November 8, 2008 — Gloomy day, rainy, misty, cold. A test for the brooders of the world. I visited my friend Mary Kellogg the poet this afternoon and we looked over some of the wonderful new poems she is writing – wow, she does nothing but grow and improve. She is viscerally positive, comfortable within herself, an inspiration as well as a friend. Gloomy days simply pass over her, and she is happy with where she is. What a gracious and lovely person. What a good friend.
  I loved these verses from a John O’Donohue poem I read this morning called “A Morning Offering.” I hope to read it every morning.

  “All that is eternal in me
 Welcomes the wonder of this day,
 The field of brightness it creates
 Offering time for each thing
 To arise and illuminate.

 I place on the alter of dawn:
 The quiet loyalty of breath,
 The tent of thought where I shelter,
 Waves of desire I am shore to
 And all beauty drawn to the eye.

 May my mind come alive today
 To the invisible geography
 That invites me to new frontiers,
 To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
 To risk being disturbed and changed.

 May I have the courage today
 To live the life I would love,
 To postpone my dream no longer
 But do at last what I came here for
 And waste my heart on fear no more.”