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Archive for the ‘Spiritual Growth’ Category

Spiritual Journey: Love Is

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Teaching, tagged , , , on February 1, 2024| 5 Comments »

Patricia Franz is hosting this month’s Spiritual Thursday with the topic of “Love is”. I decided to create a collaborative poem with my students. I teach gifted kids at 2 schools in grades 2-6. I wrote their statements in my notebook in the order they gave them to me. It worked like a miracle without changing any words. (The reference to washi tape is due to the fact we are using it in our daily notebook practice.)

Love is
washi, washi, washi tape,
family, friends, teacher,
arts and crafts,
having fun. (A)
The heart of all. (JR)

The heart of a human being
when you have kindness in your heart. (J)

Spending time with friends and family. (C)

Love is
beautiful. (S)

Love is a priceless
treasure, like nothing
else in this world. (M)

Something we need, want, and have. (M)

Love is
a melody.
It could be chaotic
or the greatest
song you have heard. (A)

Love is
companionship between
one another. The thought
that someone
would always be there
for you.
This is what love is. (K)

Collaborative poem by Avalyn, John-Robert, James, Carson, Sadie, Max, Marifaye, Adelyn, Kailyn

The great wisdom of children amazes me every day.

Whenever I think of Love is, I turn to the well-known verse from Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians: “Love is patient. Love is kind.” I think we can measure our love by this verse. How are we doing with our patience, kindness, envy, anger? I also wonder how I am doing with loving myself. If I believe that there is a God-light in me, then I must nurture it. I must turn inward each day to check in. Am I loving myself?

I’ve adopted a daily practice of writing small poems. The Stafford Challenge inspired me to use a quote each day to jump-start my writing. Here is a quote followed by an elfchen poem:

When you say ‘yes’ to others, make sure you are not saying ‘no’ to yourself. (Paulo Coelho)

Yes
makes sounds
like the ocean
drawing me to love
Myself

Margaret Simon, daily elfchen

How are you giving love to others while also making time to love yourself?

Photo by Ave Calvar Martinez on Pexels.com

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Spiritual Journey: One Little Word

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , , on January 4, 2024| 19 Comments »

I am hosting today’s Spiritual Journey blog gathering. Add your links using Inlinkz at the end of this post. Welcome to 2024!

Every year I tangle with what word to choose for my One Little Word for the year. I’ve held this practice for years now, but I have to say the word I choose does not always serve me. I have a collection of word bracelets, and alternate them depending on my mood of the day. (Grace, Enough, Presence, Purpose, Embrace…)

Last year I chose the word Purpose. At the time, I didn’t have a clue what a turbulent health event was waiting for me. Now that I am fully through and back to myself, I still can’t find purpose in it. My priest told me that God wanted me to come to a full stop. I somehow needed that. Really? I don’t believe it yet. I still carry anger about what happened to me. I could gloss it up here for social media, but the fact remains, I’m not OK with thinking that God somehow was involved in the medical failure. God doesn’t fail. God sits with you in all things. God was with me even when I could not pray. Presence (not purpose) was what I felt.

I’ve been getting messages about the word Connect. I have a new calendar by Nikki McClure that is titled Connect. When I wrote a poem yesterday for This Photo Wants to be a Poem, connect was my last word. I understand that the reason I write this blog is to connect.

However, last night when I started working on a graphic in Canva, many of the images that came up were mechanical, technical, not at all about human connection. My mind turned on a dime to what I think I truly wish for myself and for the world: Peace.

For these last days of my school break, I have spent some time next to the fireplace noticing how fire can be a comfort as well as a destroyer. Maybe I will be gutted by Peace as I was with Purpose. Who knows what 2024 holds for me? I’m ready to be present for all of it. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right? I know I have strength to make it through.

My hope is for Peace,
peace of mind,
peace of soul,
peace of presence.
Peace, my friends.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!Click here to enter

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Slice of Life: Driving to Georgia

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , on January 2, 2024| 8 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.

This new year has come in quiet, restful, on tender feet. Twenty Twenty Four has a nice sound to it.

