Fountain of Youth

/ delphini510

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Reading many wise thinkers’ thoughts about life, what 
gives lasting fulfillment and inner aliveness,  brought me to 
the question of retaining this fountain of youth. Of being 
fully alive.

To dare live here and now as Eckhardt Tolle teaches in his 
wonderful books makes us younger both physically and spiritually.
To feel each moment and not see it as a transport to the next.
By living so in our daily life, our faces relax and find the ease of
a smile. Strength to live life to the full and let our inner selves pour forth. To find clarity.

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Fountain of Youth

Does it really exist,
or is it a state of mind?
The thought came unbidden
as I walked,
along the ocean shore.

The waves from the Atlantic
relentless, forceful,
singing their eternal song;
Powerful, soporific
profound,

dynamic organ to gentle,
sweet percussions;
as my ears, my being tuned in
revealing a mighty orchestration.

Eyes filled with tears of joy
as the morning sun revealed,
nature in all its beauty,
Splendour and hues.

Feet delighted in the surf
as tides reached, caressed,
and at times unbalanced me
with their strength.

I found my smile again,
full and free
as gradually the Atlantic hymn
filled my soul, my ears,
My whole,

leaving woes and fears behind;
who earlier seemed invincible,
so strong;
Where now drowned
By unending sea.

You look so young
I heard every day;
your smile is so bright.
Could it be so simple, I thought?
Have I found along the shore,

The Fountain of Youth?

Letting frowns and worries
be erased by the ocean sound.
Bringing forth who I was,
who I am;

As I walk along
the smile fills my heart,
opens it wide.
The crashing waves are me
as are the shifting sands,
We are one and the same.

A feeling so boundless and free

© miriam ivarson

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53 thoughts on “Fountain of Youth”

  1. There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.
    sophia loren

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  3. Thank you for your comment. Yes, it is the heart, our inner self, that matters.
    Physically we are to some extent affected by our minds but real youth comes from the heart.
    I have seen this so much as I grew up in a place where all generations mixed.
    Miriam

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  4. Your words capture the humbling majesty of nature Miriam. What film director, with a budget if millions, could ever create images to match the experience you’ve just described ? It is the same with the other senses. Yet many only look at sand and sea. The message is a good one but the emphasis is on the word ‘live’ in the now, to be able to take our experiences of peace and completeness and maintain it in the 21st c is the hardest of all. Thank you Miriam for a wonderful, thought provoking and helpful post.

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  5. Nigel, once again you have given me such a beautiful and heartwarming response. I thank you.
    The humbling majesty of nature, you say. Exactly so. This is what that day brought home and so brought joy back. Also the total awareness of just being now, whatever happens. The words and thoughts have been with me for long but there are times when they become such reality.
    You are again right Nigel, the emphasis is on ‘live’ Now.
    miriam

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  6. Waves and youth…both are powerful; both excite and symbolize exuberance of life! Exotic imagery Miriam…blending so well with your thoughts that flow through this poem! We may feel young at heart but this feeling is different…it is not as confused and thrilling as ‘real’ youth, pining to fly high, waiting to experience all the amazing wonders of the world.
    Being one with the ‘crashing waves’ and the ‘shifting sands’ is a little enigmatic but life is like that…changing a thousand hues! Profound reflections…very meaningful!

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    • Thank you Balroop for your beautiful and in depth response. I agree about the sea/ ocean. Its power and vastness does thrill and awe. Spending time daily by such seas both stills and excites.
      Enigmatic…, I guess it might be. Then again, when the words flow through you, what do you do? 😊🦋
      miriam

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  8. Miriam,
    Such beauty in your words and photos that one couldn’t help but feel they were in the fountain of youth. The real fountain couldn’t hold a candle to your lovely description…. jc

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    • Thank you very much JC for your beautiful and charming response.
      I am so glad that you found beauty and gladness from the poem and
      the photos. I believe you are another ocean lover.
      Miriam

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  10. Your beautiful words brought a smile to my own face, and created a sense of peace.
    “Eyed filled with tears of joy
    as the morning sun revealed,
    nature in all its beauty”…
    It’s those rise of emotions, the oneness that comes not from just seeing, but being fully present, and experiencing the now. When I sit in nature, I can see and hear the things around me, but if I don’t feel that fullness in my chest, that almost overwhelming emotional connection, I know I’m not being still and I’m not ‘experiencing’ the moment. Thank you for an inspiring post, on this unusually, but most welcome, warm Saturday. I like your spirit, Miriam.

