Courageous Misfits

Tell your story.
Ask others to tell theirs.
Listen. Be curious. Be bold.
This is how we develop empathy.
This is how we prove we’re human.

I’ve been remiss here. The will to write is strong. So many words, so many emotions. But the flesh is weak. So I walk amongst the dead who have no more time for utterance. Today the crocus speaks for us.

Don’t forget to look up. Higher things are calling to us.

It’s been said that beauty will save the world. If that is true, then we must diligently seek it out in ourselves, our homes, our interactions, and in our experiences. Our senses know what is beautiful - especially when we tune our hearts to beauty’s energy.

the noise,
the racking noise.
i can’t hear anything
but the noise.

it’s a loud and
clanging cymbal.
the noise
is harsh and brittle
disturbing the music of the spheres.

it’s a noisy
and unnerving gong.
the noise
startles me and disturbs the peace
of children and animals.

they lift their heads
and tilt their noggins
toward the din
but their innocence
does not comprehend
the great and terrible
noise.

so i will join them.
i will join their
still small voices
in river-wading,
in star-gazing,
in petal-picking,
and draw pictures of them
in my memory
not because i ignore
the noise,
but because

i suspect the best way
to endure the hideous,
howling racket
today,
is to join other
peaceful creatures
and make myself
quiet.

ljphillips, (c) 2025
all rights reserved

My finite days….

I love walking in the cemetery because it reminds me of life even more than death. All the souls here had plans, and joys, and dreams, and struggles, and a limited number of days.

I heard someone wise say something like this today: “The love you give and the love you receive in life are the only things that really matter.”

In my finite days let me give love and receive it when I’m joyful and sorrowful, when I doubt and deliberate, when I’m fearful, or frustrated, or when I’m in the midst of celebration or loss.

Again I say, let me bring love with me all my finite days.

To write, to read, to speak, to hear words is power. Let the words be used for good.