Hi Everyone!
The poem on the home page banner, Life’s Wake, is one that I wrote a few years ago, while riding my bike.  The sequence and rhyming of the poem seemed to emerge with my pedal strokes. The words bubbled up early in that ride and for the rest of the 20 or so miles, I rode in devoted solitude repeating the words with the left, right, left of my pedals not wanting to forget. I’m honored the poem chose me since that’s exactly what it felt like. I had simply set out on a bike ride on a beautiful Carolina afternoon and the words presented themselves. As I rode through the picturesque countryside by horses grazing in undulating fields, pine cones seemingly scattered like confetti from a forgotten party on the sides of the roads, that famous deep blue sky watching from above and the words to Life’s Wake bubbling up with each stroke of the pedal; all very pertinent to the world around me then, all very pertinent to the world around me now.

Life’s Wake sums up everything I believe to be most important. Just like a boat on the water, we leave a wake behind everything we do, say and think. Yes, I believe our thoughts leave a wake! It’s important to understand that our wake effects everyone who comes in contact with us and with the energy we leave behind. The circumstances are not important but our actions and thoughts always are. Every action we take effects something or someone else; our thoughts are equally powerful which is why believing our thoughts isn’t always a good idea (just because we have a thought doesn’t mean it’s true, valid or accurate). When we have a thought that isn’t positive, we tend to judge others and/or ourselves and then there it is…from what appeared to be a benign thought results in a toxin that negatively effects us and everyone in our wake.

In coming posts I will write about becoming more thoughtful toward ourselves and others. Being mindful is somewhat de riguer these days but until we step outside our often self-absorbed mind (afterall, what else would we expect it be…), we aren’t really acting on mindfullness. What’s missing in much of the mindfullness-new age-self-discovery programs and workshops is the action of stepping outside ourself to start considering others. It’s true – we have to know how to nurture ourself before we can nurture others, but being kind and considerate is the first step to becoming thoughtful and you’re never gonna be mindful if you can’t be thoughtful – that’s like putting on shoes and then thinking you’re going to put on your socks – it ain’t gonna work.

Consider this…if you see someone upset or know someone who is struggling, try talking with them, not about them. When we can step outside of our own box of concerns we can be present for others. Becoming more thoughtful will change who you are, how you feel about yourself and how you feel about and treat others. When your wake becomes pleasant for everyone you will immediately experience how good it feels when it comes back to you because it will and it does, over and over, day after day – it’s so simple yet we make it difficult. We need to be courageous enough to care about others a step at a time. It’s like standing in a long line at the grocery store, do we really want to cede our positon to someone else just because they have fewer items? But that is the mindset we need in order to care about the wake we leave behind. If we care about our wake, we can improve it. When the path you leave behind is smooth you’ll see your path ahead will be the same.

I welcome your comments, I’d love to hear about your wake!
Thanks for reading and a special thank you to Paul A. for naming the ‘Manna from Haven’ page!
~ Haven

Coming soon:
“Tourist or Traveler”…How do you live your life?
“Taking it Personally”…Do you really know what that means?
The “J” Word…Why even allowing it into your mindstream is toxic