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    • Lynn, how wonderful to have brought a smile to your face and touched the
      love we both share. That of nature and its strength. How it can fill and lift us.
      You have honoured me with an in depth response and it is a delight to learn how you also feel when thoughts disturb the true connection with ‘the moment’. How true. To have inspired is a gift to the writer as you will know from your own writing and poetry. 🦋💕
      Thank you
      Miriam

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  13. We are what we think. Energy follows thought. There is no past or future ~ there is only the Now. Such a powerful metaphor, the ocean. Without water, there is no life on Mother Earth. Without water, there is no fluidity, no ebb and flow, no letting go. Thank you, dear Miriam, for this beautiful reminder to live fully in the moment ❤

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    • Thank you so much Tina. I am glad to have woken such a strong flow
      within you; you write with passion about water and the Earth.
      You teach best what you need to know is a saying I like. I obviously needed to get there myself. Learn how it feels to be really just now. ❤️
      miriam

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  14. Beautiful, Miriam! There is something eternally renewing about being on the ocean shore. Even the shore of a large lake. I think it’s a combination of the vastness of the water and the sense of the immense power of Nature that is in a way both comforting and energizing. You’ve captured that essence of the shore, I think. A wonderful poem for sure!

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    • Thank you for you ur beautiful response Julie. Yes to the vastness of the sea,
      where the ocean meets the sky. It is more than awesome.
      The immense power of nature is comforting and energising, also at times frightening when you feel how small you are. 😊💕
      miriam

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  15. You have brought so many beautiful ideas together: music, the beach, sunrise; your poem really speaks to me, asking a question I think on often. I love the sense of unity you have created and the hope that permeates through your voice!

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  16. Thank you for this generous answer. You have taken in so much of the poem.
    The music meant a lot to me and always do in nature. Be it the ocean the forest, the grasses….they all have music.
    Unity and hope, how happy you make me with this comment.
    miriam

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  17. Miriam, I’m so happy you found your smile again…there amongst the surf, the crashing waves, found the boundless and unfettered freedom. 😀😀 A beautiful post that lifts my soul, leaves me smiling. Youth is very much an attitude of mind and we often see young people who seem old in their spirits and vice versa…I have a feeling you’ve found eternal youth, Miriam! Your posts resonate with joy of living and the moment. Hugs xxx ❤️

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  18. Annika, thank you for your beautiful and happy answer. It feels great to be part of lifting your spirit and make you smile. 😊 , although I think you already do.
    I really have seen this young spirits as I grew up, the glint in the eyes and the free laughters of the older generations. I often felt as if they knew more and worried less. You are right, I treasure life and that in turn keeps us all young.
    Miriam

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  19. This is a wonderful post and poem Miriam and one that stops you to take a deep breath and slow things down. Nature provides us with so much that goes beyond age. It shows us that we are all part of this beauty. If we just take a moment to experience the now then we accept the gifts nature provides for us. You capture this so beautifully in your poem.

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    • Davy, thank you for your warm and thoughtful comment, it is a joy that the
      post connected with you. Numerically our bodies do age all the time but this does not mean our ability to experience depth and exhilaration in our feelings grow less.
      I really do believe in being part of all that nature has to offer and the gladness of sharing with friends.
      miriam

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    • Sharon, how wonderful that you could join me in hearing the “Atlantic hymn”.
      It sort of lifts us up and fill your being. No space for worries …
      Thank your u.
      Miriam

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  26. I’m always younger when I walk along the ocean. I feel the years slip away- same as when I’m belly laughing with a friend or walking hand in hand with my guy. So in response to your beautiful poem: yes, it is that simple, isn’t it? 💗

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    • Thank you Pam for your lovely answer. How right you are, a belly full of
      laughter….walking along the ocean shore or wherever nature fills you.
      Or of course laughing with loved ones.
      It is that simple…❤️🦋

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  28. Thank you Tiny for your kind comment on my poem.
    You are right, it isn’t always easy – very often not – to accept difficulties and deal with them calmly.
    This is how I came to be walking there and was given this poem. I also went back and resolved the problem.
    Life is full of dark and light but we can learn to deal with it in peace. 😊💕
    miriam

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  31. I love those moments of pure connection where the beauty of the world and you become one for an instant. Thank you for the lovely poem and for reminding me to be on the lookout for those moments. 😍

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  32. Thank you for your positive comment. Yes, to feel that pure connection is a feeling almost inexplicable in words. To be aware each day makes it more likely that we all can feel this. I am sure you will.
    Also thank you for your follow.😊
    Miriam

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  35. Your words and poem reflect my thoughts so perfectly, Miriam. Walking on a beach is a wonderful reviving experience – the sound of the waves seem to envelope our sometimes troubled minds and make it easier to let go, to concentrate on the moment and just be. Thank you for bringing this back to my mind! 😊💙

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  36. Miriam the best thing you have done is taking the ocean into consideration the lines have come forth.
    The best thing is the ocean is always full of youth any given time. Hahaha
    These comments on that day of liking where not posted as I had to run for some work.
    Enjoy the day
    Shiva

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  37. You are so right there Shiva, only, it was the ocean that talked to me. I did not think. I was but a conduit. It is true how I felt and what it made me feel. Yes, ocean is forever young and full of vitality. Maybe we are too, deep inside where the invisible waves move.
    Miriam

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