26.1.07

Photo Friday: Brother


Toss, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.
good as brothers, goofing off in a winter way

20.1.07

experimenting with fintan's getset

What will Change Everything?

What fills the heart that has emptied in despair?
How can surrender change darkness into vision?


© by Maureen Shaughnessy

He who has seen everything empty itself is close to knowing what everything is filled with. -- Antonio Porchia
translated by W.S.Merwin, from
Voices

O lovers
Love will lay a carpet of treasures under your feet.
Musicians
Love will fill your drums with gold.
Thirsty ones
Love will turn your scorched desert into a meadow of paradise.
Forsaken ones
Love will open the doors to the King's palace.
Alchemists
Love's alchemy will reshape gallows into altars.
Sinners
Love will change your apathy to faith.
Kings of the world
in love's hands you will melt like a candle.

To the parched lips of those who are willing to surrender
Love will bring the wine
that changes darkness into vision,
cruelty into compassion and dust into precious incense.

Those who think the heart is only in the chest
take two or three steps and are content.
The rosary, the prayer rug and repentance
are paths that they mistake for the destination.

-- Translation by Azima Melita Kolin & Maryam Mafi
"Rumi: Hidden Music," 2001

19.1.07

Year of Living Gorgeously

Head over to Helen and Paola's excellent blog Year of Living Gorgeously, where they are holding a photo contest for January. The theme is (get ready for the surprise ...) "January!" There's a cool prize for the best January photo. Sooo... without further ado (as they say on those glamorous evenings in Hollywood .... here is my january photo:

14.1.07

I Shall Not Walk Alone

Dedicated to every single one of my friends, especially to Tammy and Pam, whose courage in living their lives fully -- and with such heart -- with ALS, always astounds and inspires me ... here is a song by Ben Harper and The Blind Boys, I Shall Not Walk Alone ...

To play, click the left arrow below. Volume control is a slider on the right side of this button:


12.1.07

Autumn in Montana & Eva Cassidy Singing: Fields of Gold

Click the player below to listen to Eva's sweet voice while you peruse these photos of Autumn in Montana:



"The Look"


"The Look", originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

I fell in love with this guy and it was partly because of his sense of humor. "The Look" ... well, you just have to get a look at the shape of those eyebrows ... and mouth (if you can see it there, under Tim's mustache). I'm hopelessly connected to him.

Tim sang this song to me at our wedding reception:



Soulmates

Seasonal Rhythms: Winter



Here's another of my favorite Mark Knopfler songs to accompany these winter scenes:

World under the Surface

8.1.07

Lone Cottonwood Braves Coming Storm


Lone Cottonwood Braves Coming Storm, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

click below, to play Eva Cassidy's, Time after Time

7.1.07

Winter Evening with Glittering Branches

woven stories tangled lives


woven stories tangled lives, originally uploaded by MontanaRaven.

6.1.07

Qi of the Deep Blues

Copyright 2007 by Maureen Shaughnessy

5.1.07

LifeForce Qi Moss

Copyright 2007 by Maureen Shaughnessy

4.1.07

Sawmill Creek late afternoon color