Change Can Offer Beauty
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Hello friends, Change can feel hard. Sometimes change is accompanied by a deep sense of loss. Or we have foreboding, and fear what may come. That’s okay. Natural. Wise, even. Other times, the thought of change feels like a breath of fresh air. A necessary break from what has been. But the reality is? Like it or not, fear it or welcome it, change will always come. As Heraclitus said, millennia ago: “You can’t step in the same river twice.” The river flows. It is always, ever, changing. The seasons change. Our bodies change. Our thinking, hopefully, changes, growing to embrace new information. Climate changes, sometimes because of ordinary time bound occurrences, and other times because of human intervention. Society? Well, some change is accelerated to dizzying speed, while other facets seem to be on endless repeat. What helps with change that feels unsettling, worrisome, or wrong? Our inner states. We can adjust our responses. Rather than being buffeted about by every stray emotion, we can cultivate a steadiness inside. And from that steadiness, we can act. Why am I thinking of all of that this week? Well, there’s the world around us, but mostly, it is because of some fallen tips of a Glorybower bush. The fading fuchsia colored stems and petals lay in stark contrast to the damp grey sidewalk. And at the center of each five pointed pink star, shone round fat jewels in shades of blue and pale gold. Even fallen, even fading, the Glorybower tips were beautiful. Does change worry me? Of course. Despite courting liminal spaces, I actually dislike transitions. And daily, I wish the world we’d built together was a kinder, more sheltering place. But I don’t fear what is to come. Deep inside me, I trust that I—and you—will do our best. Will we make mistakes? Of course. We always do. But still, we can find ways to remind each other of the beauty in ourselves and in this world. Best wishes - Thorn Want a pleasant break from your troubles? I'm part of a cozy ebook bundle! Pay anything from $5-20 (or up) for four to ten books.
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T. Thorn Coyle
Hello friends, I wrote this week’s newsletter in advance, because I’m camping with no cell service. It’s so good for my psyche to disconnect from electronics, stare at mountains, and walk along streams for a week. I’m a mind-racer, and this disconnection—like meditation or prayer—helps slow me down inside. The meditation on nature is always a gift to me, even in the small city where I live. For example, on the summer solstice, it was cool enough for me to take a long afternoon walk. I headed...
Hello friends, It’s Pride weekend, and I’m thinking of all the brave people who fought so hard to be allowed to simply exist. And I think of those who are still fighting, myself included. Do we want to fight? No. We’d rather just live our lives, do our work, laugh with friends, raise families, read books, and tend our gardens. Just like immigrants and other people under attack do. “The first Pride was a riot,” it is often said, and whether something is called a riot or an uprising depends on...
Hello friends, The yuccas are in full bloom right now, with dense clusters of creamy blossoms heavy as bells on tall stalks. This type of yucca is a spiky, unassuming plant when not in bloom, and then _bam_there is an astonishing wealth of flowers. While walking to a writing date the other week, I paused at a large grouping of these flowering plants, growing on the edge of a parking lot behind a chain link fence. The blossoms were buzzing with the activity of industrious bees. I paused a...