Photo: Osnat Halperin-Barlev
Stay focused on what matters:
The smiles that gladden
The hugs that hold
The beauty that makes your heart quicken
The deep power of empathy
The healing breath of soul.
Stay focused
On the big picture
And on the
Details
That make it
Whole.
For The Daily Post
Photo: Ofir Asif
Do not let anyone tell you
That kindness
Is a privilege
For other times.
Do not let anyone convince you
That truth
Is peripheral
To the necessity of
Getting some things done.
Do not let anyone berate you
That hope is
Irrelevant
And you are somehow
Weak
For holding on
To empathy, veracity, civility, belief.
They are all
Relevant.
Especially
Now.
For The Daily Post
Photo: Osnat Halperin-Barlev
There’s a tether that connects the hearts of care, the souls of kindness. It is tangible. It is sublime. It has a quality of light which bridges time and place, happenstance and circumstance.
It is not about words. Or at least not exactly. It is the way one can be seen: if known by name or face or only by the recognition of a shared humanity. It is the way one can be heard: by action or response, reflection or emotion, by prayer and by thought. It is the way we all are one, essentially, affected by the pains and joys that grip even those whom we may not know, and yet are part of us, in one way or another.
There is a tether that fetters heartbeats to the expressions of another. It is seen in young and old as mirror neurons and empathy weave the tapestry of wisdom and pulse with compassion.
There is a tether interlinking who we each are with who we can be. It exists in sharp relief to whom we might become if we risk the loss of that which nourishes what ticks within.
“It is a chain to care,” some say, reluctant of obligation. “A leash. A hindrance to independence.”
Not so, for it is not restraint, but rather a foundation. A cornerstone of interconnection. We are none of us truly an island, and all part of a shared future: the air, the earth, the water, the resources, the young and old, the hearts and minds.
For The Daily Post
We all need reprieve
From war
From cruelty
From violence
Driven by power
Urged by greed.
We all need reprieve
From sorrow
From loss
And worry
A release
From need.
May we reach out in care
To spare
Another
And let decency
And hope
Be freed.
For The Daily Post
May the heart of life be open
To the light
And may the truth of human
Goodness
Be uncovered.
May false layers
Of defended animosity
Peel away the
Pretended differences
And empty superiorities
That aim to keep
Empathy
From taking hold.
May the heart of love
Be open.
May humanity find way
To the universally
Innate
Imperative
Unending
Veracity
Of hope.
For The Daily Post
Be an apprentice
In your own life.
We are all beginners.
Novices
Of our own path.
Training
To decipher
The evolving codes
Of heart
And mind.
Students of
A universe
Where the glitter
Of conflict
Blinds the rookie
From seeing
The reality
Of
Love.
For The Daily Post
Reach deep into your soul
And you will see
Shared roots hold
All that we have ever been
And all that we are
Meant to be.
For The Daily Post
Dhammakaya Temple, Thailand: 100,000 Monks Praying for Peace, (Luke Duggleby)
There’s a spike in crime. There’s a spike in hate. There’s a spike in divisive talk around the country, world, the internet.
There’s a spike in violence, a spike in stress, a spike in power-hunger, a spike in blame.
Let’s spike a counter-spike, to douse the flames.
Let us spike in kindness. Let’s bring a spike in care. May a spike in love envelop everywhere. …
For The Daily Post
At the center of everything,
There’s heartbeat
And love.
At the center of everything,
Live intention
And compassion.
The currencies
Of empathy and growth,
The misty breath
Of light
Amidst the chaos.
At the center of everything,
Spin the threads that weave
Together
Soul and healing
Breadth and scope,
Into a tapestry
Of freedom
Peace and
Hope.
For The Daily Post
Replace your fretting with a voice.
Speak up
About your truth.
Resist the wish to curl up under pillows
To avoid
Unpleasantness
Conflict
Misunderstanding.
Push against the wish to look the other way
When humans
Someplace ‘other’ than your home
Flee injustice.
Replace apathy or indifference
With empathy.
Replace a narrow vision
With expansion of your heart:
There is no ‘us’ and ‘them’ unless you choose to emulate
Those who seek to divide and control
Instead of heal.
Replace your fear of the unknown
Your terror of the ‘stranger’
Whose lives, religion, culture
You don’t understand …
With the wisdom that we are
And never stopped to be
First and foremost human
And our children are as
Precious
As those born in other lands.
Replace the need to marginalize,
With the understanding that the only margins are those
We choose to accept
Or follow.
Replace the lumping of the ‘other’
Into warring words and baleful messages,
With actually seeing the individuals:
They are no different than you,
No less in need of help in times of crisis
They are no more inherently capable of hate
Than you.
Reject rhetoric that equates your safety
With the deprivation
Of another.
Replace it
With the facts:
We are stronger together
Than we ever can be
In division.
We are better together
Than we ever can be
In isolation.
We are safer in compassion
Than we ever can be
In prejudice or xenophobia.
We are all that we will nourish.
Speak up.
Let us help those who do not yet know truth,
See it
Hear it
Understand.
A place to improve my writing skills, and that's all.
We're not thriving, we're creatively photosynthesizing under duress.
History of the Bloomingdale area on Manhattan's Upper West Side
A creative miscellany of mythic fantasies
a weekly flash fiction prompt inspired by google maps
A community for writers to learn, grow, and connect.
To participate in the Ragtag Daily Prompt, create a Pingback to your post, or copy and paste the link to your post into the comments. And while you’re there, why not check out some of the other posts too!
I can't sleep...
Alternative haven for the Daily Post's mourners!
never judge a girl by her weight
original fiction and rhyme
You have reached a quiet bamboo grove, where you will find an eclectic mix of nature, music, writing, and other creative arts. Tao-Talk is curated by a philosophical daoist who has thrown the net away.
A photographer's view of the world - words and images to inspire your travels and your dreams
Life in progress
Straight up with a twist– Because life is too short to be subtle!
WordPress & Blogging tips, flash fiction, photography and lots more!
Light Words
Na'ama Yehuda 
You must be logged in to post a comment.