Each week, after A Pause for Beauty is sent, we get a lot of feedback from Heron Dancers sharing their gratitude, insights and stories. We really appreciate your words and enjoy sharing them with others. If you write to us and would prefer that we do not share your comments in a future Pause for Beauty, just let us know.

YOU and Heron Dance take me "real far" I always harvest something from you words and paintings...I am 71 years old, live in a community alone, but I never feel alone, perhaps because I know i am loved, so heres to ya.....KNOW THAT YOU ARE LOVED... wish I could send $$$ but with SS and the part time jobs I have, I can hardly make it....thats fine...my girlish figure is coming back..best to staff, and to you , I am movitated due to your efforts...

Priscill (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 255)

Dear Rod,

I love your art; there are times I just sit and stare at its amazing beauty! I've ordered wonderful books from you and they have been gifted to others and received with a great deal of gratitude. I will be sitting by a gushing creek, walking in beautiful aspens and enjoying the scent of pines in the coming two weeks. I do this every year in the East Sierras and I marvel at its beauty and serenity.

Thanks for your inspiration.
Ruth

Dear Wonderful Heron Dancer,

My brother is blind, but his computer can read certain items, like if I copy parts of your wonderful news letter, he can have the computer read it to him.
I always send him the part where you stroll or canoe because I know he goes right along with you when he reads it.

Thank you so much!

God Bless,
Sammy (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 271)

WOW!

What a picture!

My eye was drawn to the white ball, behind the bird. What was that? It looked like a thought -- complex and vague.

And, what was the bear thinking?

I could see the bird bobbing up and down as it called out its caw, caw, caw.

In the shadows and weaving waves of color, I saw all sorts of things; once seen and identified, they melted away to take on new forms and new meanings -- which I did not understand.

Rod -- what do you intend?

Kernan (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 273, and the image below)

Rod,

I am sitting here in my office (I teach at a community college) looking at piles of exams and essays that must be graded, when I ache to be outside…then I read your message, and I can see the vee-shaped flock high in the clear, radiant fall-blue sky and hear the honking geese; the frosty grass crunches under my feet, as the wild and colorful leaves dance joyously all around me…and later, I’ll share a bowl of homemade soup and crusty bread with loved ones and thank you for your gift. These papers will get graded, but for a few moments, here in my windowless office, because of your words, I am where I need to be. Blessings to you and all of Heron Dance.

—Chris (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 274)

Dear Mr. MacIver,

I have recently become an e-mail subscriber after a friend gave me a subscription to your most beautiful booklet. Sometimes I wait to open your file, because I found out that I cannot hold all the beauty in my soul at one time. The pictures always take me away and let me float with the colors and images. The copy sometimes brings tears as I listen beyond the words. Thank you so much for all you do and for the gifts you give to me just by creating beauty.

— Barb (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 275)

Dear Rod,

As I read your words lately, I get the sense that you are sinking deeper and deeper into yourself and that your words are welling up from a place of deep silence and spaciousness.

Thank you for the beauty you bring to my life!

— Tina (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 276)

Hey Rod,

I've always loved reading your weekly PFB's, but after meeting and getting to know you, I appreciate them so much more. You are so good at sharing your process. Thank you for taking the risks to do that. It makes a difference.

An author I respect (whose name escapes me at the moment) says the person we will be in 10 years will be determined by the people we spend time with and the books we read. Pretty strong words, huh?

And you have to know I love the title, "The Song I Came to Sing."* I have used that quote with many of my clients since coming home.

Still dancing,
— Paulette (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 277)

*The Song I Came to Sing is the title of the upcoming Issue of The Heron Dance Nature Art Journal

I have been getting A Pause for Beauty for some years now, and never yet thanked you and other contributors for such an ongoing correspondence of peace and beauty. At times -I read it and feel in synch, mostly I am out of phase, and it does a wonderful job of calling me back to real truths, and the loveliness that tunes my spirit. Thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Dianne (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 283)

Dear Laura and all Heron Dancers:

I've just subscribed to "Pauses.." within the last few weeks and you all must know what a balm of spirit this insightful indescribably beautiful melding of Nature prose and stunning artwork are to this birder and Nature sibling!

Thank you so very much--these musings are simply inestimable!

Mary (Responding to A Pause for Beauty # 283)

WOW!  Fantastic writing...one of your best.  Please do write your memoirs—you have so much to share. We may not understand or agree with all of your spiritual beliefs, but then it is not for us to do so...We can take from others what may be Truth to us, disregarding the rest, but it remains up to each one of us to find our own Truth within ourselves.

Peace to You!  
Mayah (Responding to A Pause for Beauty #287)

I loved reading this. I too have experienced this kind of wonder as an Eagle has made it's resting area a spot of land near our airport. I pass him every so often on my way to work and keep thinking I am going to have an accident while watching him glide about or rest atop a very man made telephone pole or traffic sign. He looks as if he is the king of all he surveys and those planes are simply other birds far and away. 

I have thought he deserves better, but this is his choice. We are certainly close enough to three great rivers that would provide for him what may be a better hunting ground, but he chooses this bit of space near a runway. The gift is that he makes me feel the magic of wild things and wild places. He reminds me that I, too, am a wild thing that loves wild places, but needs to be where she is. I appreciate the gift of this lesson as well as the beauty of the creature.

