02.23.2026. Tangerine Notebooks and Carbonated Holiness
Hello dear Friends,
“Earth's crammed with heaven... But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
— Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh
So many wonders move around my insides. I write them down in this tangerine-orange Five Star Mead 1-subject notebook—7" x 5.5", college-ruled, a perfect small size to carry in my purse. It is strictly to be my to-do list book, lined and dated each page in the attempt to keep me and my mind ‘on top’.
Then, I am driving my car, taking a walk, listening to an interesting talk, or just letting my mind drift into empty, tiny, and vast spaces. Something catches my heart—something wider-bigger, a still wind, a holy breath. I grab this notebook, scribble down strings of words—threads of beauty and soft, silky sorrows, the tender, dark things that rattle and ache, our heart. With age, I’m afraid I will forget—afraid they will swoosh—poof—like a dream if I do not write them down, quick. Delicately aware, this life is quick.
This orange book now is a strange mix. It is filled with words hand-printed, neatly numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.—to-dos written orderly within lines, some crossed off, some not. Then there are the words pulled from this wide-open mystery of air, the Beloved’s breath. These words run wild and free, unnumbered, writte
n in cursive. These words tumble, bend, bow, and praise across the page, a field of purple coneflowers, milkweed, black-eyed Susans, and goldenrods. These words break through the black-ruled horizontal lines; these words have whimsical hearts sketched next to them, sometimes playfully encircling them:
Pinks streak naked across the orange setting sky
The wind cries
Love gets through the thinnest cracks
Everyone has worries and bottles of ketchup
This morning, when I opened my tangerine book to catch up on my list, I wondered out loud to myself: “Streak naked across the sky—now, was that a to-do list or a snippet of beauty I was trying to remember?”
“Laughter is carbonated holiness, and when we’re laughing together we’re on sacred ground.”
–Anne Lamott
🍃
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Drop-in Meditation Today. All are welcome; no prior experience is needed—just an open tender heart.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: 20-min Guided Meditation: Calling Upon the Awaken Heart & 20-minute Metta Meditation Practice
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Gratitude, always.
Love, Wini
PS: More goodness below—two poems, three quotes, and things in between to inspire the heart. And, three closing songs!!! Always made with ♥️.
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🌸 Two Poems. “Poetry is made in a bed like love”― André Breton
Sometimes, I Am Startled Out of Myself, | Barbara Crooker
like this morning, when the wild geese came squawking,
flapping their rusty hinges, and something about their trek
across the sky made me think about my life, the places
of brokenness, the places of sorrow, the places where grief
has strung me out to dry. And then the geese come calling,
the leader falling back when tired, another taking her place.
Hope is borne on wings. Look at the trees. They turn to gold
for a brief while, then lose it all each November.
Through the cold months, they stand, take the worst
weather has to offer. And still, they put out shy green leaves
come April, come May. The geese glide over the cornfields,
land on the pond with its sedges and reeds.
You do not have to be wise. Even a goose knows how to find
shelter, where the corn still lies in the stubble and dried stalks.
All we do is pass through here, the best way we can.
They stitch up the sky, and it is whole again.
Go to the Limits of Your Longing | Rainer Maria Rilke
translation by Joanna Macy & Anita Barrows
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
🍃 There are poems that vibrate in our bones—poems that randomly arise in the middle of the night, in the middle of the woods of our life. Somehow, they call like a wind not seen but felt on the receptors of skin. This is such a poem in my life.
All week, Rilke's words have pressed into me. This poem, its words, a sacred whisper, an instruction, so vital, a resource of care for this time.
Then, when reading my dear poet writer-friend Barbara Mahany’s blog—a blog I highly recommend, one I never miss and seek out in my inbox every Friday—I saw she too spoke to this poem; she, too, presses this poem into her heart. When this happens in my life, what Carl Jung calls synchronicity, I pay attention. I do not set it aside. This, to me, is where our "holy yesses" are confirmed, encouraged by the Luminous!
“The urgent call to love” Barbara shares:
“When the evening of this life comes, you will be judged on love.” —Saint John of the Cross
“The only question asked of your soul: ‘Have you loved well?’” —the mystic, Evelyn Underhill
🌸 Three Quotes | Anne Lamott. May Sarton. Pope Francis.
“But grace tiptoed in, and I remembered that the meaning of the day is about as plain as it gets — we come from ashes and return to ashes, but when we stop our chaotic activity for awhile, and experience this, there is something that remains, deep and true, quiet and sweet.”
