The Blue Skies Shine

This week’s blog will focus on some of my favorite exercises from the second section of my book “The Songbird In My Heart.” These exercises are called “Acts of Contemplation, Freedom for a Glad Heart” and are designed to put you in touch with your deeper self. Each day a corresponding prayer from the book will also be posted to Facebook.

The inspiration for these exercises came from two unlikely sources. The first are the beautiful books from Thomas Merton and his editors A Book of Hours, Seeds of Contemplation, and New Seeds of Contemplation. The second is the red Fieldbook by Peter Senge to his best selling business book The Fifth Discipline. While this part of the book bears little resemblance to these great books, they did serve as inspiration.

Please take some time and try them out! If you like, let me know how it goes. Best of luck. Mark

Acts of Contemplation, Freedom for a Glad Heart

Monday – Walking In Quiet Stillness
Today – The Blue Skies Shine
Wednesday – Naturetime
Thursday – Mindtime
Friday - The Universe in Time


The Blue Skies Shine

Opening Thoughts
Is there anything more beautiful or peaceful than the clear blue skies? The blue skies offer hope of a brand new day of opportunity. The energy in this kind of day allows quiet thoughts and contemplation.

Acts of Contemplation
Act 1 – Set up a recording of the song “Blue Skies” (my favorite is Willie Nelson) either with a headphone system or inside on a sound system. Or if you are alone, sing the song yourself out loud. As you listen, look up into the clear blue sky (out a window if you are inside).

Empty your mind and put aside any issues of the day. Let your mind fill with peacefulness and grace. Enjoy the fresh air. Appreciate the beauty and majesty of this perfect day. Let the song run until it is done. Repeat the song if you like.
As the day progresses let your mind return to this special feeling. Write down anything you feel is important in a journal.

Act 2 – Repeat Act 1 with “Somewhere over the Rainbow”

Act 3 – Repeat Act 1 with your favorite song.

Act 4 - Repeat the previous acts without any musical accompaniment, only you and the day, basking in its magnificence.

Act 5 – Review any notes or memories of Acts 1-4. Make this into a routine act of outdoor contemplation.

Moments when the songbird sings to me

The coyotes

Last night I heard them once again; first just one, then another and then an entire chorus. It is hard to know how many; maybe four, maybe more. It is the howl of a dog, but then for sure not a dog; more of a high-pitched wail, a pitiful song. And then the realization comes, it is a band of coyotes! I shiver in the cool air and retire inside, glad for the safety and comfort.

The honey bees


It is said that a hive of honey bees acts as one being; an orchestra playing its own melody, to its own rhythm, without conductor, without words, yet all in synchrony, nature’s perfect music. My neighbor keeps two hives of bees in my lower orchard, pollinating the fruits and vegetables, producing their honey, achieving their destiny in the quiet stillness of their parallel of the universe. He stops by to report on their seasonal struggle and progress; I love to hear of their achievements.

Birds and their houses


This is that time of the year when the new season approaches, the nights become cooler, the days shorter. This is when the birds finish the raising of their young. The houses will soon be empty, to be used as gathering places of warmth in the approaching cold of fall and winter. I remember this year’s productive summer of cooler days and heavier rains. Yes, the summer of 2009 was a good one, one of recovery for the flowers, the birds, the bees and the trees.

And soon they will gather

As they do every year, on the side of the house and barn. The nights cool into the low 50’s and they appear out of nowhere, dozens of preying mantis and walking sticks. Striking in their unique appearance, this year I will finally remember to take their pictures.

As she looked deeply into my eyes

I tried to understand her silent request as I awoke slowly from an afternoon nap. She had just moved onto the sofa, next to my favorite chair, bringing her within inches of my face. She trembled with great intention, wordless in her approach, a low whimper the only sound. The Grandfather’s clock then rang 5 times, and it dawned on me, it was dinner time and the dogs were hungry. It is time to be fed, now! The message came into sharp focus as I lifted my rested body to perform the nightly ritual, truly an honor and privilege. Every moment is so precious.



Nothing like a hot bath

After a hard day’s work in the garden, there is nothing like the delicious moment of sinking into a hot, sudsy bath. The soothing heat on tired muscles is like a gentle massage of gratitude for the day’s work. Sitting in the quiet stillness of the rising vapor, empty of intention or need, everything is right once again.


The first snowfall

There is something very special about the season’s first snowfall. The hot days of summer not far behind, the autumn leaves spread across the ground and now the sudden stillness and quiet of the falling snow. I especially love to wake up to the surrounding whiteness, and then witness the dogs’ bewildered surprise on its first discovery. It is just around the corner.

Monroe Institute’s Music

The Monroe Institute is down the street from me on Robert’s Mountain here in west-central Virginia. You may have heard of Robert Monroe. He was one of the first to write about his out of body experiences. He formed an Institute before his death, where they hold retreats and work on a special technique of recording music. It is specifically designed for headphone listening; its objective is to balance the sounds in a way to produce a quiet mind. Check out their MetaMusic at http://www.monroeinstitute.org.

Time, Athletics and You

Have you ever watched our greatest athletes? Maybe you have been one yourself. The best ones operate in the present moment. They don’t think about anything.


They don’t wonder how to shoot the basket, hit the ball or throw the pitch. They just move to the music of their athletic soul, in complete mindfulness. They operate in the pivot of time, the absolute moment of now. When they stop to think about anything, the music stops, and the performance suffers. They fall back to earth and become imperfect once again, mere mortals living in their minds of illusion with all the rest of us.


Does the lion wonder whether he will chase down the gazelle? Does the seed need to be told how to sprout? Does the flower know when to bloom? We are so busy thinking about how to correct the past, or anticipating the future, that we forget the only thing that is real, the present moment of now. Be the lion, or be the seed, or be the flower. They remember what we have all forgot.