Treasure

Sunday, December 29, 2019
On a quite eve, between Christmas and New Years, lines from an old poem circulated among the stars above as I went for an evening walk. It wishes to be expressed again, to all my treasures, I love you....

Treasure
© 2013 Karla Johnston InnerConstellation.com

You are precious.

Beyond the value of gems, stones, or gold,
and you are not the exception.
Every one, no matter gender, creed or race
is equally worthy.

Every person, animal, thing
that breathes, contracts, expands,
houses the pulse of life
is an absolute miracle.
We are glorious.
Holding the brilliance of creation
or darkening of damnation
in every word we speak.
If we saw, for brief moment, our radiance
we could never commit a harmful act
for the understanding
that we would diminish it.

If we knew our preciousness,
hateful words could not be spoken.
Malice could find no home in us.
No conflict, no battle, no war.
Our one desire, our sole purpose
to tend carefully
this treasured life
and only ever
cherish it.

Advent ~ Embodiment

Sunday, December 1, 2019
First Week of Advent
Sometimes in the contemplative writing experience, metaphors and events line up just right to let you know you’re on the right path. Today is December 1, 2019, and in contemplating a theme for the month’s blessing send,* I woke with the idea of “embodiment.” It seemed confirmed as I participated in a morning reading of the The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, then headed to a reading of The Five Mindfulness Trainings with Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community. The trainings reflect very deeply the practice (versus the perfection) of living a life embodying service by practicing the ideals of compassion and gratitude. Then, I arrived home to set a date on my calendar and discovered that today, December 1, 2019, is the first Sunday in Advent. A very old and dear friend has inspired in me the practice of observing each Sunday in Advent together and this poem made its way to me in celebration. I wished to share the poem in a spirit of awe—that sometimes life comes together and almost sings its “yes!” that indeed we have embodied what is good and true. Alas, I am rambling.

Poets often say in far better and more concise ways, what the many words above only hint at. Please enjoy Denise Levertov’s beautiful offering encapsulating December’s writing theme—Embodiment:

Poem: Denise Levertov's "Annunciation" (Full Version)

First appearing in her book "A  Door in the Hive." 



 Annunciation

‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’
From the Agathistos Hymn, 
Greece, VIc 


We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
       Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage.
       The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
         God waited.

She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.

                  ____________________

Aren’t there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?
         Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.
More often
those moments
      when roads of light and storm
      open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from

in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
                                 God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.

                  ____________________

She had been a child who played, ate, slept
like any other child–but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed
in joy not triumph.
Compassion and intelligence
fused in her, indivisible.

Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,
  only asked
a simple, ‘How can this be?’
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel’s reply,
the astounding ministry she was offered:

to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power–
in narrow flesh,
the sum of light.
                     Then bring to birth,
push out into air, a Man-child
needing, like any other,
milk and love–

but who was God. 


This was the moment no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.

A breath unbreathed,
                                Spirit,
                                          suspended,
                                                            waiting.

                  ____________________

She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’
Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
                                                       raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
                                  consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
                               and the iridescent wings.
Consent,
              courage unparalleled,
opened her utterly.

Connection

Sunday, November 3, 2019



Beloveds, there has been a long writing silence that was necessary for my energy stores. I am back and happy to offer this poem to support our new November theme: Connection







Connection
November 2, 2019
©2019 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

All Soul’s Day—
three simple words
that describe
this sense of love and warmth
always extended from the other side.

As I write, I take a breath
it catches, then expands,
inside and beyond the walls
of my tiny frame.
To say “I am not this body,”
is to not comprehend
true embodiment.

I am my precious ones,
and they are me:
Nana, Papa,
mother, father,
sister, brother,
daughter, son,
niece, nephew,
friend,
beloved.

Squeaky Clean and Smelling Like Flowers!

Friday, May 24, 2019
Today is a monumental day of deep gratitude and as is my nature—writing helps to soak up the goodness. My nephew is 30 days sober today after much heroic personal work, the care of treatment and the love and support of family and many good and constant A.A. and N.A. friends on the path. How to express this great happiness and keep the momentum going? The practice of mindfulness encourages deep looking and when doing so I remembered a poem I had written 2 years ago entitled, “How Does One Experience Nirvana.” The following is an adaptation of that poem, where lines reflecting on my nephew 2 years ago seem already written for this day of honoring 30 days clean. Please enjoy this new installment:

Remember Our Eternity
©2019 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

When well-being is held as number one priority:
for ourselves,
loved ones,
community—
compassion is born
and strengthened.
We become sweet lotuses rising from the mud.

