W. Lee Baker Author Musings

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November 24, 2017 By W. Lee Baker

Stay for Just a While

No, this isn’t about a song. How many times have you lingered in a place just because…you know, just because. There is evidence to support the idea that you were being influenced by something. You might have been telling your busy self that the place is pretty, or the scent in the air is wonderful or whatever.

Down deep inside you are telling yourself that you are enjoying the place, without any more need for stimulation, only a chance to relax. The sounds might have been different than other places, or it is just good to be alone for a minute. You make up the excuse, and whatever it is, anyway, it probably is good for you, all of you.

Go ahead and let yourself have time off, like no one is watching, and there is no score to keep, other than the score your own health is counting on for keeping body and spirit healthy.

This is the place our distant, OK, VERY distant ancestors crawled out of the surf and began to breathe air. The air around the surf has lots of good-for-you particles in it. It’s something about positive ions, the same stuff like just under a waterfall, where it always smells good. There was a restaurant in San Francisco named the Caribbean Zone that had a waterfall inside you could have dinner close to, and I always loved to sit close (without getting wet) for the wonderful feeling it gave off.

So notice these good places and plan to let yourself enjoy the splendor of each one you find. Here is a link to the list of the places in San Francisco where there is a waterfall. They are waiting for you.

Waterfalls in San Francisco

Filed Under: Meditations, Slider, Technology, Top of Mind

MEDITATIONS

Rumi

We began as mineral. We emerged into plant life, and into the animal state, and then into being human, and always we have forgotten our former states, except in early spring when we slightly recall being green again.

Rumi
Stuart Wilde ~ 1946

Watch nature, because it is your greatest teacher. It moves and flows and moves on again. There is an incredible beauty out there in the mountains, in the forests, to teach you it’s silence, it’s beauty, it’s humility. Stay aligned to that.

Stuart Wilde ~ 1946
Rainer Maria Rilke

If you trust in Nature, in the small Things that hardly anyone sees and that can so suddenly become huge, immeasurable; if you have this love for what is humble and try very simply, as someone who serves, to win the confidence of what seems poor, then everything will become easier for you.

Rainer Maria Rilke
Native American

We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water. We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases. We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye. Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things for the good of her children.

Native American
Ray Stevens - 1939

Everything is beautiful in its own way. Like the starry summer night, or a snow-covered winter’s day. And everybody’s beautiful in their own way. Under God’s heaven, the world’s gonna find the way. There is none so blind as he who will not see. We must not close our minds, we must let our thoughts be free. For every hour that passes by, we know the world gets a little bit older,it’s time to realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.

Ray Stevens - 1939
Hermann Hesse

For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche.

Hermann Hesse
John Burroughs

To find the universal elements enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter; to be thrilled by the stars at night: to be elated over a bird’s nest or a wildflower in spring… these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

John Burroughs
Dalai Lama

When the days become longer and there is more sunshine, the grass becomes fresh and, consequently, we feel very happy. On the other hand, in autumn, one leaf falls down and another leaf falls down. The beautiful plants become as if dead and we do not feel very happy. Why? I think it is because deep down our human nature likes construction, and does not like destruction.

Dalai Lama

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FROM W LEE BAKER

I am a testimonial to waking up from the deep sleep buried in clouds of doubt. I wandered lost until I found my way into this life, and I am ever thankful and reverent of the mistakes and losses along the way. Now I hope to offer inspiration to others who find this story.

– W Lee Baker

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