by ingrid on August 20, 2010
This post is inspired by a quotation I clipped from the top of the Vineyard Gazette newspaper, and which I have had pinned to my wall for many years as wonderful words to live by:
To let no bird fly past unnoticed… to have the mind a storehouse of sunsets,
requires a discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude.
~G.K. Chesterton
Here are a few summer photographs from life here on the Vineyard, mixed with quotations from my One Hundred Fortunes Collection.
We are not separate from Being. We are in it. ~Plotinus
The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread.
D.H. Lawrence
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. ~Goethe
The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau
In every human being, there is a special heaven
whole and unbroken.
~Paracelsus
At the center of your being you have the answer.
You know who you are
and you know what you want.
~Lao Tzu
The only wealth is life.
~Henry David Thoreau
by ingrid on July 5, 2010
There is a lotus on our fishpond. In the morning, it opens its petals to drink in the sun. In the evening, it folds its petals in again, like hands in prayer.
This has helped me to consider the naturalness of my own rythms- how I open my petals sometimes, and how I fold them in when it is time to rest.
by ingrid on June 17, 2010
Rose and I visited Blackwater Pond the other day. The water lilies were magnificent. The pond stretched out with such peaceful being, and birds poured out their music. We are so grateful to the Martha’s Vineyard Landbank for preserving pockets of beauty throughout the island for all of us to enjoy.
by ingrid on June 2, 2010
Duart’s Pond
Evening Clouds
Iris
Magic Time
honeysuckle
Roses
hanging up the tools
Blue Serenity…
Beach Plum Flowers at Lambert’s Cove…
Rowboat…
Lilacs…
Solar and wind…
by ingrid on February 26, 2010
The beach in winter has its own beauty. We walked here on three different days this week, each cold, haunting, and with its own colors and moods.
by ingrid on October 23, 2009
Last night before the sun set, I ran out with my camera, chasing beauty…
Sometimes, when I can not do a lovely thing just for myself, I am so grateful that I might offer it to you instead.
by ingrid on October 5, 2009
Beloved is one of my names for the divine spacious presence I carry in my heart and whose eternal and infinite presence holds me also. I’ve glimpsed my Beloved, and often. And forgotten my Beloved as often as not. It is a strange dream, this living. A strange dream and a holy pursuit- full of beauty, love, longing and belonging. What I long for is this: The joy of awakening over and again to find myself in the arms of the day; to awaken and say, “Hello my Beloved. Hello my Beloved which is everywhere.” ~Ingrid, From The Joy Book
by ingrid on September 29, 2009
First we receive the light;
Then we impart the light.
Thus we repair the world.
~Kabbalah
by ingrid on September 24, 2009
To write about coming home may seem odd for a gal who hasn’t been away anywhere, yet that’s how these days feel - as if I am home again after a long while. I am slowing down, easing into autumn after the summer whirl- a whirl in which it feels as if I went from the basement studio, where I assemble my books and wares, to the old Grange hall where I sell them. As I slow down I begin to notice things and therefore to enjoy them - like the way the setting sun lit up Kwan Yin’s face the other night. And my gosh the fish are vibrant and healthy.
I’ve brought the plants in, and they make the house feel so cheery and alive.
I’ve even been taking the time to hang out the laundry. It’s a pleasure and a privilege not to rush. How is it that my “to do” list is so long, and my “to be” list is so short? To be less hurried, more loving, happy, peaceful, at ease….
Another quality of feeling at home is the sense of resting in belonging- of venturing out into the arms of the day that I feel when I head out on a walk somewhere. Here, the fields of Tea Lane farm are so beautiful.
The evening light filtering through the woods; the stone walls; the occasional deer- all remind me somehow of the hidden world of the soul, and the unhidden world which is right here, to be noticed, savored and enjoyed at any moment… as soon as I remember to slow myself down and to come home.
May all beings be well.
May all beings be free from suffering.
May all beings be peaceful and at ease.
May all beings know love and belonging…
