Mary S Corning,, Gaston, OR (2026)

10/11/2026

Ready for a great Next Level Community Conversation! See you in 20 mins

10/10/2026

Typically I am the one who has the epiphanies when Grace and I spend time together.

This time, it was Grace who had a deep realization. This is the release that can take place, when we let go of emotional complexity.

It is so simple it’s difficult. And so fabulous to experience.

Sunday October 11, at 10 am PST a good many of us, will gather for a free zoom discussion group, to talk about this very subject.

Folks who practice doing less to feel more— whether in life or with horses share their experience to expand the insights.

It’s a great group, very low key and casual. All are welcome to contribute to the discussion or simply listen in.

Peace as a Practice.
See you there.

Link in comments

10/08/2026

—Helpless and Heroic

This world is a gift of endless beauty.

Everything is given freely.

Air, water, light, warmth, all perfectly sustainable, life-giving blessings.

Then man enters. He develops the concept of scarcity. This leads to an “us and them” mentality. This soon grows an ego of power-hungry division.

Simple conflict is now perceived as threats. Over population due to cultural paradigms drain the resources. Poverty and wealth become an endless battle of depletion.

Yet, the moon rises with consistent awe for life.

Trees grow in the middle of concrete parking lots, as if to say “Look at me. There is another way”.

Man is insatiable. And missing the most basic of life’s lessons.

We treat symtom after symtom of dis-ease, never understanding we are our own cause.

Life by nature is cyclical. Dormancy is natural—stagnation is not.

We clearcut the trees and burn the earth. Then fight over what’s needed to survive.

Money and power make decisions, when they are the fundamental cause of the problems.

Each morning I ponder, what is my role? How do I impact the greater scheme?

I vacillate between helpless and heroic. Neither seems to alter a course. So I park in simple transparency.

Like the rivers that dry up and show the value of our waters.

I offer only what I see, as if it were a looking glass into another way.

And I ride the tidal wave of destruction, while revering and adoring the godgiven paradise of our earth.

I’m neither helpless nor heroic.

I am apparently observing, and openly expressing.

Perhaps one other who knows the song of the Raven, or the symphony of the crickets will meet me here.

And perhaps they will feel a kinship as we watch machines of destruction clearing life as if it were a nuisance against their accomplishments.

I know that Eden was given freely and with purpose. And that, man is young and foolish; vulnerable to his own demise.

And then I see the moon rise out of darkness. As she shows her many stages of light.

Over and over she tells the tale. Patiently… silently making her wisdom known.

I trust this wisdom to hear my song of love.

I trust that all is not lost.

I trust the raven sings to assure me.

This new day is to be lived through a lens of paradise.

10/03/2026

Peace as a Practice

Recently I had a good look at how consistency in relationships pays off, when peace is the practice.

For instance…

Our dogs, Scout and Odin, get very little exposure to other dogs. We actually don’t even have too many visiting people.

We live a pretty quiet life here in paradise.

Yesterday, a good friend came by with her pup. The pup is a pretty high energy dog and perhaps half the size of my dogs. I was in the arena when she got here. She came in with her dog on a leash.

It looked like mayhem as she was walking in holding onto the leash for dear life and my dogs were running and jumping all over her dog.

I could see this was an opportunity for me to check the consistency, (and its effectiveness) in my relationship with my dogs.

Both of Scout and Odin were off leash. And so I asked them to sit and stay, a short distance from my friend’s dog. I was thrilled when they accommodated, as this was a serious pop quiz.

Meanwhile, I sat on a bucket and just got quiet. My friend’s dog was excited and wanted to jump on me and say hello. I didn’t look at her or acknowledge her until she got quiet too. And then I gently pet her.

It took less than 5 minutes for all 3 dogs to sit peacefully.

That little bit of application actually transformed the chaos to peace.

All 3 dogs were truly happy being peaceful. The excitement was a reaction not a choice.

In nature there is a strong desire for peace. Energy is life, and sustainability of life is what nature is all about.

Long-term wasted energy is not necessarily effective. Even when it’s about a good thing, like being with new friends!

The reason I tell this story is because, I think it’s incredibly important to recognize that peace takes practice. Not only for our dogs, but for our horses and in all our relationships.

Life takes on a very different feel when we realize peace can be a choice. And, a healthy one.

This past week, my husband and I were helping our son to move. This required driving my truck into a highly congested highway system in the middle of Portland.

