One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged with ice, The spruces rough in the distant glitter Of the January sun; and not to think Of any misery in the soundContinue reading “#adventapertures2025: Blue Christmas”
Tag Archives: clinical depression
day 14: for acceptance
I still believe mainly in the opportunities afforded by acceptance. Robert Adams If you have ever been frustrated, trying to photograph the beauty of the moon or a sunrise, then you will know that a snapshot is a mere recreation of what the human eye sees. It can’t do justice to the beauty we behold.Continue reading “day 14: for acceptance”
day 7: for discomfort
She loves the wind. There on the edge of the known world, at ninety, In her tall house, any wildness in the elements Is as welcome as an old friend. When the surgically patched elms and sycamores Crack off their heavy limbs in the freak snow storm Of October, she rejoices; the massy hail ThatContinue reading “day 7: for discomfort”
day 6: for fear
I wonder why you brought me to these splintering days, this age of dearth-death and default extinction and the smothering of constellations nostalgia claws at me screaming send me back then I sense a fire that doesn’t consume, a cloud of breath-taking holiness passing across the face of a mountain and it says I putContinue reading “day 6: for fear”
day 5: for darkness
Consider this. In the shadow of a perfectly round object, you will find a rebellious glimmer of light – a bright spot in the middle. I’m not being metaphorical here. I really mean to queer the essential and disturb its eminence. What better way to do it in this case than to point to lightContinue reading “day 5: for darkness”
day 3: for change
The ancient Christian monastic traditions, especially desert, Celtic, and Benedictine, offer great wisdom for the journey of unfolding. They understood that the soul’s ripening is never to be rushed and takes a lifetime of work. The gift of the contemplative path is a profound honoring of the grace of slowness. We can grow impatient whenContinue reading “day 3: for change”
day 2: for emptiness
It might seem that we have to generate the sense of openness, freshness, joy, revelry, or stillness we touch in such moments. From the Buddhist perspective, however, such a state of being is already there within us and has been so since the beginning. It’s tantalizing to think that perhaps expansiveness lies waiting to beContinue reading “day 2: for emptiness”
heart of stone
Once again it is my honour to contribute a reflection to the ‘monk in the world’ blog of the Abbey of the Arts. This piece was first published on May 15, 2024 (although it was written in May 2023). all words and images by Kate Kennington Steer I arrived at February 2023 in a post-viralContinue reading “heart of stone”
well or w/hole (part iv)
I meant to write this in September 2023, but it is now February 2024. I am recovering from a reanimation of the chest infection I caught before Christmas, but it has wiped out this month. I am attempting not to fight the bouts of vertigo and dizziness which sideswipe me, even as I sit perfectlyContinue reading “well or w/hole (part iv)”
well or w/hole? (part i)
When will I be well? When was I ever well? In the beginning I had wellbeing, I was a being of wellness because I lived in a beingwell, a cocoon, a shelter, a haven; those childhood homes, where my parents held me in safety, safely, surrounded, enclosed, beloved, so I could be well, learn well Continue reading “well or w/hole? (part i)”
image into ikon 