My family has been talking a lot about the Enneagram. On the long drive to and from North Georgia, we listened to The Enneagram Journey with Suzanne Stabile. My husband and I were riding with our middle daughter and her 4 year old son. Enneagram language has now entered our family talk. It has transformed the way I speak to and about my daughters. And now, after 12 or so hours of instruction, my husband and I speak about it as well. It is an amazing tool toward empathy and understanding.

I subscribe to an Enneathought of the Day. This little short piece of advice is helpful in keeping me healthy in my ever present mind. I am a four which means my orientation to time is the past. I can get stuck in my feelings about things. My work toward a more healthy way of being is to be present.

I am still working on my One Little Word for this year. Come back on Spiritual Thursday for that post. (And certainly if you are a blogger and want to write with us, you can join with Inlinkz on Thursday.)

Today’s Enneathought teaching “Health is a measure of our capacity to be present.” I think this teaching is valuable to all of us. Here is my reflection:

Health is the Measure of our Capacity to be Present

Present to the muse inside.
Waiting with stillness.
Open to longing
all the while content with its
Begging of me
To do something courageous.
Get out of my head.
Put on my walking shoes.
Say hello to the morning light.
That is all that is required.

Margaret Simon
Amicalola Falls, Georgia (photo by Margaret Simon)

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Poetry Friday: Illuminate

Posted in Poetry Friday, Spiritual Growth, tagged , , , , on December 22, 2023| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jone Rush MacCulloch.

Winter solstice is a day to look forward to, the ending of a school semester, the joy of decorating for Christmas, and our baby JuneBug’s birthday. And yet, almost as soon as I get home from school, the sky darkens and the world feels hushed and harsh and cold. Life is full of these bittersweet moments.

In 2013, I published a book with my poems and my father’s art, Illuminate. (Still available on Amazon.) I wrote poems for each of my father’s Christmas cards. He had done them for 10 years. It was also the year of his 80th birthday. On Novemeber 11th this year, he would have been 90. I miss him everyday. At this time of year, his presence is near as I thumb through his yearly cards and place one of his drawings on my wall. Art has become his legacy.

Artwork by John Gibson

The Star Still Leads

The light shines in the darkness, and darkness did not overcome it.

Wise men traveled a great distance
with a will
strong enough to carry them
over hills and dunes,
through nights of wind,
storms, and cold.
All in search of a person.

We travel a great distance
recorded in scrapbooks,
dated photographs,
no east, no south,
west, or north,
but names, people we love,
people who sustain us in hope.

We are revealed to God,
our calloused hands
curled in prayer,
warmed by fervent asking
for relationship, for strength,
for understanding.
Asking for a star.

Margaret Simon, Illuminate, 2013

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Spiritual Thursday: Dark and Light–Chiaroscuro

Posted in Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , on December 7, 2023| 7 Comments »

Spiritual Journey gathering is hosted by Jone MacCulloch today.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

John 1:5 New International Version
Three Trees by John Gibson

My father, John Gibson, often talked about the chiaroscuro (play of light and dark) in his art as it symbolized a belief he held dear, that Jesus came to be the light of the world. He would have been 90 on Nov. 11th. I miss him everyday.

Jone asked us these questions to ponder for our December spiritual journey posts:

How do you honor/embrace this time of darkness?
Where do you find the points of light in your life?
In a few weeks, winter solstice will be here, how do you honor this and Christmas?
How do you use this time of year for self-reflection?

My father-in-law was born on the Winter Solstice, so for the years he was alive, we celebrated this day. Since his death in 2004, we have not gathered as a family for Winter Solstice…until this year. Baby June Margaret was born last year on Dec. 21st. The labor was long for my youngest daughter after she was induced on Dec. 20th. Of course, we wanted her to progress quickly and have the baby before midnight; however, June had other plans. She pushed her way into our world in the earliest hours of Dec. 21st, Papa’s birthday and Winter Solstice Day. This year our family will gather on the 16th to celebrate her first birthday.

