Mary Oliver and Parker J. Palmer: On Being Mindful and Beauty

 Parker J. Palmer writes:

Here's a Mary Oliver gem I've posted before. It carries a reminder I can always use: Look and listen every day for whatever it is that will "kill me with delight," "instruct me in joy and acclamation," and help me grow wise.
It takes no special talent to look around our world and point out things that are numbing, depressing, or death-dealing. But becoming aware of what's good, true, and beautiful demands that we open our eyes, minds, and hearts, and keep them open.

Then we'll begin to see beauty everywhere, not only in nature but in human nature. Then we'll have the inspiration, strength, and courage to resist what's wrong and work for what's right.
There's lots of bad news out there—but there's a lot of good news as well. Pass the word and help keep hope alive!

 ____________________

Mindful

by Mary Oliver

Everyday
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for —
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world —
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant —
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these —
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean’s shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

 from Parker J. Palmer