Have you ever stretched out your back on a yoga ball—or a giant pumpkin? Sometimes stretching ourselves is uncomfortable and scary, and we resist trying something new or threatening. But sometimes the stretch is a relief, releasing us from habits that make us stiff and unyielding.
How will you stretch yourself today?
The blackberries that ripened in the summer sun meet their end in a pot stirred by a grinning skull. They will lose their individuality, be crushed to something unrecognizable—and be preserved to be re-born in deeper sweetness some winter day. If they had stayed on the vine they would have simply withered away. Sometimes the radical change we fear opens us to undreamed possibilities.
Where do you see radical change in your life or the world around you?
Sometimes you happen on the magical sight of a rainbow in the sky, but some days you make your own rainbows, stopping to rest in whatever beauty is present.
Where do you find beauty and magic today?
Somehow, when we have overcome an obstacle or worked through a difficult problem, it feels as if we should arrive at the “land of milk and honey,” a place of rest and ease. But there will always be other obstacles, other mountains to climb, other problems that press forward.
How do you find ways to rest and renew yourself, even in the midst of the journey?
Is this a picture of stillness and peace, or a picture of headlong motion? What does a fisherman see looking at this river? A kayaker? A fish? You’ve probably heard the saying that you can’t step twice in the same river. But really, no two of us sees the same river, even at precisely the same moment.
How might you see things from another’s perspective today?
