We tire of unpredictable weather, the damp morning chill, wet socks and lost mittens. Winter keeps reminding it is not through with us.
We have suffered long enough.
The streets are tired and dirty and the time change only makes things darker in the morning.
We need a brighter view.
We need, now, the renewal that comes with spring.
03/20/2023 j.g.l.
Progress comes less from planning than participation.
Dreams and wishes require action and attention.
Start moving.
03/19/2023 j.g.l.
If we wait too long
for the stars to align, for
some kind of hope, or
some kind of sign,
if we let our lives hang on
still-bated breath, we will
forever wonder
what is still to come
or what we have left. If we
don’t own the moments,
or make them our own,
will we ever feel like
we’ve made our way home?
If we can’t be honest
with others, and especially
our selves,
can we ever explain why
or how
we once felt?
If we wait too long, it
may never arrive.
Stop waiting,
start doing,
start feeling alive.
© 2016 j.g. lewis
Should I put away my winter coat?
The chance of snow seems so remote
as spring weather seems quite near.
Do I take a chance or feel the fear?
Especially early mornings confuse,
temperatures as low as my spirit.
The steady, cold winds abuse.
I lift my collar to shield my nape
from climes I simply can’t escape.
Damp chill cutting through the fabric
of my soul, how should I know when
it is safe to accept the loss of winter
and leave my coat at home unhindered.
03/21/2023 j.g.l.
Every year on March 21st, UNESCO
celebrates life and literacy through
World Poetry Day.
Poetry speaks to our common humanity
and we share our words when we can,
whenever we can, but especially today.
Live your humanity; express yourself with care and compassion for others. We are all human.
Play on. We will all benefit from the chorus of your constant melody.
03/05/2023 j.g.l.
on your own terms
in your own time
only you know
what you need
take the time to
find out why
02/28/2023 j.g.l.
I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
– to let slight pain seep into your psyche.
– to let symptoms become problems.
– to let that last mistake haunt you.
– to expect too much of yourself.
– to become disappointed.
– to overlook your worth.
– to settle.
– to stop.
© 2023 j.g. lewis
Are you resting or waiting?
A former yoga teacher used to, occasionally, ask this question in class. It was always during the long savasana in the middle, after the warm-up and standing series, and in preparation for the final half.
Even if the studio was mat-to-mat with bodies, this question always felt like it was directed towards me. It was always on days when the sweat seemed to run more deliberately into my eyes, my breath would not soften, my muscles remained tense, and my head would be stuck in the emotional traffic.
I’d get all fidgety and restless, and it was nothing like a corpse pose should be. My focus was on anything but my yoga practice, and it was like I was waiting to move on or waiting to be done with class so I could get on with everything else.
I wasn’t reaching the stillness required.
I wasn’t resting.
I was waiting for the next postures to begin.
There is a huge difference between resting and waiting.
When you rest, whether in a yoga class or getting much-needed sleep at night, you need to let your entire being go slack; your eyes remain closed and your mind is open, and there should be nothing trailing in and out of your head.
When you rest, you leave yourself open to dreams and ideas, and change. Your blood flows unrestricted, flushing the body of toxins and negative energy. You breathe, unceremoniously, allowing oxygen to circulate and seep into the cells and deepest reaches of your brain.
When you are resting you remain open to what is ahead. You aren’t waiting for anything.
When you are waiting, even when trying to rest, you never reach the point of relaxation.
While you are waiting, your muscles are contracted; your rigid back and bones preventing blood from flowing freely. When you are tense, your mind is closed off to everything, except the thing you are waiting for.
You are too intent on looking ahead, and thinking how you’ll get there, that your body does not have the opportunity to rejuvenate. You become anxious, and issues and obstacles appear out of nowhere and they stick around for as long as your reckless mind will allow.
If you don’t get the rest you need, you can’t recover from what you’ve been putting yourself through. If you don’t rest, you are never fully able concentrate on the tasks at had because you haven’t rested well enough, or long enough.
You’ve been tying up the mind with waiting for what will happen, that you never see and feel the rest of what life has to offer.
Waiting is fine, waiting can be good (good things come to those who wait), and waiting is necessary, but it should not interfere with your rest.
We spend all too much time thinking of things, when we really need more time to sit and not think.
We all need more rest, and we all need less waiting.
I know I need more time to relax and to breathe.
We all need the time to rest and just be.
© 2016 j.g. lewis
Freshly fallen snow accepts my footprints.
I continue.
How long have I travelled
and where will I end up?
The path is not solitary.
In my absence the footprints will be joined
by the definite steps of others, strangers I will never meet,
but each of them will leave a mark.
As I have done.
Footprints will continue after the snow has
melted or washed away with the next rain.
Every step impermanent, but not without purpose.
We are each on a path, at times without direction.
All of us have somewhere to go
even if it is not witnessed by others.
© 2023 j.g. lewis
I once thought I
was somebody else,
unrecognizable
to my self,
my sanity and
a specific ideal
of whom I should be.
Somebody else, unlike me,
historically.
I thought once
somebody else could
recognize me,
the way I was or
wanted to be.
Flaws and all,
as it is, as
it was, as it should be;
mysteriously.
© 2023 j,g, lewis
Stand your ground, or step forward.
Moving backwards is not healthy. Time expires, the routes change as the distance grows, and you have gained so much wisdom from the day-to-day journey.
You got where you are by traveling where you have been.
It’s all too easy to become complacent in the moment, but what is keeping you there?
Think of all that is ahead. Keep moving.
Leave your troubles, or your pain, behind.
It’s not the past that holds you back, but what prevents you from moving ahead.
Emotional traffic and fear has built up, yes, but attitude and mind control can help breakthrough the barriers.
We move on for a reason.
Many times the unknown is healthier than knowing, or remembering, where you have been.
© 2018 j.g. lewis
