Being Present. David Kundtz
was going on in the world the year you were ten?
Is that you?
March 8
The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it . . .
RALPH WALDO EMERSON
So much,
of so much value and beauty,
of so much grandeur and excellence,
. . . is free.
Picture your favorite freebies.
March 9
Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
The words “deep into nature” imply time spent looking.
What “nature” would you like to look at more deeply?
Then, just go and look.
March 10
From the poet e. e. cummings:
sweet spring is your
time is my time is our
time for springtime is lovetime
and viva sweet love
There's that theme again.
Ah, well, why fight it?
How does “viva sweet love” fit into your life?
March 11
We have to get back to the beauty of just being alive in this present moment.
MARY MCDONNELL
So, really, there's a creative statement of the theme of this whole book.
Mary McDonnell is a successful film, stage, and television actress. Those are fields from which one does not necessarily expect an insight into mindfulness, right? Indeed, the stereotypical understanding of celebrity life is of the fast-moving, what's-next, and I-don't-have-time variety, right?
What a nice surprise.
Do you too have surprises?
March 12
The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God.
ANNE FRANK
I have been aware of this quote from Anne Frank for many years. Yet, every time I read it, I am amazed and full of awe. How could a girl of twelve or thirteen, living in fear and hiding from the Nazis for two years, have the insight, grace, and maturity to make such a confident and wise statement (among many others)?
She—and so many others we know nothing of—is a testament to the nobility of the human spirit at any age.
One feels gratitude. What else?
March 13
If you do something that you're proud of, that someone else understands, that is a thing of beauty that wasn't there before—you can't beat that.
TELLER
Recall a moment when you were proud of something you did, said, were part of . . .
“That is a thing of beauty . . . that wasn't there before.” But it is now and always will be.
No, you can't beat that.
March 14
Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet
And the winds long to play with your hair.
KHALIL GIBRAN
Perhaps the earth's delight comes from the fact that you are both of the same stuff and it recognizes you.
Your dancing feet . . .
Your hair blown by its wind.
March 15
Beware the Ides of March . . .
. . . are the words Shakespeare put in the mouth of the soothsayer, warning Julius Caesar of his impending death.
The middle of March is as good a time as any to contemplate death. The more at peace you can become with your own death, the more you will be a peaceful and mindful person in life.
But now, simply notice your life-giving breath—in and out . . .
March 16
Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
JOHN KEATS, “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
It seems to me the only way to understand this is in utter simplicity—to look for no nuanced distinctions, no philosophical insights.
“What you see is what you get and it's all beautiful?”
Or maybe not . . .
March 17
Sure and you've got to keep your own spirits up, for there's no one else will do that for you!
JACLYN MORIARTY
Keeping your spirits up means keeping your mind in the moment.
(So much of suffering is the anticipation of it.)
So sometime, dance an Irish jig.
Then, just be still.
March 18
The poet and naturalist Edward Abbey offers these words:
There is beauty, heartbreaking beauty, everywhere.
“Heartbreaking beauty.” What's that? Can beauty break your heart?
And