But for the Love

Posted by Deep Souldiver

“Unless you know how to love your neighbor, you cannot love God. Before placing an offering on the altar of God, you have to reconcile with your neighbor, because reconciling with your neighbor is to reconcile with God. You can only touch God through his creatures; you will not understand what is true love, the love of God, unless you practice the love of humanity.” ~Thich Nhat Hahn, Zen master, poet and peace activist, Taming the Tiger Within

Recently, I had the honor of becoming friends with Chase Gagnon through a poetry group we’re apart of on Facebook. To say it simply, his words move my soul. Today, I have the privilege to share the power of his poetry, photography and storytelling! Enjoy.

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“I was walking into Zeff’s on the corner of Russell and Winder for lunch when I saw him sitting against the wall. The same tattered old man who’s always roaming around Eastern Market through the snow and freezing rain asking strangers for money, the guy who you can see digging through dumpsters and trash cans looking for scraps of food.

I never have anything to give him, and he knows this by now. But it’s the day after Christmas, and I just hit it big off a dollar scratcher. Won thirty five bucks. He puts his head down as I approach, shielding his face from the wind. “Hey man, you want some lunch?” His eyes lit up “you serious fam? I’m hungry as a motherfucker!

I said “hell yeah!” motioning him with my head to get up off the cold ground. We walked into the filthy dive and sat at the bar, each ordered a couple coney dogs and some chilly fries with a hot cup of coffee.”

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“We sat and talked about basketball, how insane Andre Drummond played last night as highlights from the game flashed across the fuzzy TV screen above the counter. Laughed at how stupid our fellow Americans were for electing Donald Trump, and then talked a little bit about how goddamn cold it’s been this past week.

I saw his eyes ice over when he thought about the weather outside, gazing back out into the filthy streets where he sleeps while he sipped his piping hot coffee, both bare hands gripping the mug for warmth. “You know, I can’t remember the last time someone treated me like a human.”

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how bitter
its silence —
gently falling snow

~Chase Gagnon

*photos, poetry, and storytelling by Chase Gagnon

Reality Dreaming

Posted by Deep Souldiver

“Give your soul the silence it needs to make itself heard. Because the voice of your soul is silent. It’s power can flourish only in the silences. Then your soul will fill you with life. You will be like you really are.”

~Hainz Körmer

I’ll Stay With My Heart

Posted by Deep Souldiver

Kisses from the sky

Every pale petal blushing

Summer days deepen

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

Shades of loneliness

Dreams of far away places

Caught in summer rain

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

What Don’t Kill Ya

Posted by Deep Souldiver

Pulling up a heavy heart

Produces crooked curves

Hunching low

For earthbound hugs.

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

“Spiritual yearning is the homesickness of the soul.” – Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

What Don’t Kill Ya

Random Haikus

Posted by Deep Souldiver

curls of smoke

Curls of smoke unfurl
Leaving confusion behind
With flowers and words

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

*photo found on Pinterest, Blackbird

moon and venus

Dancing with Venus
Through edges of midnight blue
Mother Earth blushes

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

*Photo by Al Francis

An Offering to Self

Posted by Deep Souldiver

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“We have all faced moments in our lives when the pressure mounts beyond what we feel we can handle, and we find ourselves thinking that we do not have the strength to carry on. Sometimes we have just gotten through a major obstacle or illness only to find another one waiting for us the moment we finally catch our breath. Sometimes we endure one loss after another, wondering when we will get a break from life’s travails. It does not seem fair or right that life should demand more of us when we feel we have given all we can, but sometimes this is the way life works.

strength

When we look back on our lives, we see that we have survived many trials and surmounted many obstacles, often to our own amazement. In each of those instances, we had to break through our ideas about how much we can handle and go deeper into our hidden reserves. The thought that we do not have the strength to handle what is before us can be likened to the hard surface of a frozen lake. It appears to be an impenetrable fact, but when we break through it, we find that a deep well of energy and inspiration was trapped beneath that icy barrier the whole time. Sometimes we break through by cutting a hole into our resistance with our willpower, and sometimes we melt the ice with compassion for our predicament and ourselves. Either way, each time we break through, we reach a new understanding of the strength we store within ourselves.

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When we find ourselves up against that frozen barrier of thinking we cannot handle our situation, we may find that the kindest choice is to love ourselves and our resistance too. We can simply accept that we are overwhelmed, exhausted, and stretched, and we can offer ourselves loving kindness and compassion. If we can extend to ourselves the unconditional warmth of a mother’s love, before we know it, the ice will begin to break.”

By Madisyn Taylor, from Finding Deep Strength

First and last photos by Phillip Schumacher, Surreal Self-Portraits

Middle photo found on The Beauty of Ballet

Uncluttered

Posted by Deep Souldiver

soul

“As I unclutter my life, I free myself to answer the callings of my soul.”

~Clarissa Pinkoles Estes

*photo taken from fb:

https://www.facebook.com/MademoiselleAlma

Letting go of Demands

Posted by Deep Souldiver

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“There is a very Simple Secret to being happy. Just let go of your ‘demand’ on this moment. Any time you have a demand on the moment to give you something or remove something, there is suffering. You’re Arguing with ‘What Is’ – Your demands keep you chained to the ‘dream-state’ of the conditioned mind. The desire to ‘control’… is, ultimately, our unwillingness to just be awake.”

~Adyashanti

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“Spiritual awakening happens when you stop bullshitting yourself into continual non-awakening. It’s very easy to use disciplines to avoid reality rather than to encounter it. A true spirituality will have you continually facing your illusions and all the ways you avoid reality. Spiritual practice may be an important means of confronting yourself, or it may be a means of avoiding yourself; it all depends on your attitude and intention.”

~Adyashanti

Petals on the wind

Rising and falling away

The gift of presence

© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016

Let Loose

Posted by Deep Souldiver

Raddest

*photo by Bill Eppridge

There comes a time when you just have to let loose and be yourself. Throw away all the fears, and open to what is there. No matter what. Open to it…

“…confidence, certainty, commitment, perseverance, focus, courage, decisiveness and a willingness to take a risk.”

“The risk is about truth, faith and going after what you know in your heart to be right from a place of integrity and spirit.”

“This will affect all areas of your life including business, relationships, how you show up in the world, your health and well-being, and whom you choose to be around and what you choose to complete or eliminate from your life.”

~Mysticmama, http://www.mysticmamma.com/astrology-for-march-2016-beyond-recognition-by-sarah-varcas/

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.” ― Allen Ginsberg

“Don’t compromise yourself – you’re all you have.” ― John Grisham

You never know what you’ll discover when you find the courage to be true to yourself. You’ll be about the raddest person alive in your skin!