Some of my favorite quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh:
"Waking up this morning I smile. Twenty four new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."
"Present moment. Wonderful moment."
"Peace in oneself. Peace in the world."
"This is it."
"Breathe. It'll be okay."
"Look with compassion."
"Breathe and smile."
"Peace begins with your lovely smile."
I stop and read the words again. This time I breathe deeply and close my eyes and make the messages my morning meditation. Following the breath. Coming back to the breath and the present moment.
Again and again. Eventually peace settles into my body and my mind is calm.
I'm up early. It's dark out and the forecast says it will snow all day. I'm excited about snow! I hope the forecast is right. I make the coffee and inhale deeply as I measure the scoops into the coffee maker. One of my top favorite smells is coffee. Popcorn and rain are close seconds.
Today the painter is coming to begin painting the inside of the house. I can hear the sounds of my dogs running up the stairs and Jonathon following. Everyone is ready to start the day. I like the routines of the morning that help me get back into my body; making coffee, emptying the dishwasher, taking a shower... and on a good day; morning exercise before my shower.
A couple of days ago we were "socked in" an expression that I wasn't familiar with in Arizona. It means surrounded by fog or clouded over. There was not one speck of blue sky or sun. It wasn't that there was low visibility, it was just that when you looked up there was one continuous cloud that covered the entire sky. On a day like this my inclination is to stay home, but I decided when we moved here that I had to develop a new mindset about the weather and so Mom and I ventured out to the knitting store that morning to get some help with our first project.
This sweet shop is beginning to feel like a home away from home and a great place to meet other women. It's a little community where people drop in with their knitting, pull up a chair and visit with the owner, Maud, as she helps correct our mistakes and get us back on track with our stitches. Meanwhile, customers come and go, purchasing beautiful local yarn, signing up for classes or selecting a hand made gift. Everyone wanders over to the table where we are gathered around stitching and talking and laughing. Maud called it a "third place" and explained briefly what it meant.
This phrase was new to me so I looked it up and here's what I found; "In community building, the third place (or third space) is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book "The Great Good Place", Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.
Oldenburg calls one's "first place" the home and those that one lives with. The "second place" is the workplace - where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests the following hallmarks of a true "third place":
* Free or inexpensive
* Food and drink, while not essential, are important
* Highly accessible; proximate for many (walking distance)
* Involve regulars- those who habitually congregate there
* Welcoming and comfortable
* Both new friends and old should be found there
Do you have a "third place"? I think I may have found one here.
I'm up early. It's dark out and the forecast says it will snow all day. I'm excited about snow! I hope the forecast is right. I make the coffee and inhale deeply as I measure the scoops into the coffee maker. One of my top favorite smells is coffee. Popcorn and rain are close seconds.
Today the painter is coming to begin painting the inside of the house. I can hear the sounds of my dogs running up the stairs and Jonathon following. Everyone is ready to start the day. I like the routines of the morning that help me get back into my body; making coffee, emptying the dishwasher, taking a shower... and on a good day; morning exercise before my shower.
A couple of days ago we were "socked in" an expression that I wasn't familiar with in Arizona. It means surrounded by fog or clouded over. There was not one speck of blue sky or sun. It wasn't that there was low visibility, it was just that when you looked up there was one continuous cloud that covered the entire sky. On a day like this my inclination is to stay home, but I decided when we moved here that I had to develop a new mindset about the weather and so Mom and I ventured out to the knitting store that morning to get some help with our first project.
This sweet shop is beginning to feel like a home away from home and a great place to meet other women. It's a little community where people drop in with their knitting, pull up a chair and visit with the owner, Maud, as she helps correct our mistakes and get us back on track with our stitches. Meanwhile, customers come and go, purchasing beautiful local yarn, signing up for classes or selecting a hand made gift. Everyone wanders over to the table where we are gathered around stitching and talking and laughing. Maud called it a "third place" and explained briefly what it meant.
This phrase was new to me so I looked it up and here's what I found; "In community building, the third place (or third space) is the social surroundings separate from the two usual social environments of home and the workplace. In his influential book "The Great Good Place", Ray Oldenburg argues that third places are important for civil society, democracy, civic engagement, and establishing feelings of a sense of place.
Oldenburg calls one's "first place" the home and those that one lives with. The "second place" is the workplace - where people may actually spend most of their time. Third places, then, are "anchors" of community life and facilitate and foster broader, more creative interaction. All societies already have informal meeting places; what is new in modern times is the intentionality of seeking them out as vital to current societal needs. Oldenburg suggests the following hallmarks of a true "third place":
* Free or inexpensive
* Food and drink, while not essential, are important
* Highly accessible; proximate for many (walking distance)
* Involve regulars- those who habitually congregate there
* Welcoming and comfortable
* Both new friends and old should be found there
Do you have a "third place"? I think I may have found one here.
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