The host of my virtual island – wordpress – alerted me to the four-year anniversary of my blog.
I thought I share with my followers some private photos. I’m not good at private sharing, but since my first book is going to be published this year, one way or another, some visuals of myself are in order.
pretending to fish
about 30 years ago, before selfies were vogue
more recent, four or so years ago, a young sixty something
Lack of time limits my interactions, so I assume my over 300 readers are truly genuine. Thank you all for reaching out, for your friendships. It’s heartening to know my posts are enjoyed, and occasionally inspire. I sample your islands at random, and delight in how everything posted resonates. I appreciate your likes, and will respond to every comment left here.
Looking back, this was my first short post in March 2011 – just one sentence:
We are each of us born a star in search of our world.
The second post was: A recent series of Haiku – for those who like Haiku
a town is gone
hawthorn flowers
white in the sun
* * *
among rubble
the snapshot of a child
splashing in a wave
* * *
spring morning
a ginger cat leaps home
across frosted lawns
* * *
the robin arrives
sampling dry grass for its nest
sky is cut by a plane
* * *
sunlight in a puddle
birds dowse their wings
no other sound
* * *
emerald shoots
on brittle cement
patter of feet
* * *
plastic bags rattle
in wire and branch
blobs of colour
* * *
a wave is rolling
over the grid of streets
hush among crumbled walls
* * *
lichen dried silver
in the hot spring
a rain of blossoms
* * *
a golden leaf
in the shade
white plumes rise
* * *
under smooth ice
a shimmering carp
visible silence
The concluding post in March 2011 was a letter to my shadow, ending …
… Without you, I’d only be fluff on the coat of real human beings …
Time-permitting, please explore my posts, listed in the archive column to the right of my home page.
I hope you bear with me. Heartfelt thanks to all my readers.
Course of Mirrors 
Congratulations on your fourth anniversary
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Thanks Mboki ☼
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I raise a glass to your longevity, and more importantly, your generosity. And the ‘ginger cat’.
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Thanks 🙂 The Ginger is a regular. My glossy black friend, Jetty, moved on to cat heaven some years back. Since she is absent at least 5 different cats wander through my garden any day. I love watching them, such characters, ghosting the personalities of their owners.
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Beautiful work. Enjoyed looking at this tonight. Congratulations on your anniversary….I’m recommitting to spending more time on WordPress, so very nice to find this tonight.
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Hi Alethea, thank you. I’m loving what you share, the art, the poems you unearth.
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Happy blogging Anniversary, Ashen Honoured to have known you in this tiny island of yours!
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🙂 Thanks,Sylvia, your island brings to mind your beloved rosebush and the Arabian sea.
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Thanks for sharing your anniversary with us Ashen and here’s to the next 4 years and 4 years after and 4 years after – your posts are always a delight and I’m so pleased to have found your island and the mirrors thereon …
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The time since I started the blog feels like one stride with ‘Four-league boots.’ It’s wonderful to have friends like you, Susan, to share in heart and be able to delight and inspire each other from our virtual islands. Thanks.
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Tweeted this, Ashen. I do enjoy your insightful writing.
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Thank you, Rosalind ☼
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Well thank goodness you started blogging. Many inspirations found here! And lovely selfies, both 🙂
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Thank you, Mary ☼ I may have missed recent poetry shares, which reminds me, your Gravatar shows no connection to your website. Worth checking. Best things for ‘The Qualities of Wood.’
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It can’t really be four years can it? Gosh, where on earth has the time gone? Well, as sporadic as I am, I for one am very glad that you have continued your beautiful blog, an oasis of calm and reason and spirituality in a chaotic sea of luridness. For me, visiting your blog, is always like curling up in a duvet on a Sunday afternoon with the sun on my face – that wonderful sense of warmth and calmness and beauty so imbued in every one of your posts. So thank you, Ashen, for the last four years and may there be many many more! 😀 xxx
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Mm, what a kind thing to say, thanks Sophie. I take pleasure in your visits, and in stopping by at your isle, where you share your joy in overcoming trials, always uplifting and inspiring.
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Ah, thank you sweetie, but I meant every word honey. I always look forward to your posts, even when I’ve been off-line for a bit and need to catch up, it’s always a refreshing change of pace and reflective haven to visit! 😀 xx
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Congratulations on four years of blogging. Most blogs probably don’t last four weeks, or days, or hours. It might look easy, but it’s not, though it is enjoyable, like walking in mountains. You never know what’s around the next post.
Here’s something from Han Shan, to mark the occasion:
17
If I hide out at Cold Mountain
Living off mountain plants and berries –
All my lifetime, why worry?
One follows his karma through.
Days and months slip by like water,
Time is like sparks knocked off flint.
Go ahead and let the world change –
I’m happy to sit among these cliffs.
http://www.hermetica.info/hanshan.htm
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The legendary Han Shan. Beautiful, thanks.
… Time is like sparks knocked off flint …
🙂 Like this, I never know what I’m going to post next. A rhythm formed, and into it fall sparks …
small drum-rolls –
fleeting images –
scents of spring –
a rock obstructing the path –
sky – multiplied in dew drops –
boundless perfect spheres …
No direction is better or worse,
East just as good as West.
Those who know the meaning of this
are free to go where they want.
In the meantime I try to remember putting my heart into my feet.
Do you know of the book called ‘The Embossed Tea Kettle,’ works of Hakuin Zenji? He was a Zen reformer of 18th century Japan.
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Zenji: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” http://www.amazon.com/Poison-Blossoms-From-Thicket-Thorn/dp/1619023121 600 pages! Meantime, looking for Embossed Tea Kettle. Might have to settle for paper cup of coffee.
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A belated happy anniversary, Ashen 🙂 Islands…yes, so true! I have sailing much on my mind at the moment, so the image I have is of this island rising out of the ocean horizon, a welcome and welcoming haven.
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