Each year, I look forward to May's celebratory nod to nature. This year, I celebrate the bounty of the earth in a new location. What better way to bring joy to my new space than to explore nature, take photos, digitize them, and write poetry when I am not unpacking boxes!
Outside, pots are full of blossoms and ferns. Inside, artificial floral displays adorn the house. I sort, organize, and sometimes have enough time to walk the creek path near my house, listen to bird calls, and view small patches of wildflowers. On Sunday, we went to an outdoor Mass at a local farm's barn. While listening to the priest, nature surrounded us under bright clouds and sky. The colors of spring popped and we were at peace.
Today, I sit at my desk watching the sky turn from gray to clear sunshine while composing this post. As host of Spiritual Journey Thursday this month, I offer the theme, Blossoms of Joy or any variation, for you to ponder and create your own blog post, poem, inspirational thought, or any other artistic expression.
In praise of May's blossoms and Earth's greenery, I give thanks to the Almighty Creator,
the ultimate, artistic benefactor of beauty, peace, and love.
"May my soul bloom in love for all existence." -Rudolf Steiner
In Virginia, I find cherry blossom and trees adorning highways and parks. Their beauty is so inspiring that I requested the builders' landscaping department to plant both a cherry and pear tree on my property. This Friday, my cherry tree and azaleas will arrive. I will enjoy their blossoms for years to come and give "praise with elation, praise every morning-God's recreation of the new day." This line from Cat Stevens song, Morning Has Broken, is a gentle song of praise sung at my church wedding ceremony. It is one that brings back a sweet memory of a fragrant gardenia adorning my hair.
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. - Revelation 4:11
************
Members of the Spiritual Journey Thursday community, please add your links below.
Guest bloggers, writers, and poets are welcomed to join in and add their links!
I look forward to reading your posts. Enjoy springtime.
“Spring adds new life and new beauty to all that is.”
-Jessica Harrelson
Every spring, nature offers a gift to the world, an explosion of buds in an array of colors. Even though there is a pandemic still raging and the sky is gray on many days, spring's new life signs are continuing to bloom and flourish. I take a walk into my garden and my heart is lifted. The hosta plants are a bright green and the peony bush is starting to bud.
On the other side of the globe, my slicer friend, Terje Akke, is also admiring springtime blooms growing in her Estonian landscape. She often shares photos from her native land and I add them to the galleries I create. The following blue flower spread is one of the pages from my upcoming new gallery,Nature Nurtures 2020. I added a 15-words-or-less poem connecting our love of nature and photography. Thank you, Terje for your beautiful photos and thoughts.
Nature is a constant source of comfort, the main character in my upcoming new gallery, Nature Nurtures 2020.
Enjoy Vivaldi's Spring to further awaken your senses.
“The poet, the painter, the sculptor, the musician, the architect, seek each to concentrate this radiance of the world on one point, and each in his several work to satisfy the love of beauty which stimulates him to produce.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature
"Grandma, I love you." A sweet little voice exuberantly greeted me when I popped on a Zoom call. What a touching moment, spontaneously given the day before Mother's Day. After the call, I reflected on past Mother's Day when my family gathered together and went to church, my mother and I standing at the end of Mass to receive a Mother's Day blessing. This year a new normal way of life surrounds Mother's Day. Church bells ring from an empty cathedral and we gather together to view a telecast Mass in our home. The unfamiliar pairs with the familiar-traditional love greetings, flowers, and card, a most welcomed sight from my husband and son. Yet, we were alone and no sun in sight. It just so happened that the sun decided to flood the sky with light. It was time for a walk so we sent a text to our friends. A new idea sprung from the text. We decided to meet later in the afternoon for an outdoor, social distancing gathering. Masked, we traveled to the other side of town with a tray of homemade cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, and salad. Five of us sat in the sun at a proper distance away eating, laughing, and enjoying a few hours outdoors. It was a spontaneous act of friendship that turned a day into a memorable event.
Those inspired by nature's healing touch seek harmony. Take a walk with me to connect with nature. Its spring colors are captured through thoughts and photography by Poetry Friday poets.
