A Winter Pause

As winter moves on, it finds a cozy corner to snuggle while temperatures in Virginia move from extremely cold to a high of 46 degrees, making it feel like spring (until the wind starts blowing). I pause each day either bundled up in layers, splashing under the pounding rainstorms, scraping beautifully etched snow drops off my car, or pretending that spring is coming. I sit by the fireplace wrapped in a throw and find a couple of minutes to ponder why I feel the need to perpetually move.

Finding Winter Pause Moments

time

moves incessantly

warranting a pause

intentionally meant for slowdown

moments

©CVarsalona, January 2024

quietude

indulges in

stillness as dusk

offers reflective paused moments

calmness

©CVarsalona, January 2024

winter

trees swirl

shooting into sky

as sentinels of serenity

pause

 ©CVarsalona, January 2024

With my one word, pause, I am intentionally searching for quiet moments to bring the gift of the slowdown.

Photos are from Long Island before I moved and Northern Virginia.

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Time is creeping onward to the midnight opening of Poetry Friday. I am ready to pause and enjoy the Poetry Friday Roundup with Tracey Kiff-Judson's blog. Click here to read interesting information on the game of Monopoly. 

Poetry Friday

Holiday Poem Swap 2023

Holidays are a special time of year. There's Christmas, New Year's Eve, and New Year's Day. They bring joy and the spirit of "just being" with family. There's another holiday event that connects me to dear friends in the Poetry Friday community. It is the Holiday Poem Swap designed by Tabatha Yeatts. Each year, Tabatha creates a sparkling logo for chosen partners who exchange poems and a present. 

This year, I am delighted to partner with a hometown poet friend of mine, Janice Scully. Janice has a broad career background. Not only is she a writer and poet but followed in her mother's footsteps and chose nursing as her initial career. Then, she moved on to medical school and became a doctor. 

Janice's Holiday Poem Swap arrived with a lovely assortment of items to make me "most happy". The Christmas card was an artist's rendering of Christmas in the city that reminded me of holiday time in New York City. Her lovely poem, I'm Most Happy, is filled with imagery, rhyme, and a beautiful ending. Please see the poem below. Inside the card was a note about the handmade journal that Janice found in New Orleans. The journal is unique and has two envelope pockets on the first and last pages. It appears too pretty to write on but it will share many a thought and poem. I did not know that Janice sewed until recently. From different pieces of pink material, Janice stitched a lovely bookmark. This reminder of my own sewing days with my mother will be a keepsake and assistant while I read and write.

This swap present is a gift from the heart. After much thought, I decided to concentrate on my hometown of Syracuse where Janice resides in one of the suburbs. I did research about Salt City, read some of Janice's poems, found a news article about her family when she was young, and then created a slide show. Where did I start? I borrowed a line from Janice's poem, Begining, that became my strike line. "At the beginning is where everyone in the world begins." Her poem gave me the incentive to write a golden shovel memoir poem about my beginnings in Syracuse. With an enjambment, I ended my poem with "Life/Begins with trust and faith. I learned this in Syracuse". I moved on to historical photos of places that were memorable to me during my pre-teen years. The next slide showcased Janice's card to me with a poem I wrote for her about Christmas. Then, of course, I needed to write about Syracuse's snowy winters that can start in November and end at Easter. On the thank you slide, I shared a small poem in appreciation for Janice's lovely Holiday Poem Swap. I wrapped my thoughts around a memorable line from Janice's I 'm Most Happy poem. 

To Janice from Carol, Holiday 2023

🌲🌲🌲

swaps

personalized, artful

rich in content

hold dear to recipients

gifts

To Poetry Friday Friends from Carol, Holiday 2023

My one word for 2024 was unveiled on 1/4/24 for January's Spiritual Journey that Margaret Simon hosted. Click here.

🌲🌲🌲

I am eager to join the Poetry Friday community at our host's Marcie Flinchum Atkin blog here. Marcie dazzles readers with her beautiful nature photography and accompanying haikus.

Spiritual Journey-One Word 2024

This morning a quiet sensation flowed through the chilled wind. Winter announced its arrival with freezing temperatures and icy crystals that decorated my car windows. I felt the push-pull of Nature reminding me to to breathe in winter's frosty breath and feel replenished. As I swept crystals off the car windows, stillness surrounded the grayish morning. Awed by the magic of the winter scene, I listened to the sounds of quietude, finding peace within. 

move slowly on

winter's frosty path-step back

just be and pause

witness small moments

reflect, renew, replenish

breathe in stillness

pause intentionally

breathe in earth's quiet stillness

with verve

©CVarsalona, 2024

Happily, I went to yoga where I heard a mantra that sparked a plan. "A New Year, a New You!" This solidified my intent to find one little word that would enhance last year's guiding word, Be.  

Have you thought about pausing to witness quiet moments? It is the mindful, intentional pause that allows us to focus on, and be engaged in the moment not the hustle and bustle of life's to-dos. I have spent years as an educator and educational leader studying the art of mindfulness. Today, while scurrying to yoga class, I solidified my intent to find one little word that would enhance last year's guiding word, Be. I decided to cultivate mindfulness with an intentional pause each day. 

inhale

one word

stillness announces

my hope-filled wish

pause

©CVarsalona, 2024

While researching how to practice the pause, I found a quote from Eckhart Tolle: "In today’s rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much, and forget about the joy of just Being." My one word, "Be", guided me last year. Adding an intentional pause this year will strengthen my spiritual walk. I hope you will join me as I pause, reflect, and renew my spirit throughout 2024. May the magic of winter also encourage you to pause and witness quiet moments?

🌲🌲🌲

I  look forward to joining the Spiritual Journey community hosted by teacher/author/poet Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche.

Here, I will find poetic goodness and spiritual enrichment flowing. 

 Logo designed by Margaret Simon