I am awake before the children and the dog are awake

Awake for a short time to grow myself, to expand my consciousness

But my attachments draw me closer

I want fresh hot coffee, snuggling under wooly blankets

I want to read for fun and go on Pinterest and Facebook, stepping out of the now time

I feel my urges to shop for Fall clothing

I feel dread about Fall and the return to all of my commitments

~

I could get out of bed

and sit and breathe

or do yoga and breathe

Or run up and down the hill outside of my door, and really breathe

But this morning, eventually, I read about being in the moment

the here and now

Being alive and awake to the only thing we have, this precious, precious moment

~

I read and I relax

I look out at the lake and I breathe

I slide in and out, but for a few moments I am there

I am breathing

I am awake and one with my surroundings

I see it! I see the world as it should be! Clarity for a moment!

~

I found recently that my attachment to this place

may end

Well, of course it will end; someday will be my final day here in this place of beauty

And I realize I will attach again

to somewhere new

The human condition of attachment prevails

~

And yet later as I drive down the roadway, I feel hopeful

I realize I have been given so many new opportunities

For healing and peace

To step into the moment, where everything is really okay

And I can walk out of my previous paths

changing and transforming

~

To be here now, to express the light within

To be of service to others

To support my loved one on their own paths

Reach down here now

And color me in bold

bright and beautiful

color after color

~

Make me as purple

as the ripened grapes

sitting on the vine

waiting for harvest in October

~

Paint me as yellow

as a newborn chick’s fluffy feathers

drying around the warmth

of the mother hen’s belly

~

Color me as blue

as a clear summer morning sky

stretching across and over

a cool alpine lake at rest

~

Sketch me as green

as the dark green of the damp forest

after a passing summer thunderstorm

which moves quick as lightening, soon out of sight

~

Design me as orange

as the deep orange flames lapping at dry wood

tossed onto a campfire

creating a smokey memory of days gone by

~

Create me as red

as the blood that seeps through the bandage

placed over the newly formed injury

before it dries to a deep purple brown

~

Pink, white, silver, brown, black, and gold

Aubergine, turquoise, amber, vermillion, and verdigris

Puce, violet, manganese, jasper, malachite, razzmatass,

Coral, scarlett, sienna, indigo, and cobalt

~

Color me brilliant

Color me again

Color me always

Color after color