Busy, busy, busy

Hey little guy,

what ya doin today?

Not much dear girl,

I thought I’d sway.

From tree to tree,

and to and fro.

And watch the people

down below.

They rush and run,

don’t notice the sun.

They text and talk,

and run, not walk

Inhaling food,

not savouring each bite.

Under a tree,

they’ve lost all sight.

Of what it is

to live each day.

To love and learn,

and rest and play.

To see the gift

each moment brings.

Oh well, dear girl

I’m off to swing.

“The genesis moment is to assume every moment is fresh” –Makoto Fujimura

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This poem and photo I have posted before. I have decided to do so again because I am in a season of busyness. Lots and lots and lots of busyness. For this reason, I have decided to take a brief hiatus of about a month in order to focus on getting things done that I so desperately need to.

The following are a few other poetry photos I have taken around my place (and yes, the mico monkeys are real, and we live together 🙂 ).

I will be back on WordPress in about a month.

 

A Monkey’s thoughts

Hey little guy,

what ya doin today?

Not much dear girl,

I thought I’d sway.

From tree to tree,

and to and fro.

And watch the people

down below.

They rush and run,

don’t notice the sun.

They text and talk,

and run, not walk

Inhaling food,

not savouring each bite.

Under a tree,

they’ve lost all sight.

Of what it is

to live each day.

To love and learn,

and rest and play.

To see the gift

each moment can bring.

Oh well, dear girl

I’m off to swing.

---

I was invited by Elizabeth from Tea and Paper to join the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge: “Post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”. Elizabeth posts photos, poems, artsy stuff and other things on her lovely blog. Please drop by and check it out.

I started this challenge on Monday last week, however I have had difficulties with my internet connection. I have also been really uninspired lately. Even though our move is complete, getting everything organized and in place hasn’t been completed yet. Being a person that thrives on routine, this has left me a bit stumped. The good thing is that this past weekend I was able to get a lot done. Now I just need to clean up and organize my creative space.

My nomination for today is Kate Loveton, from Odyseey of a Novice Writer. I’ve been following Kate since my earlier days of blogging and she is a great writer. I especially like her flash fiction. Check her out. You won’t be disappointed.

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In keeping with the theme, I thought I’d continue on the topic of ‘rest’. It seems like a lot of humanity has lost sight of listening to and obeying our bodies, and their need for rest. In this fast-paced life, we need to be intentional with our rest. There are so many things that vie for our attention, that if we don’t get intentional, sooner or later we’ll burn out. I’m guilty of it. I think most of us probably are. Even God rested after creating everything. He knew it was important. Rest is not a luxury, but essential for our health.

Are you guilty of not being intentional with rest? Have you ever suffered burn out? How did it effect you physically, mentally and emotionally?

Hanging Around (Tanaga)

I was invited by Elizabeth from Tea and Paper to join the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge: “Post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”. Elizabeth posts photos, poems, artsy stuff and other things on her lovely blog. Please drop by and check it out.

My nomination for today is Rob, from The V-Pub. Rob is a fun blogger that writes about everything and anything, and has been a faithful friend for over a year and a half now.

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The above photo is of a plant that hangs from bananas, and was taken close to my house. I have written a Tanaga poem once again to pair with my photo. I thought the theme of the poem was perfect for it.

Here is another photo I took of the plant hanging from the bananas.

Modern living has placed expectations on humanity (at least much of the western world) to always be busy. I have decided not to buy into that way of thinking. I believe that living a healthy lifestyle doesn’t just mean eating right and exercising. A healthy lifestyle includes taking care of the entire being – body, soul and spirit. For this to happen, it is necessary to stop regularly and just hang out. Do nothing. Relax and rest. It may even mean saying ‘no’ to others when they ask something of you.

Do you regularly take time out to just hang out? To do nothing? To relax and breathe a bit? What do you like to do to relax and take care of yourself?

A Meaningful Life (Cyhydedd Fer)

Have you ever gotten stressed out or run down by all of your coming and going? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all that you have to ‘do’? I have.

I have the amazing privilege of living in a place where my neighbours are monkeys, outside my front door is a coconut tree, and to the side of my house are various banana trees. I have been trying to learn a bit about photography on the weekends, and this photo is one I took of my neighbour. It makes me think about how we get so caught up in the busyness of life, that we forget about what it means to ‘live’.

Do you ever make a point of stepping back a bit to breathe? What do you consider ‘living’ to be (if that makes sense 🙂 )?

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The Cyhydedd Fer is a Welsh poetry form. It is a couplet of two lines, each having eight syllables and both rhyme. 

Urban Melody/Melodia Urbana

This poem is my first collaboration with Adriano Yamamoto, a very talented Brazilian poet. We wrote this poem together considering issues of modern society, consumerism and the lack of affection and human connection. After reading Culture Monk’s post, I just knew this was the topic to go with.

How does this poem make you feel? Do you believe that modern living causes us to isolate ourselves? Do you believe that it’s a huge contributor to the depression epidemic?