows rolled up,
I could hear the poor woman screaming
at the top of her lungs over and over at no one I could see (on her blue tooth maybe?), “I hate you, I hate you! Do you know how much I really, really hate you?!” For a moment, her force of spew threw me off balance–I have no idea of the circumstances she was in, but my heart went out to her in a kind of way for whatever hard journey she is on.
We all have our upset moments, but it’s not an address I choose to live at every damn day. I realized that it’s been many years since I’ve lived in that world of constant upset with everything and everyone…I also realized that for most of the people in my circle, this was also true. It is work to get here. None of us are immune from the more difficult challenges that can come our way or the instant reactions that might arise–the work comes in understanding that you’ve probably survived worse and if this is worse, you will survive one way or another, here or there. It requires the vigilant practice of practicing infinite compassion and kindness towards yourself and others. You learn to start again with beginner’s mind, knowing the gift in everything will find you if you remain open to it.
Dear Miracle 