The wind blows through me,
Though where it comes from,
And where it goes,
I do not know.
It is a gift,
It tells me I’m alive. 

What can I say? I love a windy day.

The beautiful disc of the moon
Shines above me now a slither.
Growing, growing,
Her world awakes. 

The sight of the moon reminds me of what is really important: being here in the world, connecting with it. It helps to simplify things, just being there, instead of thinking so much. We need these times to recharge, there is a time for planning, but mostly there’s a time for living.

Atop your muscular frame -
I ride! I ride!
Nothing will be the same.

For a long time now I’ve wanted to ride a horse, just to experience it, and yet somehow I’d managed to avoid it. Well, finally I took a good look at myself and saw that this is something I really want to do, and there’s no reason not to. So I went ahead and organized it.

Today I rode a horse, Paddy was his name, and great fun I had. That’s what I’m talking about - following your dreams, following your bliss. Doing the things you love makes you happy, and happy people are far more fun to be around.

So, if there’s anything that you’d like to do, and especially if it’s something simple and easy and actually requires very little effort or change to achieve, go do it, make arrangements and do it. Who knows where it’ll lead?

Your flame flickers out,
Your journey ended.
You have played your part,
And now ascended.
The joy you bring
Cannot be taken
From those whose love
Of yours awakened
The precious feeling
Of contentment,
The peace of being
Here together. 

To Misan, a beautiful cat who kept me company while I was alone in a house in a foreign land. She has since passed on and will be missed. May she be remembered.

Here behind this shattered face,
I turn the hands and start to pace.
There’s never been a time like this,
And will never be again.

The ending of time is one of the most powerful processes there is. It is good for our health (we age far more slowly), good for our mind (it slows or stops), and good for our spirits (there is peace and joy in the present moment). The past and future may be attractive, and there is nothing wrong with visiting them from time to time - indeed it is good to plan, and to imagine, and to learn from our mistakes and to re-live and remember our joyful times - but our real life is here and now. When you’re present and you stop time, you know it. You can feel it. You feel incredibly alive. Even doing the most mundane thing feels wonderful. And, thankfully, being in the now unleashes all manner of power and energy, so you can follow your dreams and achieve your goals with the maximum of enjoyment and the minimum of fuss and doubt.

When we can feel fully alive, we’ll see that the world is alive too. Imagine how life on Earth will transform with that knowledge, and what a gift that will be to our children and our children’s children…

We all have holes,
Aching to be filled.
We all have goals -
Desperate to succeed.

I’m sure most of us have met people who are incredibly driven, people who focus on their goals perhaps even to the extent of not appreciating the journey, not looking around at where they are, and even mowing people down who stand in their way. Motivation and being driven are excellent ways of being - we are here on this earth in part to have a physical and material existence, however we choose to manifest that. The most important question to ask is: What drives me?

Is it passion? Is it inspiration? Is it fear? Is it a need for redemption? Is it a need to be someone? To matter? To make a difference?

Just as there are people who are driven to the point of hurting themselves and others, so there are people who appear to not be driven at all, those who are content to stay as they are, in the same unfulfilling job, continuing the same habits and ways of life day after day. Change is constant, and there are two choices always: growth or stagnation. Too much stagnation and you lose the magic of life. Too much growth and you forget to enjoy where you are right now. As always, a balance must be sought, even if that balance means hanging out at one extreme, and then the other, just as day turns to night and back to day again.

So I’ll ask you again: What drives you?

Make sure it’s something that feels good, feels right, feels peaceful and alive, and then go out into the world and be counted!