If you watch the sunset with a glass of wine
You disappear into the wine
But if instead you sit with empty hands
And a clear gaze
You fall into the clouds as they change
From gold
To pink
And back again
Sighing in the blue light
When the shows over
Dust the pants off
And climb down the ridge
A head full of beauty
Heart clean, mind ringing like a bell
Utter clarity
Is so full of meaning
And empty
Of anything else
It’s been four years (almost, one month to go) since I gave up alcohol completely.
I have been staring at sunsets and dawn skies since I was a child
Somewhere along the way, I added in extras
A cigarette, a glass of wine, a beer
And it took awhile to leave that tickle of fingers that grasped for “a little something” with which to enjoy the view
It felt for ages like something was lacking
Now, it is a joy to sit still, usually with my bum on the ground and back to a tree and simply disappear into the clouds, the sounds of birds, the flutter and drone of insects around me
And want for nothing
Just feel my head empty of everything – and sometimes that takes awhile but eventually it happens
What it fills up with instead is magic
It would be great if everyone could experience that peace
There would be no wars
No over consumerism
And we would worship the planet and protect it
Like it made some kind of common sense
Beautiful! The simple and purest things are so often the best.
Congratulations on giving up the booze too, I regularly manage one month a year without but not sure I’m ready to go without forever!
I would never go back Steve – my life has been so much fuller and more adventurous without it. Drinking is a comfort fly trap – once ensconced with beverage in hand it seems perfectly okay not to do anything else for the evening. Well done you on the month each year – many don’t even attempt that.
Beautiful, Kate. How I long for the day when “we would worship the planet and protect it /
Like it made some kind of common sense”!
Me too Rosaliene – me too.
When I quit smoking many years ago, for quite some time, I felt something was missing when I tried to relax. But that feeling eventually went away. And my life was and is much better from quitting before I did irreparable damage to my body.
Absolutely – I think with smoking breathing and meditation really help but I gave up by chewing nicotine gum and of course then I simply shifted the addiction to gum. Over all that now thank goodness for stillness.
I quit cold turkey in the middle of the day. Just decided that I was done with it. And it wasn’t as hard to quit as I thought it’d be, though I was a heavy smoker.
Well done you. I was very good at giving up – it was the staying that got me!
So sorry…I managed not to backslide, told myself when I reached 65, I’d start smoking again if I wished. Maybe that helped, who knows?
I’ve been a non-smoker for 10 years now. In my past I had to have a drink if I had a cigarette. It’s how I grew up. Everyone I knew it seemed. The thought of it makes me ill. And now, smelling it makes me near sick. And I grew up with parents as smokers {they have both stopped}. I have an occasional glass of wine. But it is not needed. If we could all find common sense and clarity through loving our Earth and all its inhabitants. It’s so good to breathe fresh air and hope.
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great content
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