One of the main highways into town was closed so it was an intense bottleneck. I rarely take my 1 ton truck through the city. So, we were in a very unfamiliar territory.

This was my time to bring peace into chaos.

I’m not saying I wasn’t stressed. I was. But what I am saying is, I didn’t add more stress to it. I chose to go deeper than the surface plane of reaction.

I consciously got quiet and realized that the thoughts I was having were not helpful.

Peace was helpful.

I focused on the fact that we were supporting our oldest son in a transition and that we were all together. And that felt good.

But most of all I focused on where my attention was landing.

And I think that’s the holy grail right there.

Not adding stressful thoughts to a situation, especially one that is actively developing faster than we feel prepared for, is good practice.

I did to my thoughts, what I did with the jumping dog. I simply didn’t acknowledge them until I felt my mind settle down a bit. Then I could have a look.

This is intercepting emotional complexity. And it is effective in all relationships, whether we are bringing a horse along, training dogs, or living in a world with varing personalities.

This is the opportunity in relationship.

We may have extreme differences in how we approach any given situation. But if peace is the common denominator in our approach, sustainability can be the outcome.

Anger, resistance and especially fear are energy drains.

Health… whether physical, mental or emotional, is fostered in peaceful environments.

There are times in life that we don’t get to choose. Times that we are so overtaken by emotional complexity that we have to just ride it out.

But, when we make peace our practice, and find success in less stressful situations, then when the pop quiz shows up, we are well versed. And this means we can be more effective!

I would also say my relationship with my horse Grace has shown me that sometimes there is little margin for neglect.

As we come to see the value of intercepting emotional complexity, we also begin to see the opportunities in all our interactions.

Especially the most intricate and intimate relationships. Such as riding our horses.

Grace has offered me a new appreciation for what I bring to this meaningful developmental process.

The phrase “ Emotional complexity“ came to me in a flash, while I was riding her.

I say it came in a flash, but really it took my lifetime to see it.

Even when I slowed down, and I was very conscious about how I related with Grace, I realized I still flooded the system with unending thoughts and ideas.

I still had my focus on results. I especially see now, how decades of conditioning- thinking and doing things a certain way, requires deep focused attention to undo.

There is a strong unconscious element of habit in the mind.

I’ve done a lot of things differently, this time with my horse Grace.

But it was what was inside my head that really came to pass in this flash of a moment.

There I was riding her in the evening sunlight. What could be better? And inside my head were all these thoughts about next. Maybe we should trot. Maybe we should lope. Is she focused?

It was I that needed to focus. Not her.

In that singular moment, because of my practice of sitting quietly, I lay witness to the contrast between the emotional complexity (chaos) and absolute peace.

As I let go of all the mental language going on within me, in the very next stride, Grace and I were enveloped in an incredibly unified peace.

This is why I ride.

That feel was like none other. And I will never forget it.

When I simply ignored the emotional complexity, Grace and I met in the most perfect and divine moment.

We won’t go backwards from here. Why would I? I absolutely won’t trade peace for chaos, even, and especially within my own thought system.

Letting go of emotional complexity and choosing peace seems so simple.

But it’s taken me a lifetime to apply it.

This is what Perfect Practice is.

It’s not about being perfect in this chaotic world. It’s about not settling for less.

Life is an ever-evolving lesson in conscious realization.

And how we (and our loved ones) feel as we learn, is the real barometer for what we are practicing.

Practice peace to live peace.

Join us for the free Next Level Conversation zoom group.
Peace as a practice.

10/03/2026

Peace as a Practice

Recently I had a good look at how consistency in relationships pays off, when peace is the practice.

For instance…

Our dogs, Scout and Odin, get very little exposure to other dogs. We actually don’t even have too many visiting people.

We live a pretty quiet life here in paradise.

Yesterday, a good friend came by with her pup. The pup is a pretty high energy dog and perhaps half the size of my dogs. I was in the arena when she got here. She came in with her dog on a leash.

It looked like mayhem as she was walking in holding onto the leash for dear life and my dogs were running and jumping all over her dog.

I could see this was an opportunity for me to check the consistency, (and its effectiveness) in my relationship with my dogs.

Both of Scout and Odin were off leash. And so I asked them to sit and stay, a short distance from my friend’s dog. I was thrilled when they accommodated, as this was a serious pop quiz.