Kathle (Responding to A Pause for Beauty #288)

Dear Rod:

I sensed a tone of doubt and melancholy in some of your recent writings. I believe these are thoughts anyone has that is trying to live a purposeful life. Life and everything on this planet is such a gift to me, and many of your writings reflect how I feel. Thank you for them. I wanted you to know that your path, the path to Heron Dance, has been a gift to me. I had been browsing through an Antique store in Cedarburg Wisconsin, something I don’t normally do, when I eyed a stack of soft cover books, "The Heron Dance of Love and Gratitude". I was immediately taken by the beautiful cover and began paging through. The beauty of the pictures inside and how they enhanced the uplifting short stories energized me. Once home, I read the book over and over again, then found your site and ordered a few for my friends. Since this book had brought me so much joy, I began purchasing others. I always had a deep interest in Thoreau, but could not fully understand all of what he had to say. Your books made it easier for me. I gained a new insight into his wisdom. Then from Thoreau to Emerson and from Emerson to Whitman. It has been an exciting journey for me. Some of your other books have helped me explore a Vermont I never knew as well as great expanses of Canada, riding rapids in a canoe. Beautiful stories laced with even more beautiful works of art. Since my accidental visit in Cedarburg, I have purchased all of the available books, a few of them, several copies.

Your work, your vision, your writings have brought me great joy.

I am grateful for you and appreciate the hills you have had to climb to get where you are. I find some similarities in my life to your writings, your poetry, in how I feel and see the world. It’s a nice view. Thank you.

Respectfully,
Mark (Responding to A Pause for Beauty #290)

Dear Rod,

Just wanted to drop a line to let you know how much your e-newsletters touch me. In this busy, frantic, noisy world, your thoughts and works of art cause me to pause—in a good way. Each time I read one of your emails, I remember what a beautiful world we live in and how fantastic the creatures are that inhabit our world. I am reminded that as I rush about, those moments of gratefulness fleeting and few. But if I slow down, the natural world offers me moments of companionship, warmth, and healing.

Thank you for your important work,
Angie (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 295)

 

Hello -

I find myself smiling when I see an e-news from Heron Dance ... even before I open the actual email. The artwork itself can sometimes leave me breathless with wonder, while the message always gives me pause ... pause to reflect and appreciate the gift of being. Thank you for giving voice to the great wonders of life.

With appreciation,
Betty Durso (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 296)

Dear Rod,

I have just received my first Heron Dance E-Newsletter (Up With The Dawn: A Pause For Beauty 296). It was recommended to me by my friend Diana who has an eye for beautiful things in the world.

I thank you for leading me into the beautiful countryside through your writing.

I live in a pretty concrete jungle and I do not have the wonderful experience of the wilds. Thank you for allowing me to use my imagination. Praise God!

The other evening while waiting for a bus to go home, I observed lots of little black birds flying together. Then they took a rest on the street lamp posts. They were so many in number that they had to occupy two and a half of the lamp posts on a busy street. What a pleasant moment it was for me as I saw the little birds sharing the space that they had. If they could talk, what would they say?

Do keep up the work you are doing. You make life a whole lot more beautiful!

Thank you!
Josephine (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 296)

Dear Rod:

Your writing and the beautiful artwork that you display on your site take me from my daily worries into another world and I feel refreshed in minutes (I just heard on the news that a new research study indicates that people who use the internet for this purpose are about 11% more productive at work). Last year I completed a master's in applied positive psychology which focuses on the science of what goes right in life. Your website is an applied exercise for me. It is the way that I can tap into the strength of appreciation in my life. Thank you for making a difference to many through your positive use of the internet.

Sincerely,
Cathy (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 296)

Rod,

Thank you, as always, for sharing your musings with us. It is always a pleasure to read them and at least some part of what you say always resonates with me. I want to thank you especially for your comment in this issue about letting the wild ones go about their business undisturbed by your investigation (especially in light of your dog’s presence) and to remember that “it is their home I wander through”. I have taken numerous detours (and even cut hikes / walks short) when my dog and I come close to some animal / bird that seems to be disturbed by our presence, but I’ve seen way too many folks around here who seem to think it is their right to pursue the wildlife they see. If more people set an example, as you did by bringing it up, then hopefully the wildlife we cherish will stay close and not feel they have to pack up and move even further away to avoid disrespectful humans.

Thanks for all you give to us,
Stormy (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 296)

Rod –

I’d like to express what a Pause of Beauty does for me each week it appears in my email box. Your e-newsletter reminds me what my soul already knows, that being in nature is my oxygen, and we humans are part of nature – nature is not a travel destination we visit. I read your lovely, lovely descriptions of your walks through the woods and I am transported where there is no injustice, greed, selfishness, sloth, no limits for the soul. Instead, I find a kindred soul who feels the nature connection so powerful that it explains one’s reason for being. And while your sojourns are often solitary, I sense you are never truly alone.

If you ever doubt the substantial gains from your work, know that you bring a beauty to many of us that is so sorely needed today. I have turned many of my friends on to your web-site and have purchased gifts from your e-store for I value the beautiful artwork and prose. But more important, I feel your intentions are of the highest order - to remind us that we are of nature, that we are spiritual beings living in a world of our making, that our souls and the entire earth can only find balance when we follow and practice the laws of nature.

Carol (Responding to A Pause for Beauty 297)

Send us your feedback on A Pause for Beauty.
If you write to us and would prefer that we do not share your comments in a future Pause for Beauty, just let us know.