Happiness

~Deborah Warren

 

You think of it as a summer that’s somewhere else,
where the insects are rubies and emeralds in the trees,
flitting through hymns you’ll be able to hear–tomorrow,
where petals quiver out on the air like flames.
And plumed birds flash around it, scarlet peacocks
waiting there, tricked out for your arrival:
Music and beauty;  that’s what you want from it.

 

What it is is the opposite of that.
It’s here already, here in your local April–
what did you picture? A bauble from the sun?
A star come down and planted in a garden
(up the road) and even at noon the dew
hanging like beads of heaven on its leaves?
No. It’s more like burdock, say, or vetch.

 

You want it to be the color of sherbet;  strange;
a tulip in blue or melons with violet flesh,
or a tree with arpeggios where the fruit should be,
tended by gods who amuse you while you eat–
who fan it with gold-hinged wings and delicious antics;
sweeter, really, than you can believe.  Instead,
it’s plain–it’s too plain even to be noticed,
as plain as the grass you’re walking in today.

 

This poem is a profound inquiry into mind, desire and being present and aware of our reality.  These exact themes are explored in my new online course, The Four Noble Truths.  What is not offered in the poem above is a method for dealing with the suffering that arises in the difference between what we desire and what happens.  This suffering from the desire for things to be any other way than how they actually are is a shared human experience.  The Four Noble Truths course is a “book club style” online course that provides a reading guide to Phillip Moffitt’s beautiful and insightful book, Dancing with Life and worksheets and meditations to help you bring these insights into your practice and daily life.  The tuition for this 5-week course is $25.  If you are looking for a meaningful summer read and a way to create or re-inspire a daily meditation practice, please consider joining this supportive and intelligent book club community.

Here is more information on how this unique book club style course came to be:

FREE GUIDED MEDITATION

And, I hope you will either join me LIVE or listen to the recording of a guided meditation on interdependence.  The live guided meditation is on Monday, July 1st from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.  It is FREE.  Completely FREE with no registration or strings attached.  Due to space limitations, I highly recommend showing up for the call at least 5-minutes before it is supposed to begin.  Absolutely no experience with yoga or meditation is required.  Just get comfortable, sit back, listen and relax!  Here is the link to the event page: http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=43192956

SIGN-UP

Every week I send out love notes to everyone on my mailing list.  Yes, that’s right.  Love notes.  The kind that make you all excited and a little giggly and nervous because you just can’t wait to open them and see what’s inside!  Of course, you will also have access to exclusive meditation and yoga events and get the first notification on new programs and projects.  And, as a little treat, I will also send you a mini-booklet of short meditations that you can do right now to feel less stress.