Today is 30 days clean and sober,
lotus heading for the light,
how to keep momentum going?
Space. Stillness. Insight—
writing it out, talking it out, fuels the telling of a story:
Nephew is bright eyed,
ripping off baby clothes to run wild through the petting zoo,
squealer-of-delight.
But he is more…so much more.

We are so much more than narrative,
a running commentary!

When a story is no longer told,
the characters break free.
In one breath of awareness,
all suffering ceases.

Perhaps…a new story unfolds:
“I really didn’t have any future,
I figured I’d overdose fairly soon
or go to jail for failing drug tests for probation.
I actually picture being older now.
Idk.”

My heart grows physically warm, full.
I type back via text:
“Smiling at you, older
and me, a granny holding your hand.”
I stop and breathe,
envision us sitting on the bench
outside my parents’ living room window.
Where I sat, hand-in-hand with my dad, so many times.
The next line I type for me more than anyone,
“Keep that picture fresh for you and for all of us.”

When a new story is told,
the characters break free.
In one breath of awareness,
suffering ceases.

Spring Mindfulness Retreat April 27, 2019

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Happy Spring everyone! I know looking outside our Tahoe windows at the remaining snow banks it may be hard to believe but…Spring has arrived—chipmunks are out of hibernation, robins and doves have arrived and the glaciers in our yards are receding! We welcome the opportunity to be together as a grateful community on Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 8:30a-1:00p for some extended practice time. Our theme is “Cleanse,” In the spirit of the season, and we’ll be practicing sitting and walking meditation with the energy of shining awareness on areas that can afford simplification——gifting ourselves with a nourishing “Spring Cleanse”! It’s a few hours of loving up time with good companionship and food. Please bring a vegan snack to share if you’re so inclined in addition to a plate, utensil and cup to eliminate waste.

Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community looks most forward to April 27 and the opportunity to be in service to ourselves and each other. More can be found on the Facebook events page: https://www.facebook.com/events/530505494024315/

She Is Nectar

Tuesday, March 5, 2019
I recently discovered a Noble Peace Prize winner ~ the amazing Nadia Murad. After hearing her moving story, I found her to be a beacon of light, unable to turn away from the suffering of her people, the Yazidis, who experienced genocide at the hands of the Islamic State. After experiencing first hand the loss of her mother, six brothers and her brother’s children, she was forced into sex trafficking. Nadia’s spirit, rather than being broken, became increasingly brighter, shining light and awareness on the atrocities of war.

It’s fascinating to watch one of her first interviews in 2014 where a veiled and frightened. Nadia asked the cameras to avoid her face and not use her last name. Since then, she has grown increasingly brave, no longer covering her face and transforming her sufferings into medicine to offer to others who have experienced similar circumstances. Nadia Murad has literally and fuguratively shed the veil and speaks out, refusing to be silenced—an unheard of response from a woman of her culture and background. Her request is twofold:

  • International protection for her people, the Yazidis 
  • That those responsible for crimes of war be brought to justice
Nadia embodies the North Star qualities of courage, resilience, devotion to her people and a pure-heart. I’m delighted to honor her today in the Freedom Series category of this blog. Here are some Nadia Murad resources to water our seeds of bravery and interconnection: 

Nadia’s book: The Last Girl 


Snow Devils!

Monday, February 18, 2019

Nine foot of snow later and out into the great white expanse I went! Sun was shining and it felt amazing to be out, busting trail on the snowshoes after three weeks of storms. I witnessed something for the first time in 25 years of Tahoe living, not just one, but a meadow of snow devils, one after the other. It was amazing to watch and I felt like I had dropped into a playful other world. Upon arriving home, I researched the occurrence and discovered that snow devils are rare, needing a variety of perfect conditions to materialize. Their sighting is worthy of a poem....


Snow Devils
©2019 Karla Johnston, InnerConstellation.com

Down by the icy river
swirls of powder dance                                                                                                  
across a blanketed, sugary meadow,
mingle, join,
are spirited...up, up, up and away,
in spiraling, widening circles
to culminate and then...
fly apart in a spray of diamonds,
glitter and disappear into blue, blue sky.

I stand in slack-jaw-wonder,
a witness to winter’s dance of beauty
on a frozen February day.