03.10.2025. Raw Prayer
I breathe. I pray my own raw prayer:
“Do not sell out the Sacred today.”
🌿
We are in the season of long. The long slow melt of winter. The long slow forty days of moving with the lengthening of light, welcoming the headwaters of Spring. Where our nostrils flare to the smell of unseen green. Where our hearts widen to the sound of return; the red-winged blackbird and the barn swallow song coming from an unknown bare tree. Where our bodies ease to the butterfly kiss of an unheard warm breeze upon our turned cheek. Where we cut back the dead wood in our gardens and peel back the hardened tissues around our hearts so we can harvest the Beloved, and hear.
Hear the wilderness; the whispers of the sacred calling to us from the narrows of narrows, from the coarse soil, from the sleeping underground of tangled roots, from the longing of our broken-humble hearts where we find the path forward to our own bloom, where we put shovel to dark golden earth and dig out our own raw prayers, and yell, out to Love.
“What is my name, o what is my name that I may offer it back to the beautiful world?”
– Mary Oliver
🌿
Today is Metta (loving-kindness) & Calm-Abiding Meditation Practice
All Welcome. No meditation experience needed.
Come as you are, open heart and all.
2 - 3pm: Drop-in Meditation Practice
3 - 4pm: Back to Basics: Foundational Teachings on Mindful Awareness Meditation Practice
Where: 1765 Glenview Road, Glenview in the Patio Shops
Cost: No Fee. Donations and poems appreciated.
So grateful we are here together.
Love,
Wini
🌸 Below are offerings to tend your heart, wrap you in warmth and care, and do not miss clicking on the underlined links to wonder and wander in. xo ♥️
🌸 Two Poems to Share
Quilt | Nikki Giovanni
Like a fading piece of cloth
I am a failure
No longer do I cover tables filled with food and laughter
My seams are frayed my hems falling my strength no longer able
To hold the hot and cold
I wish for those first days
When just woven I could keep water
From seeping through
Repelled stains with the tightness of my weave
Dazzled the sunlight with my
Reflection
I grow old though pleased with my memories
The tasks I can no longer complete
Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past
I offer no apology only
this plea:
When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end
Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt
That I might keep some child warm
And some old person with no one else to talk to
Will hear my whispers
And cuddle
near
🌿 Please do not miss. If you do not read any further this–before you choose: swipe, save or delete, click on this link.
Watch. Listen. Contemplate. Let Nikki’s words, her plea, her tears, this poem ‘Quilts’, unravel your heart.
WAY TO GO | A. R. Ammons
West light flat on trees:
bird flying
deep out in blue glass:
uncertain wind
stirring the leaves: this is
the world we have:
take it
🌸 Three Quotes | Abraham Maslow. Jelaluddin Rumi. Martha Graham.
“The great lesson from the true mystics . . . is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is to be found in one's daily life, in one's neighbors, friends, and family, in one's backyard." — Abraham Maslow
“Spring, and no one can be still, with all the messages coming through.” — Jelaluddin Rumi
“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, nor how valuable it is, nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate YOU. Keep the channel open.” – Martha Graham to Agnes DeMille, as quoted in “Dance to the Piper and Promenade Home” (1982) by Agnes de Mille
🌿 This quote above would be one my meditation teacher would have said, reread 100 x. Let it permeate the very marrow of your bones.
This is a holy amen.
🌸 A Spoken Poem to Inspire | Maureen Onwunali
“The revolution has already been televised…
it happened right outside your doorstep”
On Instagram, a spoken poem much needed in our world today.
🌿
🌸 Something to Powerful to Know About | Shredding the Silence on Menopause
Experience the film that's breaking the silence
on menopause and sparking a movement for change.
This film confronts this neglected crisis, challenges societal and medical shortcoming and advocates for a revolutionary approach to women's health in America.
Julie Fedeli and Pamela DeRose - founders of Midlife Upgrade are hosting a special screening event for film The (M) Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause.
The event will also feature an exclusive panel discussion with renowned menopause leaders including Tamsen Fadal, Dr. Sharon Malone, Dr. Somi Javaid, Dr. Suzanne Gilberg, Dr. Sameena Rahman, & Dr. Jila Senemar—LIVE and IN PERSON ready to connect —plus book signings!
Where: The Arts Club of Chicago
When: Tuesday evening April 8th.
Tickets are limited
“Midlife is a time to celebrate—our freedom, our wisdom, and ourselves. This is it! And I’m committed to creating a future where the next generations of women will not have to endure the same struggles my generation and those before us have suffered.”
🌿
🌸 Closing Song | Kinder by Copper Wimmin
“You will be invited to breathe, pray, honor yourself, and call in the sacred.”
Copper Wimmin have been singing together since they were 12 years old. These three women are devoted to creating a temple for the Sacred Feminine, to bring their voices together in service to women's empowerment, healing, and transformation.
May this song, sent my way by a beloved friend, call to your heart and be a ripple of kindness and holy-remembering for you.
Lyric
“I've decided to be open
To that little voice inside
Telling me I'm beautiful
Its ok to be alive
I've decided to be kinder
To myself when I feel sad
I've decided to be grateful
For all I ever had
I know
I am blessed…”
Listen on YouTube here (2:23 min)
Listen on Spotify here (2:23 min)
🌿
“May you know you are blessed.
May the constricted tissues around your heart soften.
May you know your value and worth.
May you hold yourself sacred, a lotus blossoming
above the water, shining her beauty bright.”
Have a blessed day,
Love,
Wini
🌸 I’m grateful you’re a part of this community.
Please share on, to a friend who might need tender dollops of kindness and love. Click here to subscribe
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✨ may we bloom more Light together.
💞 may we grow more Goodness for the healing of all
🌎 may we stitch more heart-tenderness into the fabric of our planet.
*Venmo : https://venmo.com/u/Winifred-Nimrod
Zelle: wininim@gmail.com or 847.312.9313
….Until next week. 💖 ✨
