The moon mother resides

Writers filled with mist from the moon act as doorways between worlds. Words flow from the hidden world through the writer into this world. Only wise writers may enter the sacred realm and bring back the fire.

The moon mother doesn’t negotiate; she reveals. To those she invites, the clouds part revealing a silver path leading to the door of her house in the hidden valley. Knock at your peril, for if you’re found unworthy, you’ll forget who you are and return to the world destined to imitate mediocre writers.

The moon mother extracts a price for her secrets—everything you thought you were. Stripped of outworn conceptions, you are ready to receive her teachings. Stepping onto a beam of moonlight, you enter a new world.

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sandpaper wind

dust like fire

burns my throat

By Terry Chitwood

Burn the dust off the ancient scrolls, igniting the wisdom within.  Fire burns away the impediments to accessing ancient wisdom for application in modern times. Dreams are emissaries of the Tao with roots in antiquity drawing forth images woven with the golden thread of time into a necklace of pearls: each pearl a stage of life, one pearl infused with darkness, another pearl infused with light.

Dreams

Dreams emanate from a source of timeless wisdom filling us with a kind of knowledge that is beyond words, beyond thought . . .  beyond conception. Dreams speak a symbolic language in which imagery describes the spiritual journey and what lessons need to be learned. Dreams are purposive and point to future growth.

Healing Flame

The fierce wind blowing dust chafes the skin—a sandpaper wind. Flowing turns into friction, restricting breath . . . restricting speech. But is it a time for flowing friction . . . flowing fierceness? Fiery speech frees feeling, breaks taboos, and heals apathy. Be a healing flame.

Photo Credit: Photo by Maxim Petrichuk

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10 Fun Ways to Focus on Grammar

Here are some fun Pinterest pins. Just click on each pin to go to the corresponding article or meme.

Yes, grammar can be fun!

Deb

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Sky and earth

 reflect

eternal values.

Inferior concepts

fall away

like ashes.

The wind ebbs and flows

under the sky and across

the land dissolving

words into dust.

Don’t talk.

Breathe life in.

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter Five,

Interpreted by Terry Chitwood)

Eternal values, like the sun, illumine the land.  Words as shadows creep away from the light until they disappear. Eternal values live in our hearts rather than our mind, fueled by feelings, anchored in a sea of love.

Uncage our hearts, releasing feelings into the world. Emissaries from deep within, our feelings connect with others, bringing forth creativity, camaraderie, and caring which spreads love far and near. “I feel it in my fingers; I feel it in my toes. Love is all around me and so the feeling grows. It’s written on the wind; it’s everywhere I go (“Love Is All Around” by The Troggs).”

Photo Credit: Photo by Adriano Rubino

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The Tao is an

empty vessel, always full,

the source of all.

Still the storm.

Soften the sun.

Melt into the earth.

The Tao’s beginnings

are shrouded in mystery.

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter Four,

Interpreted by Terry Chitwood)

Bright light blinds the eye, making focusing impossible. In order to see deeply into things, soften the sun allowing the intellect to recede and intuition to come into the forefront. With an intuitive eye probe the dark . . . the unknown  . . . the mystery—hidden by the light.

Mystery

Let your spirit melt into the earth, absorbing the dark essence of mystery as your spirit descends through the vertical labyrinth, seeking the center. As you sink through the soft earth, time dissolves into timelessness. You are suspended in eternity.

Wings

As you ascend, breaking through the soil, you discover you have wings—one dark . . . made of night, one bright . . . made of light. Words flow from each wing forming sentences written on the sky: a gift to the world.

Photo Credit: Image by dvarg.

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Not exalting oneself cultivates humility.

Not accumulating possessions furthers nonattachment.

Not being exposed to riches reduces temptation.

 Let go of the mind and strengthen the body.

Let go of striving and strengthen compassion.

Grasping nothing, peace arrives unbidden.

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter Three,

Interpreted by Terry Chitwood)

Like peace, stories arrive unbidden. Characters emerge out of the mist, congealing into distinct personalities, ready for action. Given freedom, characters create their own plots, unfolding into unique themes, each radiating dramatic intensity. And drama unfolds into story.