Join a community of writers who seek to bring joy and inspiration by #SharingPlanetBeauty during these trying times. If you have an artistic expression in any form please send it to me at Twitter using the hashtag,#NatureNurtures2020) or email me at cvarsalona at gmail by the end of this weekend. Also, please include it on the Nature Nurtures! Padlet that you can accesshere.
⁕
I'm joining the Poetry Friday community this week at Michelle H. Barnes' blog. for the Poetry Friday Roundup. Michelle is sharing Nikki Grimes' new picture book, Southwest Sunrise, with picturesque images in verse illustrated by Wendell Minor. Nikki even has a writing challenge for all. Take a stroll over to her blog to read about Nikki's hot-off-the-press new book. Perhaps, you would share it with children during #remotelearning time.
There is a growing sense of isolation as the pandemic continues to reach deeper into the world. Family life has been disrupted. Schools have closed, replaced by remote learning and essential workers continue to work tirelessly, combating the far-reaching effects of a deadly illness. When I chose balance as my one word for 2020, I did not imagine a world that would be so far removed from the one I knew. Today, I reflect on this new normal society we all live in. Realizing that each one of us must help establish a sense of "we-ness" in our immediate world, we must think beyond self, connect with others, and build community strength if we want to combat isolation and fear. Now is the time to reimagine living, working, and learning but this is not easy. Faith, creative thinking, and vision are needed.
Days range from gray to sun-filled; moods change daily. Listening to the Governor's daily briefing, reflecting, and connecting with family, albeit remotely, are musts. Taking walks, sharing photos, and writing, allow me to draw inspiration from the beauty of nature.
Earth has no sorrow that earth cannot heal. - John Muir
No sorrow that heaven cannot heal. - Revelation 21:4
Listen to Crowder's song, Come As You Are, to lift your soul.
I have been adding a bit of inspiration to social media this past month with the design of my upcoming global gallery of artistic expressions, #NatureNurtures2020at my blog. You can find a growing collection of #digitalinspirations at Nature Nurtures! padlet. Sending inspirational connectors around the globe is my small contribution to #SharingPlanetBeauty. "How Good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" -Psalm133:1
🕊
It's the first Thursday of the month and my friend Ramona Behnke from the state of Washington is hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday. She chose the theme connection and community as our prompt for today. As a gift of thanks for hosting, I created a digital inspiration for my gallery using one of Ramona's beautiful tree walks with thoughts gathered from her blog.
Never Cease Connecting with Life. Nature is a Healer!
The practice of writing poetry is an exercise in mindfulness. To be open to the universe of words and to put them down on a page is nothing short of a miracle. - Margaret Simon At the start of May, there is always an urgency for me to explore what nature has to offer. This year, quarantine life left Long Islanders longing for the joy of a sunny day, the exploration of sandy beaches, and the call of the gulls. When newspaper headlines stated, "LIers flock to state beaches, parks amid warm weather," my husband decided to hop in the car with his mask and head to the beach. Wanting to be present with the sea once again, my son and I joined him. As we traveled to Jones Beach State Park, I noticed the clear waterway sparkling like diamonds. It was uplifting but as we turned into the park entrance, I was alarmed by the number of cars gathering. We did not stay there because social distancing appeared not to be regarded. Instead, we traveled to the next beach town. Along the way, we saw at least 40 people on a line waiting (six feet away from each other) for the ice cream store to open. Our short stay at the next beach in Long Beach, allowed me to briefly satisfy my urge to be present in a moment of joy. On that sandy beach, I felt the sunshine, listened to the roaring waves and watched seagulls dive and swoop as scavengers of life. I communed with nature, the ever-present healer, and gave thanks for a few moments of relaxation during my quarantine life.
This past week, some poet friends were writing epistolary poems or letter poems so I decided to write one also.
On May 1, 2020, atToday's Little Ditty,Michelle H. Barnesspotlighted Margaret Simon. Michelle asked Margaret to choose the month of May's Ditty of the Month challenge. She chose poems of presence with this prompt: write a mindful poem about the present moment and add it to the DMC padlet. I am offering the above poems, hoping for feedback. These poems will be added to my #NatureNurtures 2020 Gallery.