In Anderson Cooper’s interview of President Biden for his podcast “All There Is” (which I highly recommend), they speak about the strength of family and how the light of children in your life keep you going when there is loss.

June is our light. She reminds me of my Purpose (My 2023 One Little Word). Being a grandmother has given me new life, new light, new purpose. I’m no longer looking to move upward in my career or to go to school for further degrees. I’ve put in many hours of professional development. I am the teacher I am, but the greatest joy in my life is being grandmother to Leo, Stella, Thomas, and June. I wish my father-in-law was here to meet them. I wish my father could admire them. I wish my mother could remember their names. But despite this grief for what isn’t, I rejoice in what is. The light meets the darkness and overcomes it.

June at 11 months can stand with one hand and wave with the other.

It is time to sign up for hosting Spiritual Journey in 2024. We post on the first Thursday of the month. If you would like to host our round-up one month, please fill in this Google Sheet. Email me if you would like more information before signing up. (margaretsmn at gmail.com)

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Poetry Friday: Lotus Flower

Posted in Poetry Friday, Spiritual Growth, tagged , , on November 10, 2023| 18 Comments »

Karen Edmisten is gathering Poetry Friday posts here.

I am still riding the wave of a silent retreat last weekend. I wrote about it for Slice of Life and This Photo Wants to be a Poem. Our guide, my friend Susan, gave us a small notebook. The jottings I made are feeding my poetic soul while I busily prepare for NCTE next week.

One of the meditations took place around a lotus pond.

The Lotus Pond
The lotus is a flower that grows in muddy ponds and swamps. It is a symbol of spiritual growth and enlightenment. In the midst of difficult or chaotic circumstances, one can remain grounded and find inner peace and clarity.

photo by Margaret Simon, lotus flower in a sugar kettle.

Lotus Water

Mindful listening
gazing every moment-change
Nothing can be forced

Margaret Simon, draft

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This Photo Wants to be a Poem: Ancient Door

Posted in Photography, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, This Photo Wants to be a Poem, Writing, tagged , , , , on November 8, 2023| 16 Comments »

Garden Door, by Margaret Simon (located on Jefferson Island, Rip Van Winkle Gardens)

Last Saturday I attended a silent retreat at Jefferson Island. I wrote about the retreat here. This photo is an ancient doorway to nowhere. It is set in the gardens near an old wishing well. There is not much need for context today. Meander in your mind and find this doorway. Where does it lead you? Is it a place of rest? Is it a challenge to pass through? Is it guarded, or left open?

I recently came upon a new to me form called a luc bat.

The luc bat is a Vietnamese poetic form that means “six-eight.” In fact, the poem consists of alternating lines of six and eight syllables. This poem is interesting in its rhyme scheme that renews at the end of every eight-syllable line and rhymes on the sixth syllable of both lines. You can find a graphic on the Writer’s Digest. My own model draft took longer than usual to write. Rhymezone is my friend.

Retreat Door

Today I release need–
Unmet purpose to feed my worth.
This ancient door will birth
new sight into our earth’s strong care.
Inner eyes long to share
wisdom carried from there to here.
Look in my new seer,
a vision that is clear and pure.

Margaret Simon, draft

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Slice of Life: Silent Retreat

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, tagged , , on November 7, 2023| 16 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
yoga under the oaks

A perfect day that started in a sweatshirt with yoga practice under a canopy of oak trees and ended with a sound bath in a Japanese tea room. We first met in the Japanese tea room where you take off your shoes and your status, all are equal. Introductions were brief, then we walked to an oak grove for yoga. My dream day had begun.

My friend and yoga instructor Susan offered a 5 hour silent retreat on Jefferson Island, a place that I’ve been to a number of times over the years, for field trips to weddings, but never to soak up the spirit of silence. This was a gift to myself that I knew I needed. That I took the time and money to do.

Noble Silence

Silence becomes noble when it is an inner silence. Inner silence makes us available for ourselves, our loved ones and the wonders of life…breathing in…I become aware of my body. Breathing out…I let go of tension in my body.