Meanwhile, I sat on a bucket and just got quiet. My friend’s dog was excited and wanted to jump on me and say hello. I didn’t look at her or acknowledge her until she got quiet too. And then I gently pet her.

It took less than 5 minutes for all 3 dogs to sit peacefully.

That little bit of application actually transformed the chaos to peace.

All 3 dogs were truly happy being peaceful. The excitement was a reaction not a choice.

In nature there is a strong desire for peace. Energy is life, and sustainability of life is what nature is all about.

Long-term wasted energy is not necessarily effective. Even when it’s about a good thing, like being with new friends!

The reason I tell this story is because, I think it’s incredibly important to recognize that peace takes practice. Not only for our dogs, but for our horses and in all our relationships.

Life takes on a very different feel when we realize peace can be a choice. And, a healthy one.

This past week, my husband and I were helping our son to move. This required driving my truck into a highly congested highway system in the middle of Portland.

One of the main highways into town was closed so it was an intense bottleneck. I rarely take my 1 ton truck through the city. So, we were in a very unfamiliar territory.

This was my time to bring peace into chaos.

I’m not saying I wasn’t stressed. I was. But what I am saying is, I didn’t add more stress to it. I chose to go deeper than the surface plane of reaction.

I consciously got quiet and realized that the thoughts I was having were not helpful.

Peace was helpful.

I focused on the fact that we were supporting our oldest son in a transition and that we were all together. And that felt good.

But most of all I focused on where my attention was landing.

And I think that’s the holy grail right there.

Not adding stressful thoughts to a situation, especially one that is actively developing faster than we feel prepared for, good practice.

I did to my thoughts, what I did with the jumping dog. I simply didn’t acknowledge them until I felt my mind settle down a bit. Then I could have a look.

This is intercepting emotional complexity. And it is effective in all relationships, whether we are bringing a horse along, training dogs, or living in a world with varing personalities.

This is the opportunity in relationship.

We may have extreme differences in how we approach any given situation. But if peace is the common denominator in our approach, sustainability can be the outcome.

Anger, resistance and especially fear are energy drains.

Health… whether physical, mental or emotional, is fostered in peaceful environments.

There are times in life that we don’t get to choose. Times that we are so overtaken by emotional complexity that we have to just ride it out.

But, when we make peace our practice, and find success in less stressful situations, when the pop quiz shows up, we are well versed. And this means we can be more effective!

I would also say my relationship with my horse Grace has shown me that sometimes there is little margin for neglect.

As we come to see the value of intercepting emotional complexity, we also begin to see the opportunities in all our interactions.

Especially the most intricate and intimate relationships. Such as riding our horses.

Grace has offered me a new appreciation for what I bring to this meaningful developmental process.

The phrase “ Emotional complexity“ came to me in a flash, while I was riding.

I say it came in a flash, but really it took my lifetime to see it.

Even when I slowed down, and I was very conscious about how I related with Grace, I realized I still flooded the system with unending thoughts and ideas.

I still had my focus on results. I especially see now, how decades of conditioning- thinking and doing things a certain way, requires deep focused attention to undo.

There is a strong unconscious element of habit in the mind.

I’ve done a lot of things differently, this time with my horse Grace.

But it was what was inside my head that really came to pass in this flash of a moment.

There I was riding her in the evening sunlight. What could be better? And inside my head were all these thoughts about next. Maybe we should trot. Maybe we should lope. Is she focused?

It was I that needed to focus. Not her.

In that singular moment, because of my practice of sitting quietly, I lay witness to the contrast between the emotional complexity (chaos) and absolute peace.

As I let go of all the mental language going on within me, in the very next stride, Grace and I were enveloped in an incredibly unified peace.

This is why I ride.

That feel was like none other. And I will never forget it.

When I simply ignored the emotional complexity, Grace and I met in the most perfect and divine moment.

We won’t go backwards from here. Why would I? I absolutely won’t trade peace for chaos, even, and especially within my own thought system.

Letting go of emotional complexity and choosing peace seems so simple.

But it’s taken me a lifetime to apply it.

This is what Perfect Practice is.

It’s not about being perfect in this chaotic world. It’s about not settling for less.

Life is an ever-evolving lesson in conscious realization.

And how we (and our loved ones) feel as we learn, is the real barometer for what we are practicing.

Practice peace to live peace.

