Hello! Is there something that you do that, while you’re engaged in the activity, it’s as though you’re on automatic pilot…so natural is the fit between you and the activity?  In fact it can be so natural that, like the draftsman in Chuang Tzu’s poem, there are no obstacles… the activity (what is done) and … Continue reading Love Note: When the Shoe Fits

Hello First U! I hope you are enjoying this Memorial Day.  As is the case with so many things during this period, I’ve never experienced a Memorial Day quite like this one.  It’s not entirely unlike when a loved one dies and initially those who remain experience special occasions and holidays differently.. a litany of firsts.  … Continue reading Love Note: Winged Wisdom

Hello First U Family! After reading today’s poem, simply entitled “Love,” I find myself applying the words to the relationships people have with their partners (spouses, significant others). While the thought of abundant time spent together, pandemic style, might have initially sounded like a great opportunity to spend extra quality time with one’s sweetheart, we know … Continue reading Love Note: From a Distance

Hello First U Family- Today’s poem by Susan Griffin was chosen for two reasons.  Firstly, it speaks of frustrated cooks and inpatient children and budgeted meals, which makes me think of the myriad of challenges upon us these days.  Our finances and nerves (to name a few) can be stretched as we live through pandemic circumstances.  … Continue reading Love Note: Growing Up

Dear Ones- This poem makes me think of Shel Silverstein’s classic children’s book entitled “The Giving Tree.”  In the story, a boy and a tree share a lovely relationship during the boy’s childhood, and when the boy grows into adulthood he asks and asks of the tree, who lovingly and willingly gives until it has … Continue reading Love Note: Giving Trees

Hello First U! In these times of challenge, humor is an especially good ingredient to help us get through our days.  Today’s Love Note is a light one, one just to enjoy for a bit of a chuckle, compliments of the folks from Saturday Night Live. Can I hear an ‘”Amen!?” Love and laughter, Lori … Continue reading Love Note: Zoom Church

Dear Ones- What today’s poem lacks in length (as if lengthy is necessarily better) it makes up for in depth.  Mexican poet and Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz offers a message that is relevant today, similar to some we’ve heard before and worthy of our attention again.   The difficulties of this pandemic can be as … Continue reading Love Note: The Other Side

Dearest Loved Ones – In this poem by Jane Hirshfield I find the underlying message, captured in a single line, to be slightly daunting…we become our choices.  It’s not so much that I regret choices I’ve made or what I’ve become as a result of those choices.  It’s more the weightiness of the concept, the … Continue reading Love Note: Becoming Our Choices

Hello Dear Ones! On this eve of Mother’s Day I am sending you two offerings…one is literary and the other is musical. The poem by A.R. Ammons speaks initially about the simple act of walking.   Many of us are now experiencing this ordinary activity with more frequency.  Hopefully as we do we are open to the … Continue reading Love Note: Mothers’ Day

Hello Dear First U Family, Today’s poem is a lovely offering from Brendan Kennelly, whose message harkens for me the challenges of our current times.  The author’s depiction of difficulty is painted with strokes of storminess – willows being tossed, hit, and mangled.  Ours isn’t a storm of nature….in fact, I’m continually struck by how untouched nature … Continue reading Love Note: Stormy Willows