As we traveled from place to place, Susan gave us cards with spiritual messages on them like the one above. We were encouraged to contemplate their messages; however, nothing felt forced at all. I felt as though I could be myself totally and free to accept or reject any message that came my way.

I embraced the blank journal she gave us and wrote as I was inspired. One of those entries:

I’m falling in love with silence, easy love.
I love the slight breeze.
I love the majestic peacocks.
I love being present, accepting, and open.
I love the lake, the solace of pilings where birds are nesting.

I am a nest, a place of rest,
a place safe and calm.
Wisdom waits at the door
to be discovered, molded into inner power.
I am here.
I own courage.
I’ve conquered the darkness.
God’s light is on in me.

notebook draft, Margaret Simon

The Lotus Pond
The lotus is a flower that grows in muddy ponds and swamps. It is a symbol of spiritual growth and enlightenment. In the midst of chaotic circumstances, one can remain grounded and find inner peace and clarity.

My hope is that in this small post, I have passed on a peace that passes understanding. That you are feeling the knowledge and love of God (or your own inner spirit). We are all loved. We all have the silence that gives us strength. Namaste.

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Slice of Life: Spiritual Journey and a Beauty Emergency

Posted in Gratitude, Photography, Poetry, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged , , , , , on October 31, 2023| 21 Comments »

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating an amazing community of writers and a safe, welcoming space to write and share.
Fran is hosting Spiritual Journey this week at Lit Bits and Pieces: https://litbitsandpieces.com/2023/10/30/renewal-spiritual-journey/

“Joy is an act of resistance.” –Toi Derricotte

What is bringing you joy? In her newsletter The Good Stuff, Maggie Smith wrote about finding beauty. She called it a “beauty emergency.” An abundance of beauty is available to us everyday if we choose to notice. Even on my sickest days this summer, I could look out my window to find the great white egret who daily feeds across the bayou. Even now I can see a flash of white as he flies by. Sometimes I watch him slowly wade through the water. Something about that presence of purity renews me.

Renewal happens even if we forget to ask for it. God knows how to renew all life.

“To find a new world, maybe you have to have lost one. Maybe you have to be lost. The dance of renewal, the dance that made world, was always danced here at the edge of things, on the brink, on the foggy coast.”

― Ursula K Le Guin

I am still in the process of renewal, walking a fine line between dark and light. I have to find the strength each day to see the light, to look for it, all the while knowing darkness is close by. Illness does that to a person. The fear of it all coming back again is real. I notice the fear, name it for what it truly is, then let it go. I must do this to bring joy to the forefront. And renewal comes as I find beauty in ordinary days.

Full moon peeking out from the clouds

A colleague complained to me about an incessant vine that climbs her brick walls. “The guy has to come every 3 months to deal with it, even in this drought.” We can complain about the onslaught of weeds in the yard, or we can take pictures of them and find their beauty, their life, the way they insist on being here.

Weed in the grass insists on being noticed!

I believe that God gives us access to beauty all the time. We are meant to feel curious, to wonder about ordinary things, to be present and renewed, touched by beauty and joy.

Goldenrod, photo by Margaret Simon

Solidago*

Meadow soul soother
I turn toward your day light
Don’t go. Don’t go.

Margaret Simon

*scientific name for goldenrod, solidus meaning “to make whole”

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Spiritual Journey: October Gladness

Posted in Spiritual Growth, tagged , on October 5, 2023| 6 Comments »

Ramona Behnke is hosting the Spiritual Journey Thursday posts today at her blog, Pleasures from the Page. She asked us to write about “A Glad Heart.”

Open-hearted gladness
comes after illness,
where once was a window–
blinds pulled up
enough to see the white egret
fly over water, stand and dip, stand and dip.
A morning dance, or mourning dance
for me, listless and weak?
Strength in wings of white,
angel of life or death.

Gladness through the window
entered my prayer,
beckoning me to fight
for life, for flight.
To look to the air
through my despair
finding the light
of gratitude.

Margaret Simon, draft
Photo by Andrew Patrick on Pexels.com

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