Nourish Your Soul

AA wrote: I find it admirable that you took this big leap away from what was to what should be to be happy. You are brave. And I marvel at your capability to find friends. Du bist offen und lieb und herzlich, wundervoll.

Nourish Your Soul

The soul is nourished in silence, in nature, in the presence of other souls, in a calm reflection on water, by music, and by words, chosen with care.

                                 Daphne Rose Kingma: A Garland of Love

Living up in the mountains, near the sky, far away from the busy crowd, it is easy to nourish my soul with silence and nature. It was one of the main reasons why I moved here and it feeds me so much.

Over time, I have made some good friends here - souls who are open to beauty, peace, the wonder of Life, and spending time with them is always nourishing.

Sometimes, however, I want to be alone. Then I deeply enjoy some of my favourite music (I have a beautiful playlist with soundtracks, that always touches me), and either I create something myself with words, or I read a carefully chosen book (I can recommend Paolo Cognetti’s “The Eight Mountains”).

I hope that you, on a regular basis, take some time to nourish your soul too.

Observing Desire

AA wrote: Danke, das regt zum Nachdenken an...

BB wrote: Jättebra Sabina! Jag vidarebefordrade det till sonen att läsa när han får ett par minuter över.

CC wrote: This is beautiful and helpful Sabina. Thank you!

Observing Desire

Observing desire without acting on it enlarges our freedom to choose how we live. 

                                                                 Tara Brach

Almost every moment of our lives we desire (or reject) something. We want the rain to stop falling and the sun to come forth, we’d like our partner to share our love for renaissance art, we crave for the beautiful sweater we saw in that store, we want to get rid of our back pain.

Often, our desires rule our world. They make us dissatisfied with life as it actually IS, since we constantly wish for it to be different. 

Luckily we can practice being aware of our desires: we can observe them and refrain from acting upon them. I can’t change the weather anyway, my partner has many other good qualities, and my wardrobe is full of nice sweaters. If I breathe in all the way to my back pain and just let it be, it may well diminish.  (If not, it is very relaxing to lie flat on the floor with my legs on the couch)

I do not want to be a slave, neither under anybody else nor under myself. That is why I practice observing the movements of my mind, its constant chatter and its wanting and rejecting. When I observe desire come and go without acting upon it and practice to put the focus outside of the constant chatter in my brain I have much better chances to consciously choose the kind of life I want to live.

The Mystery of it All

AA wrote: I will! Thank you!

BB wrote: Ja, det håller jag varmt med om. Tänk en sådan enkel sak som att titta upp mot stjärnorna är något som vi nästan glömt bort. Viktigt att lyfta blicken och bli medveten om allt vackert som faktiskt finns här. Tack för dina fina måndagsbrev.

CC wrote: The stars of  an evening sky in NYC not so easy to see but we do have the moon! Lovely piece!

The Mystery of it All

Sometimes just giving thanks for the mystery of it all brings everything and everyone closer.

Mark Nepo: The Book of Awakening.

You are a mystery. Every living being is a mystery. Our beautiful planet is a mystery. The stars in the sky are a mystery. The whole universe is a mystery.

When I stand on my balcony at night, breathing in the cold winter air and watching the glimmering stars, I give thanks for life and my place in it. It is all so much bigger than me and still I feel close to the snowy mountains on the other side of the valley and to the Big Dipper against the black infinity.

This week, before going to bed, stop and contemplate the mystery of it all, perhaps while watching the evening sky. Feel how it brings everything and everyone closer.

Random Acts of Kindness

AA wrote: What a nice day, melt the soul. Love it 💚💙💜

Random Acts of Kindness

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul. 

                Teresa of Ávila

Kindness is an underrated virtue. If you think about it, it is often those small acts of kindness - by others or yourself - that make your day.
One of my New Year Resolutions for 2019 is to regularly do (more or less random) acts of kindness. I have adjusted a list found at the wonderful Random Acts of Kindness Foundation website to fit me. It contains one hundred ideas on how to spread kindness both towards people and our environment. 

One act of kindness per day will not only benefit others, but it will also continually soften your heart, or as Saint Teresa puts it: “melt the soul”.

PS Let me know if you’re interested in sharing my list and perhaps even giving feedback on it! :-)