Join us for the Free Next Level Community Conversation
Oct 11, 2026 at 10 AM, PST
link below

Mary S. Corning is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Next Level Community- Peace as a Practice
Time: Oct 11, 2026 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)

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Meeting ID: 870 4499 7974
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09/13/2026

The Nasturtium, the Droplet, Me and the Bee

This moist and marvelous morning, is sweetened by the presence of a lingering bee.

An early riser in the cool of a pending fall

When most others seek warmth and rest.

This bee crawls slowly across the final blossoms

On its quest to quench his thirst

Just one more, deep nasturtium drink

Nasturtium too has slowed her pace.

As her once vibrant colors
crisp and bright

Now fade to a withering brown

Her last burst and the bee’s are one

Nasturtium scatters confirmation as her seeds sing the song of life

She whispers her vow as the slow bee drinks
—see you again in next spring’s dawn

The crystal like dew drop holds to the edges of her still green leaves.

The whole world is reflected in its globe

The droplet marries her single soul with the morning sun

The perfection of reflection

This god-like glow holds within its tiny universe all of eternity

The nasturtium, me and the bee know this as life.

All is provided

Nothing lacks

As steam rises, promising warmth by afternoon

We join in love-blind reverence

echoed in the morning dew.

The nasturtium, the droplet, me and the bee

Soon enough the resting world will awaken

With its busy lives racing against the light

We will linger here just a bit longer, a bit slower

And drink one more sip of magic

As its power presents its perfect world

The nasturtium, the droplet, me and the bee

09/08/2026

The sunflower fades from yellow to black, and I sense her surrender to time

She knows surrender so much better than I

Simply laying her head slowly down and relinquishing the vibrant colors of the temporary blossom

She holds no regrets and feels no loss. Only the rebirth from the seeds she has created.

In the background, the marbled sky yields the first flocks to fly south

Swallows in formation on a mission to move

Change is life
as they embrace the sky

And I watch in sadness for my loss

I wonder

where does sadness live in me that it rises without purpose.

It’s clear to see this attachment to the temporal

By no means is this natural

I seem to be imprisoned by—not so much as a thought.

While swallows and sunflowers are free.
MSC

09/06/2026

Fodder for today’s group! See you soon!

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86432638278?pwd=aJ8L6taDDVk2D3uAn9ZI1z5zo6jkyl.1

09/02/2026

—Space the Final Frontier

Here is our topic for our upcoming Next Level Conversation.
Sunday,September 6, 2026. At 10 AM PST

I hope you can join us.

As a child I was definitely a “Treky”. The popular TV show of the day was Star Trek. And the brilliant creator of the show, Gene Roddenberry, coined the phrase, “ Space the final frontier.“

I had no idea as a child the meaning and the depth of this message.

Space is an interesting concept. And like most concepts it’s completely relative to our perception of it.

Space can be something that we desire. A space to breathe or to rest. It can be something we reach for in our busy chaotic lives.

Or space can feel like separation. It can feel like loneliness or feel hollow. Sometimes we can feel uncomfortable so we start to fill it in.

I strongly believe that emptiness is the root cause of addiction. We want to fill this space with something we can control. But what happens is that our belief in control, then begins to control us.

A common phrase in conflict is “Just give me some space”. What does that mean? Can someone give us space? How is space taken away from us?

Personally, I am intrigued by door number 3. For me, this is the space that simply is. It’s not lost or given. It is the fundamental nature of all life.

I call this space “Grace”.

The space of grace is inside, outside, and all around. It’s infinite and uncontained.

“Space” isn’t even a sufficient word to describe the invisible consistent and essential opening of existence.

It can’t be seen, felt, smelled, tasted or heard. This space is beyond sensory perception. Yet it is the one essential element of all the senses.

Space simply is.

We humans have very little patience for empty space. Just look at the planet, or my closets for instance. If there is space we typically fill it with something.

One type of space is the concept of time. As Eckhart Tolle puts it “ Our lives consist of the dash we see on tombstones, symbolizing the time between the day we are born and the day we die. “

This is the space of time that we are allotted for this unique and individual existence. And unlike the space we cannot sense or create, this perception of space is relative to a beginning and an end. This is the space we call time.

Time is a space that we rely on heavily. And often the concept of time can work against us. That is, if we haven’t come to understand that, in truth, it really doesn’t exist. At least not in the existential play.

