Author: Tenneson Woolf

Kathy Jourdain, Jerry Nagel, and I recorded our 9th Shades of Life Conversation. Listen here.

These conversations are a delight. They are playful. Yet also purposed.

Shades of Life: Shades of Learning.

When I think “shades” I think hue (a particular family of colors), comfort (a shade tent), and expression (unique flavor). Our conversations have each of these.

Hue — I’d name the shade family as anchored in curiosity. And wonder. And in kind exploring.

Comfort — I’d name the shade comfort of our conversation as camaraderie. And laughter. And delighted expectation.

Expression — I’d name the unique flavor as desire to connect. And desire to feel alive in learning. And desire to dance with insight.

It’s really nice journey. And I think really nice pattern for how to be in learning community. Or friend communities that learn.

Enjoy the listen.

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

That’s Mary Oliver’s words — “Instructions for Living a Life.” Mary Oliver, the Ohio-born poet whose words are so often guide for me. She died in 2019. Here words, of course live on. And live on guiding many.

I love the simplicity. It’s instructions for living a life. It’s also a good game plan for what to do today. It’s also good guidance for the meeting. Or for that book that I need to read. Or for that garage that needs to be tidied. Or for the leadership team event next month.

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

Got to kayak yesterday. First of the season. With Dana and a couple of other loved ones. We were on Oquirrh Lake. It’s urban. The bird life is astonishing. The bird sound too. Coots that go with Yellow-Headed Blackbirds, and Barn Swallows, and Mallards, and Geese, and Sparrows.

Above is a Coot from the paddle. Near her nest. We saw all kinds of little Coots, from barely days old to a couple of weeks old.

Mamas were protective, keeping little ones close. Mama’s were teaching, diving to the bottom to pull up a bit of greenery and then feed to baby Coots.

Can’t help but feel delight. I love being still on the water in a kayak. I love doing it with people I care about. Some astonishment together.

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

Thanks Jim Quigley. He’s a poet in British Columbia. Thanks Roq Gareau for gifting me a copy of Jim’s poems.

Finding Mystery

You can spend a whole life
Chasing the dramatic,
Chasing enlightenment

And meanwhile right in front of you
Mystery is constantly showing itself

Stay here
All the magic is occurring
right here,
right now

And it’s occurring all the time.

Right here. Right now. It’s a theme I like to live. Beyond the dramatic and the chasing. That too. Mystery, magic. Yup.