For a variety of reasons, I’ve been contemplating archetypes – especially those about aging.  This post is about some of this reflection:

Once upon a time, I thought winter would bundle me in purple, like the lady who would wear purple when she was old.  Old, though, is always just a few years more than your current age.   On the first snow of the season, I paused to think about my life and future.  Who should appear at the back pond’s edge but the Great Blue Heron, bundled in her grey blue plumage hunched to hold her stance against the brutal wind.

This was the first time, I had observed the Heron in the snow.  She may have been there before many times, but this is the first I  noticed her.  The first time I really saw her was on a Spring day a few years before.   Over the years, she appears at interesting times in my life.   She presented herself so often that I began to note her character.  A few weeks ago, I wrote this short poem and realized, purple is a lovely color to wear whether you are old or not, but as I grow older,  I wish to cultivate the character of the majestic heron! Continue reading

…far from representing death, the symbolism of mourning doves gives us optimism with its spirituality.  Beyond their sorrowful song is a message of life, hope, renewal and peace.

– Author unknown,  mourning dove symbolism found in an internet search

Continue reading

When despair in the world grows in me…I go and lie down where…the great heron feeds.  I come to the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought or grief…For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free. – Wendell Berry

Continue reading

Creativity is the Blue Heron within us waiting to fly; through her imagination all things become possible – Nadia Janice Brown

At the center of your being you have the answer. You know who you are and you know what you want. – Lao Tzu

I learned in the business world that after you’ve developed a strategy, there are certain times that are inflection points.  This is a time when an external event may warrant you re-looking at your strategy or plan to see if the actions and path you are taking to achieve your objectives are still valid.   While I considered myself pretty adept at this skill in business, I never really thought about it in the context of my own life.

Continue reading