Unfolding

Don’t strive to control stories; let them unfold. Don’t squeeze the life out of characters; give them room to breathe. Stop strangling stories . . . and characters. Listen to the characters’ voices; watch their movements; follow their lead.

Flowing

Let go of artificial conceptions, allowing thinking to fall away, dropping over a cliff and into the sea. Become water: humble, nonattached . . . flowing. Like a river winding down a mountain, moving around boulders with the ease of a dancer, embrace the divine journey.

Photo Credit: Photo by Dean Fikar.

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One begets two

Opposites emerge

Earth and sky

The silence of a still lake

The hiss of fire burning

The sage teaches like the wind

moving unseen through the mind

Change happens effortlessly

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter Two,

Interpreted by Terry Chitwood)

Observing the interplay of opposites, we discover that we are watching the play of life. Events that appear negative contain a hidden nugget of gold, glowing in the dark, waiting for release. Night turns into day; dark turns into light.

Round and Round

The wind knows the answer, whispering it only when the petitioner is receptive and displays a noble character. Answers contain more questions which lead to more answers. “The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. . . .”

Without Words

And the sage teaches without words. Yet, mysteriously, the student hears the lesson. Write without words; let the blank page speak. Listen to the notes of the silent flute.

Photo Credit: Photo by Romolo Tavani.

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Eternal, nameless Tao
Residing in the spiritual realm
yet permeating all things
To the unattached
the mystery is revealed
To the attached
the mystery is hidden
Wearing the robe of night
the seer steps out of the darkness
into the moonlight
(Tao Te Ching, Chapter One,
Interpreted by Terry Chitwood)

We are flow, drifting like mist along the path, bathed in moonlight, wanderers by nature, our journey . . . our goal. We take refuge in the dark, immersed in not knowing, cultivating receptivity. Unburdened, we glide across the years, time ebbing and flowing, the future moving backwards to greet us.

Writing

Will our writing seek us out, following our scent, tracking us like prey, pouncing on us and breathing words into our soul? Or will our writing disguise itself as a beggar on the side of a barren trail, awaiting our attention . . . waiting to be fed? Or will the crow caw our name, sound fragments riding the wind turning into a haiku—the birth of our writing?

Mystery

We are conceived without a name and born into a world of words. The words choose us, resulting in the telling of our life stories using unique descriptors. And as writers, the words choose us, arriving when our minds are empty, when we are receptive. Shrouded in mystery, the words reveal themselves.

Photo Credit: Photo by Suppakij Sengsaman.

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Grey Whiskers’ favorite cat koan is the following: “What is the sound of one whisker waving?”

Student cat asks, “Why do I get a pain in the butt while sitting in meditation?” Grey Whiskers says, “Stop sitting on your claws.”

Student cat asks, “What’s wrong with me? I only sleep 18 hours a day.” Grey Whiskers replies, “That is worrisome. Cats need to sleep a minimum of 20 hours per day. Train one of your owners to massage you for at least two hours per day. Humans don’t have anything better to do anyway.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwji6HiXWCs

Top Photo by Giovanni Gagliardi.

Sleeping Cat Photo by Gita Kulinica.

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Your healing grace flows
through all the seasons
of my life.
As winter turns into spring
sorrow turns into joy.
Tears dissolve
in the spring sun.
Laughter blossoms
with the flowers.
And the birds
dance in the trees
–Terry Chitwood

These verses were inspired by parts of Psalm 30. The scent of spring flowers on the winter wind brings hope. And hope melts the ice around our hearts, freeing joy to flow into the world, enflaming others with a passion for life, giving birth to love.

Melt

God’s healing presence is like a warm wind in winter, melting the frost of indifference, making our paths less slippery, and our steps more yielding. Let God’s presence permeate every cell in our body, bathing us with golden light and cleansing us of sin. Free from the stain of sin, we worship God completely . . . fully devoted to God’s will.

Yield

Deep in the blackest night or during the brightest day, we yield to your divine will. In a crowded subway or an empty church, we yield to your divine will. In the midst of our crowded thoughts or in the midst of our open hearts, we yield to your divine will.

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