Of course there are cycles and patterns in existence. But the human being is the only one who sets things up on a watch. This belief in time can create varied degrees of conflict, where there is none.

Time sets the tone for the concept of scarcity.

We can unconsciously start to fill the space of time with so much activity that we begin to think there is not enough time. And this can become a vicious cycle of too much or too little. The belief in time easily begins to overshadow the present moment and with it, the presence of grace.

This is how we create dependency on the unreal. Practicing the belief in scarcity, quickly becomes a habit. The habit projects our thoughts into infinite space and we then build our lives around it.

The belief in scarcity promotes a natural fear response. And this unconscious belief then becomes the habit of fear.

In my personal and professional work, I have focused on letting go of the tendencies of a fear-based source for our actions.

I share that the ego loves to activate around thoughts of time and money. This is because those are the areas that strengthen the concept of scarcity.Soon this scarcity belief conditions us to project, into infinite space the fear-based belief of not enoughness.

- Will I run out of time?
- Will I run out of money?
- What will my life be like if I don’t have enough?

I often ask, “ Enough for what?”

Most of our fears come from this belief in scarcity. Scarcity is felt as a personal “Not enoughness”

I recall a time in my life when I found myself in a transition with no office space to meet with people. This happened to come at the same time that my mortgage had doubled, due to placing a new home on my property.

I recall this story often because it was one of those moments where I could really see the beauty in my own personal work.

I sat down on the couch in the middle of my new house and wondered how I would pay the bills? The next thought shifted from scarcity to abundance.

I looked outside and I saw my very nice Chevrolet Silverado sitting in the driveway. This was my dream truck. My mother had left me some money a few years before when she passed away. And I spent some of it on getting a dependable vehicle. So in this moment when fear wanted to convince me of the belief in scarcity, I looked outside and thought —“Well, I could sell the truck. That would pay for a lot of house payments.”

This was a pivotal shift in consciousness. I was able to move from scarcity to abundance in one moment of time.

It was simply a shift in how I saw things. Soon after that, I decided to have an in-home office. People loved coming to the country to have their sessions. And many stated that the drive through nature offered them a sense of peace.

I became busier than ever and I never missed a house payment. And… I never even had to sell the truck.

There is a space of grace that holds our life. I have often asked myself, “Have you ever not made it?“

Somehow we manage through even the darkest of hours. But sometimes we don’t acknowledge and deepen our awareness of the grace that carries us through these times. It’s like a silent partner that carries the load.

I feel that the recognition of grace is one of the most powerful personal growth shifts we can make.

I’ve had many experiences that were perhaps dramatic, or felt, in some way, catastrophic. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel the pain or the suffering. I did. But over the years I have developed a faith. And that faith is what leads my life. I have faith in the space of grace.

This is what I lovingly call “Perfect Practice.“ It really doesn’t have anything to do with being perfect. It’s the space of grace that is perfect. Our practice is to recognize we are not separate from that. And that is what builds the faith.

Grace is our true essence. We can’t ever lose it, but we certainly can deny it.

In today’s world, power has over shadowed faith. Control has created fear. Certainly, I have the opportunity to see this in my own life and to intercept its quietly habitual way of sneaking in the back door.

I get better and better at catching it. The truth of the matter is, that’s because the habit of fear just doesn’t feel good. When I feel confined or constricted, you can bet that I have believed in scarcity over space.

There’s no shame, blame or guilt about this. It simply is a lifelong practice. I get better at reading the signs.

When I get lost believing in scarcity and confinement, it influences my nervous system in such a way that I feel tight and resistant. I know then that it’s time to look again. It’s time to see things differently. And when I do, I find grace. The space of grace that frees my mind and celebrates my soul.

Join us on Sunday Sept 6, 2026 at 10 AM for a heart filled discussion of reinterpreting life’s hardships to better utilize the space that is infinitely available. A space to breathe and to be, just as we are. And with that somehow everything changes.

These conversations are always organic and laid back. Folks are free to share or just listen. And everyone is welcome.

Here’s the link and we look forward to seeing you there.

Mary and Magnus.

Mary S. Corning is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Space the Final Frontier
Time: Sep 6, 2026 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86432638278?pwd=aJ8L6taDDVk2D3uAn9ZI1z5zo6jkyl.1

Meeting chat link
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Meeting ID: 864 3263 8278
Passcode: 897687

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Mary S Corning,

10/11/2026

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