Category Archives: Week in Review

May 14, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 14 May 2017

It is Mother’s Day in many parts of the world. If you are a mother, I wish you a wonderful day. You deserve to be loved and honored. If you are missing your mother I wish you warm memories, healing, and grace. And if you are a child or mother whose relationship is fractured, I wish you hope and reconciliation.

Life is complicated isn’t it? So complicated and so fleeting. How many minutes, how many hours do we spend each day worrying, working to survive, taking up space, wasting time? How many breaths do we consciously take…how many moments do we savor?

I am woefully caught up in the whirlwind of life’s distractions. I spend most of my days in a an oblivious, vapid haze. My existence is a breathless blur. Each day is like a bulbous speck of mercury colliding into the blob of previously squandered days. But it doesn’t have to be.

Being present is hard. Sometimes it’s painful. But it is also what frees us from the blur. A single moment of mindfulness can open the door to wonder, gratitude, peace, and healing. It is balm for our fading souls.

Of course, when I get to thinking about all this I always resolve to do better, to be better at being present in the moment. I’ve been through this head-talk enough times to know that even my intent is a fleeting wisp of hot air. But every now and again a moment catches me unaware and I am captivated. Another memory blooms from the sludge.

I know I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. As for myself, I need reminding…

Breathe in deeply, slowly; savor the moment. Smile at your incredible fortune to be alive right here, right now. Exhale even more slowly. Let go. You are magnificent. You are a miracle. You are living proof of grace. This moment is everything.

And here’s the thing. There is nothing stopping you from having another moment and another. So go ahead. The cares of the world can wait. You know you want to…breathe…

Love and Peace to you…

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 14 May 2017

dawn rustles beneath
when the heat is on
some find comfort in it’s warmth
fleeting as a blink
but dreams die hard…
…and i smile though my heart is sad
needing no imprimatur
draw me like one of your French dogs
don’t ask me why.

~kat

5 Comments | tags: breathe, mindfulness, moments, presence, Shi Sai, week in Reverse | posted in Challenges and Writing Prompts, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

May 7, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 May 2017

By Kat Myrman

It’s the first weekend in May after a busy week on the world front. Sometimes I wish I could live each day blissfully oblivious to current events; wrapped up in friends, family and fun stuff. You know, the everyday normal that is possible because you know you have elected good, decent people to be in charge of managing the workings of our government, and the details that make our society civil.

Occasionally I do have weeks where I can do that. Where no one has gone over the edge, taking innocent people with them, where my job is secure, where everyone close to me is happy and healthy, no drama, where I actually manage to get some sleep at night.

This was not one of those weeks. I wish I didn’t care, but I do. The people who voted for this are likely not paying attention. Their engagement ended the minute they cast their vote. But for those of us who feel compelled to be involved and part of the process, who take democracy and “we the people” seriously, this was not a good week.

In times like this I need to remind myself that we, the collective we, have survived other weeks like this; darker times than what we are witnessing today. But even if I post happy pictures, flowers or kittens on social media, even if I smile and wave at the neighbors, even if I laugh and engage in happy conversations, never crossing over into anything deeper than the weather, my mind is burdened with truth and reality’s heavy presence and I know that I am lying when I say, “I’m fine.

I’m not fine. Things are not fine. But no one wants to hear that. So I post pictures of flowers and kittens and smiley faces.

Have a great week. Not lying. I really hope you do.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 6 May 2017

forget the pain | and hopefully,forgive ourselves
it’s the magic of poetry
one moment, she’s warm and bright
Making all that racket, crapping everywhere!
the elusive missing link,
verdant roots planted in soil
a beautiful sunset spoilt
embrace with your heart
dreams of girls aching

~kat

A shi sai or ReVerse poem is a summary poem with a single line lifted from each entry of a collection of work over a particular timeframe and re-penned in chronological order as a new poem. Unlike a collaborative poem, the shi sai features the words of one writer,providing a glimpse into their thoughts over time. I use it as a review of the previous week.

7 Comments | tags: digital art, Poetry, Shi Sai, week in Reverse | posted in Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Social Issues, Spirituality, Week in Review

April 16, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -16 April 2017

By Kat Myrman

It’s Easter for some of us. A day of hope, new life and rebirth after a season of darkness, denial of self and comfort. I remember when my greatest sacrifice during Lent was chocolate; only to be rewarded with a basket full of the stuff on Easter morning.

But these days I realize that some of the things I have let go of may never be restored. They cannot be found nested in fluorescent green faux grass in a brightly colored ribboned basket like chocolate eggs. and that is okay. With maturity comes reality.