— Anne Lamott Ashes, from the Substack Hallelujah Anyway
“Hatred rather than love dominates. How does one handle it? The greatest danger, as I see it in myself, is the danger of withdrawal into private worlds. We have to keep the channels in ourselves open to pain. At the same time it is essential that true joys be experienced, that the sunrise not leave us unmoved, for civilization depends on the true joys, all those that have nothing to do with money or affluence — nature, the arts, human love. Maybe that is why the pandas in the London Zoo brought me back to poetry for the first time in two years.”
— May Sarton, The House by the Sea: A Journal
🍃 ‘that the sunrise not leave us unmoved,’ this is a holy amen. One to tattoo on our hearts.
This sun that unfolds her crystalline blue skirt, a dervish whirls, opens the morning light.
“Yes, tenderness is the path of choice for the strongest, most courageous men and women. Tenderness is not weakness; it is fortitude. It is the path of solidarity, the path of humility.”
— Pope Francis “Why the only future worth building includes everyone” TED2017 | Vancouver, April 2017
🌸 Some Sweets | Three Short Offerings (Yes, finds by my sweet husband Mark)
I’m not sure where my husband finds them, but every now and then, I’ll see something so lovely sent my way by him. When I ask, “How do you find them?” he says, “I don’t know—they are sent to me.”
Smiling here, it reveals his tender heart algorithms, and people think I’m the sensitive one…
☝️ Greg Kata: Okay this one click asap, “Grieving the Sparkle” no words!! Give a watch, true beyond words, no one puts this in the life brochure either!
“From fearless kindergarten weirdos to middle school kids learning how to shrink themselves just to survive—this is the heartbreak and the privilege of teaching it all.
If you’re a teacher, a parent, or someone who used to be that kid: stay weird. The world needs you exactly as you are.”
✌ ️ Liv Romano: Her song "Caroline"—give a listen; her joy and music are captivating! Here is her website, too. Her folk music is something beyond lovely.
🤟 Amy Grant: during an interview with Andrew Greer, shared five phrases given to her by Jimmy Gentry to remember:
How can I help you?
I’m proud of you.
I love you.
Thank you.
….the most important one of all—give it a listen, a fabulous ending!
🌸🎶 Closing Song | Music for Your Soul in Uncertain Times
The Kanneh-Masons- Ar Lan Y Môr.
Who are the Kanneh-Masons?
They are seven brothers and sisters ranging in age from 16 to 29 years old, all of whom play violin, piano, or cello. I stumbled upon them through the music of cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
Some say the cello’s dark, wistful timbre touches the heart more than any other instrument. I do not know if that is true; all I know is that I kept feeling called to its sound. What a beautiful find through the cello of Skeku– the entire Kanneh-Mason family.
If you have time for a lovely watch alive with joy and beauty, the creative process, I recommend the documentary Imagine: This House Is Full of Music (58:55 min).
If you have time for only a short watch, here are two offerings: the CBS 60 Minutes feature, How the 7 Kanneh-Mason Siblings Became Classical Music Sensations (13:11 min)
Voices From A Rebel City: The Kanneh-Mason Family (17:33 min)—a film that gives you a sense of the heart of these siblings and the beauty they each hold.
“The reality is if you want to be successful at anything you have to go for it.”
— Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason
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🌸🙏 Dedicate Merit | In all Mystical traditions, there is a closing prayer – prayers of blessing, gratitude and protection.
“May we be part of the revolution of tenderness.
May we be moved each day by the miracle of sky,
the miracle of this spinning earth that keeps us alive.
May we stay with what is true, quiet and sweet inside.
May all beings be safe and protected, this I wish for everyone.
May we awaken fully to help all beings.”
– love, Wini
Have a blessed day 💖
🌸 PS. You can find all the newsletters archived on my website.
These newsletters will always be free—and if you appreciate receiving these weekly offerings grounded in tender-goodness please consider offering support through Buy Me a Coffee, 🌸 venmo (Winifred-Nimrod) 🌸 or zelle (wininim@gmail.com) 🌸
Thank you, I am a one-woman, two-finger typing, unfolding her thousand-petal bloom.
✨ May we bloom more Light.
💞 May we grow more Goodness for the healing of all.
🌎 May each of us thread our heart-tenderness, our Beauty, into the fabric of our planet.
….Until next week. 💖 ✨
Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.
- Mary Oliver
Website: https://www.wininimrod.com/
