HARVESTING LOVE:
Finding Love in Unexpected (& Expected) Places
“Giving voice, communicating, is a sacred way to free love.”
Ani’s Harvesting Love blog is dedicated to releasing the energy of love into the world.
The blog’s purpose is also to treasure the gift of language, the power of giving voice. Read More
But this isn’t what I had in mind
This was the summer I finally was going to get my vegetable garden going again.
I got out soon as the ground could be worked in May to reclaim my 20 x 15-foot patch—beautifully situated in full sun— from the plethora of weeds spreading rampant and happy in the rich earth.
Peonies and Your Creativity?
“Wild and perfect for one moment before they are nothing forever…” Mary Oliver writes of the peonies in her poem, Peonies
Love of the Other Birds…
“I think to a poet, the human community is like the community of birds, to a bird, singing to each other. Love is one of the reasons we are singing to one another, love of language, love of sound, love of singing itself, and love of the other birds.” ~Sharon Olds
It’s about Love.
If every item on my to-do list were a person, the line would go out my door, down the road, past the two cow barns, all the way to the banks of the Connecticut, over the river (if the bridge vetoed out of existence had actually been built)—— and then some.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
Fully grasped and lived,
Rumi’s words would change our world.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
Love Poem #5 (A Prose Poem): On Love by Kahlil Gibran
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
Love Poem #4: Love Does That by Meister Eckhart
All day long a little burro labors, sometimes
with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries
about things that bother only
burros.
And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting
than physical labor.
Journal as Intimate Companion
Like all relationships, the relationship with one’s journal, if it is to be a dynamic, evolving one, needs tending.
I am going to “get personal” for a moment with a question about your intimate life: Are you in a committed relationship?
Two Love Poems by Hafiz
Hafiz, a 14th century Persian mystic, became one of my favorite poets immediately upon hearing “Absolutely Clear.” It was my birthday. I was participating in a meditation intensive—distracted by emotions (or so I judged) of sadness preoccupying me in the wake of a painful romantic break-up.
Love Poem # 3 : I Know The Way You Can Get by Hafiz
I know the way you can get
When you have not had a drink of Love:
Your face hardens,
Your sweet muscles cramp.
Children become concerned
About a strange look that appears in your eyes
Which even begins to worry your own mirror
And nose.
Love Poem #1: Saint Francis and the Sow by Galway Kinnell
This poem by Galway Kinnell is an invitation to remember.
In his book, Ten Poems to Open Your Heart, Roger Housden writes about “Saint Francis and the Sow”:
“This is one of those poems that acts on me cell by cell…
Everything I See Changes Me
Reading the poem led me right back to the small patch of grass where, squatting in complete absorption and wonder, I watched a bee courting a globe of clover. Right then, nothing else existed for the bee—or for me.
Write* When There’s So Much Else That Needs Doing?!
Writing remains a luxury, self-indulgence. It is easy to notice the lack of clean underwear, staples in the fridge, or air in our tires. These are noticeable not only to us, but to those with whom we share a home, car, and life.
LOVE WITHOUT SUFFERING: Awakening Compassion
Some time ago, I found a compelling passage in a small-in-size-huge-in-impact book called TRUE LOVE, A Practice for Awakening the Heart by the Buddhist monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh.
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A great way to stay connected with Love:
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Resources to help you free the voice of your heart. And more.