I have given up more than chocolate on this, my 60th dark night of the soul. Most of it centers around my expectations and my optimistic view of the the world. It’s true. I generally believe that truth comes to light in the face of lies, that good overcomes evil, that love is more powerful than hate, that family is family, that all people are good and will do the right thing if given the opportunity.

This season I didn’t wrestle with cravings for sweets or any number of “things” that I vainly considered sacrifice in the past. This season I wrestled with truth and darkness and my belief that the world is a beautiful place. It’s not. Always.

So I gave up my expectations. They’re a hard thing to let go of. They are so sweet on the tongue but they are bitter in the belly. Expectations contain a certain element of privilege…a quid pro quo for being honest and good and decent. This world, this life, don’t owe me anything.

I didn’t expect any sort of Easter morning basket of blessing this year. But surprisingly that is exactly what I received; just not in the places I normally expect to find them. Giving up my expectations allowed me to see things in a new light, to find blessings in the things I have spent a lifetime not noticing.

I rise today with new found hope surprised by grace. That’s better than chocolate. Really it is. You can trust me on that. Happy Easter.

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse -16 April 2017

I can’t bring myself to close it, not yet
is it any wonder that we bleed
if they only knew how many dives, we played to get here.
pale full moon lunacy
with hearts black as coal
it’s all perception
unless you’re a rock
savor each moment’s bliss
shock and awfulness
the door was padlocked
no one ever suspected
people don’t really want to know
sympaths say “poor you”
noshing on beautiful chocolate cake,
i die a bit each day to pass the time,
a hint of summer in the air, raindrops
sweetness

~kat

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4 Comments | tags: digital art, Shi Sai, week in Reverse | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Life Lessons, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Spirituality, Week in Review

April 2, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 April 2017

By Kat Myrman

It’s a beautiful Sunday here in the Blue Ridge valley. The horizon is wispy white fading upward into a crystaline cerulean cloudless dome. The air is crisp and cool.

I forget to breathe most days, gulping in pitiful bursts only when my lungs complain that the stale air I’m hoarding needs to go. And so it goes, burdened with survival, I dig my 9-5 rut deeper and wider.

I know it’s not healthy. Living for sleep to be savored in that elusive omega-alpha 48-hour threshold called weekends. I sleep in the daylight while others play between brief bursts of energy as I try to make up for everything didn’t have time to do during the week.

It’s exhausting, but I suspect even more exhausting because I forget to breathe. It’s such a simple thing. A mindless, instinctual reflex that when coupled with mindfulness makes all the difference. Breathe. 😊

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 2 April 2017

if only I could rid myself of them
know every rock by name
hidden in the footnotes of history
seeds from muddy crypts
reality, a pity
presence, just a breath away
like a skipped heartbeat
the salty air, the fishy smells and slimy ooze
moments slip away
long past their demise
smile, but remember
the gloaming lingers on

~kat

3 Comments | tags: breathe, digital art, Poetry, Shi Sai, week in Reverse | posted in Digital Art & Photos, Essays, Poetry, Random Thoughts and Musings, Shi Sai, Week in Review

March 26, 2017

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 26 March 2017

By Kat Myrman

Another week, another Sunday. It was an emotionally exhausting week. I realized late on Friday that I have been holding my breath since November. Well, not literally of course. That’s not something I would recommend. But I have been holding my breath, figuratively, watching the world crumble with each executive order, congressional bill and lie that has gone unquestioned and unchallenged.

Some of us dodged a bullet this week. We, as in 24 million people still have healthcare; we, as in senior citizens, immigrants, the mentally ill, refugees, women, mothers, and those who hope to be. It was a tiny victory, but the battle rages on. While I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, the world lost innocent souls to terror from radicals as well as from coalition forces. “Bombing the hell out of them…” as our fake president likes to boast, is not a sustainable nor advisable foreign policy, especially when innocent victims are part of the collateral damage of such actions. It only makes things worse.

I breathed on Friday. For the first time in months I didn’t feel helpless or hopeless. Resistance to this speeding runaway train is not futile. Still, those wielding power in the name of privilege, greed, hate and yes, even religion, will not let go of the reigns willingly. But they mustn’t win. It’s personal. It’s important that those who are suffering know that they matter. It’s important that they feel loved and that they know there is a seat at the table for them, for all of us. Because we’re in this together; because…Love is all. ❤

Shi Sai Sunday’s Week in ReVerse – 26 March 2017

what are your intentions?
it is the sweet things
heaven’s awaitin’
selling love over death
death disguised herself in fleeting sweetness
sometimes what you search most for
(is) first to root in frosted earth
breeze by, nose upturned,
they whisper in soft kisses
sleeping with me, then leaving,
what was it with these people
proving they are fools
especially one whose gentle nature informed her conscience early in life
Love is all

~kat