One Single Impression: Tolerance

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Years ago 
I lived on a hill near the sea
Where strong winds
And grey skies were steadfast

And I taught myself
To walk straight up and open
Without feeling cold

To let the wind pass through me

To stop resisting the wind

And I was warm. 

Walking into the wind
And breathing
Making of the wind my breath
My life
My way
My life

Transformed the cold
Into here and now
Into my pulse

It was good.

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45 Comments

  1. Wind can be cleansing but also chilling. We get wind here up on the mountain top like I remember on the coast.

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  2. Sounds like a good idea to me. There is no need to fear, because waiting for the cold makes it colder. Waiting in fear makes the fear stronger.

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  3. Tolerance proved to be your blessing! Such a good outlook!

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  4. Hi Sandy

    How are you?
    There are time and time that I never more saw you!!
    Good to see your post again.
    Wonderful sky Sandy!
    Hope to see you every week!
    Thanks for visiting my blog, also!

    Luiz

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  5. Walking into the wind. I like the thought. It makes the cold so tolerable!

    fingers dance merrily in air

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  6. Nice poem Sandy :)

    My home is near the sea, and on the slope of a hill...and I could relate so well..except for the cold!

    my place (Kerala) is kind of pleasant throughout the year, but we have two monsoons in a year...walking upstream in flowing water is our parallel to walking into wind :)

    wishes,
    devika

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  7. Would be something for me and I like these dramatic skies !

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  8. Facing strong winds, like facing the darts that life throws our way ... and withstanding it all no matter how it press against us ... how refreshing. Like a weeping willow tree you bend with the wind, and enjoy what it has to offer with tolerance ... one survive the onslaught.

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  9. Wind can be invigorating and when you come in from it & sit by a cosy fire, makes you feel so safe.

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  10. As one with the elements. Beautifully said.

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  11. So true--when you stop resisting and embrace something, it can suddenly prove harmless or even uplifting. The difficult trick is that first letting-go.

    So beautifully written and I love the photo!

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  12. Nature teaches tolerance, that's true. Nice feeling to your poem.

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  13. What a wonderful lesson you've shared with us.

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  14. the real trick is to transfer these feelings into dealing with the winds of life.

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  15. I remember those winds! What a beautiful, strong pure image -- the lone individual walking so upright and strong.

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  16. To learn such a lesson from a wind like this could sustain a person the rest of his or her life.

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  17. amazing realization! you're really a good writer sandy. you can have all these compiled and make a book with the photo on this post as your cover.

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  18. "Making of the wind my breath
    My life
    My way
    My life... "
    I liked these lines... and the way u ended it... it was very beautiful, indeed...

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  19. Oh Sandy - I have done this! I really have - as a child I did this. What wonderful memories you have invoked. Thank you.
    I love the picture too - God's voice I call it. :)

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  20. what a wonderful evocative poem Sandy!

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  21. It reminds me of growing upin SoCal and the winds there. The wind is mysterious. Thanks for this.

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  22. Beautiful work, Sandy.

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  23. Sandy, this is one of my favorite of your poems. I remember the knife edge of the wind when I lived on the edge of the ocean. Well done.

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  24. To let the wind pass through me
    And I was warm.
    It was good.


    (the visual image:
    stolid structures
    absorbing the elements
    and time)

    and the wind drew
    warmth
    from you

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  25. I love your poem
    But not the wind
    yesterday
    I thought it would do me in!

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  26. How do you measure wind tolerance?
    In a wind tunnel I would think.
    ..

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  27. I like your poems, Sandy!
    Walking in the wind is an extraordinary sensation!

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  28. strong ideas, strong photo!

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  29. Anonymous7:47 AM

    I grew up on the ocean as well, but I never quite managed not feeling cold! Perhaps I never learned to let the wind go through me.

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  30. Sandy,
    Your poem touches me.
    You have used words in a way that I could feel the power of your experience/tale. Wonderful poem!

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  31. Despite the melancholy of this, I really like it a lot. It has a lonely feeling to it, but not really in a bad way.

    Hard to explain.

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  32. One could gather great strength from your verse.

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  33. we went to tiburon this weekend. very much like this. omm

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  34. Wonderfully meditational...words that cling and remind.

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  35. I could feel the wind on your face; great work Sandy. And congrats on POTD!

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  36. This is a stellar post!!! Riveting...and profound! Congrats on POTD! I'm in awe of your poetic gift! ~Janine XO

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  37. Simply beautiful! Thanks for sharing it and congrats on POTD.

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  38. Beautiful! Congratulations on the Post of the Day Award!

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  39. Reminds me of how Buddhist monks can dramatically change their body temperature, heart rate, etc.

    Thanks for this lovely take on the prompt, and for your sweet comment on my post.

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  40. Sandy~ This is beautiful- I loved the symbolism and the "resiting the wind"...how hard it is to do that!

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  41. Mmmm I can feel that wind, the chill, passing through.

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  42. Sandy, so beautiful. This poem is inspiring. I, too, like to walk and run into the wind and toss my head like a wild thing. I love the lines about teaching yourself "to walk straight up and open." Would that all people could do that. I love your openess!

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  43. Sandy,
    I do believe some of the strong winds we face in life can end up making us stronger.

    I enjoyed this read.

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Thanks for being here.