Learn More
Hints of Gladness
May 17, 2022
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
~ Mary Oliver ~
For 30 days (or more) I’m going to post and talk about the things that give me joy. I'm going to do my best to record hints of gladness especially when I go for my daily walks.
To sustain this, and what will hopefully become a habit, I have to keep it as simple as possible, so I’m not going to write or do anything too elaborate other than to briefly comment on what's making me glad and have a picture or two to go along with it.
Take good care,
~ Rod
P.S. If you'd like to join me, let me know. I would love to have some fellow travellers who are taking note of their hints of gladness. Email rod@hintsofgladness.com
_ _ _
5.17.22
It’s been an epic day full of gladness and lots of thoughts along the trail (take what you like and leave the rest). A little sun helped. “My cup runneth over!”
Hints…
The smell of the bakery as I walk outside my door in the morning.
Rhododendrons in the garden near my apartment.
A greeting from Starbucks on the top of my cup this morning wishing me a happy day. This shows how much they want to connect with every customer even their mobile order customers. I’ll accept this wish.
All of the above was all just walking outside my apartment! Now it’s time to connect with the earth.
Thought from the trail. Whenever there is that slight hint of frustration or struggle I can just stop.
Stop struggling.
Stop trying so hard
Stop trying all together
and just be.
Over and over again, just be.
If I want to address it deeper I guess I could ask what the struggle and the frustration what it needs? I could also be with it. And/or I could simply move on and be present to this…
Thought from the trail. The struggle and the frustration need to be accepted. Acceptance is the key! It needs to be felt and welcomed. It needs to be held and told it’s seen and okay. (Looking back on it, this kind of turns out to be the theme of the day).
Hints…
I’ve enjoyed coming around the corner and looking at the spot in the picture above for a couple of weeks and have been meaning to take a picture of it. The picture doesn’t give the serenity of this spot justice, but there you go!
Thought from the trail. Return again and again and again. And when you find yourself far from home, return again and again and again. Grace upon grace. An bottomless well of unconditional love.
And of course…
My daily reminder (above) to be here now and ask, “Am I here now?”…
Thought from the trail. You are this. You are abundance. You are joy. Accept it. It’s okay to be abundant. It’s okay to be joy. …I want to run. I want to resist... have mercy on me.
Hints...
The wind rustling through the leaves on the trees...
The heron in the video above hit the money spot. They were chowing down on something.
Hints…
Meeting the regulars out here this morning on the trail. It’s so nice to be able to give and receive a quick smile and greeting and have a quick conversation or two. After years of these kinds of conversations I would even call a few of these people my friends. What a gift that is!
Another trail greeting from an elderly man with a beautiful smile.
Thought from the trail (from my office actually)… is the world actually getting worse as some people believe? Could I raise the tide of optimism and gladness by focussing more on what gives me joy rather than what I fear? I’m not saying I want to stick my head in the sand (I intentionally watched the new tonight if that means anything, probably not), but I have enough turmoil that naturally surfaces within me without taking on anyone else’s shit. I am totally my own worst enemy, it’s not the Republicans or the Democrats, the PC’s or the NDP. Maybe I can learn to be with my own trauma and negativity, accept it, and give it unconditional love and not take on more than I need to. I want to change the world in response to love not as a reaction to fear.
Thought from the trail and a hint… I’m just thinking about one of my best friends and how he has stood by me through thick and thin. He’s someone that I can talk to about my shadow and my demons and I know that he won’t reject me. What an incredible gift to have that kind of unconditional friendship. I am trying to be that kind a friend too.
Thought from the trail (lots of thoughts today). I wonder how much of my feelings of unworthiness block my feelings of joy? And vice versa: does noticing hints of gladness open me up to even more joy? Of course it does, but what is that unworthiness block? Is that just a part of the human condition? Does it come from conditioning? Somewhere, somehow I know I’m worthy of joy. I am joy, but I still experience resistance. I accept and acknowledge that there is resistance to joy in me. Welcome!… Let’s have tea…
Thought from the trail. When my effort and even my energy fails to help me live according to my better self there’s always, always grace and forgiveness. How to live according to that grace is not always figure outable (I love that phrase - figure outable). I just have to do it when I am conscious of it. By surrendering to Grace and accepting forgiveness it begins to happen to me and through me.
Random thought from the trail. “Blessed are those who mourn.” I want to never forget that we are all just doing our best and that everyone has experienced some form of trauma in their lives. As one of my podcast guests once said to me “the human species is an overly traumatized species.“ Keep growing and doing your best and at the same time remember “It’s not your fault.”
Take good care,
~ Rod
