there are placesplaces on earththat are magical.that no words canhope to describe.where your soulempty and drainedis restored.where the whispers of angelsshimmer through the treesas if on a mist.perfectly and peacefully.and gently floatingon the warm spring breeze.drifting weaving.falling on my facefilling me with grace.-Michael Traveler, from “Places”
“Know your essence.
As you move through your life, you will claim many identities and belong to many tribes.
At some point, however, you realize this is not you being authentic, this is you being confused.
When you begin the process of dropping all identities, one after another, you reveal your true essence, which is you as a soul.
Let the rest go.”
-Sara Wiseman
And we always in all ways start anew. In each breath, each moment, in our choices to be present and to be kind, we create the world. Last night felt like New Year’s Eve and this morning like a new dawn – but each day is that – has the potential for that – regardless the angst outside ourselves. This I learn again and again…
“A new beginning! We must learn to live each day, each hour, yes, each minute as a new beginning, as a unique opportunity to make everything new. Imagine that we could live each moment as a moment pregnant with new life. Imagine that we could live each day as a day full of promises. Imagine that we could walk through the new year always listening to a voice saying to us: ‘I have a gift for you and can’t wait for you to see it! Imagine!”
-Henri J.M. Nouwen
“There is in us an instinct for newness, for renewal, for a liberation of creative power. We seek to awaken in ourselves a force which really changes our lives from within. And yet the same instinct tells us that this change is a recovery of that which is deepest, most original, most personal in ourselves. To be born again is not to become somebody else, but to become ourselves.”
-Thomas Merton
Both quotes were found in the first chapter of the Artist’s Rule by Christine Valters Painter, a Benedictine oblate and artist. This book provides a twelve week journey of contemplation and creative expression that I’m just embarking on. It is a deep dive. This book is on our Sapphire Girl’s book list if you’re interested – seems a good journey to delve into just now with new beginnings inherent and the quiet of winter about to unfold to express them in.
“All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”
-Marie Curie
“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.” ~
-Robert M. Pirsig
“…it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.”
-Mary Oliver
“As our world becomes increasingly polluted with noise, silence is becoming our rarest commodity. Through all the madness, how can we possibly hear what the Earth is so patiently trying to tell us? Wilderness is our only hope. The one place we can always come back to.”
-Scott Stillman
“Marvel at the deep truths of being”
-Arthur C. Brooks
“Promise Yourself…
To be so strong that nothing
can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity
to every person you meet.To make all your friends feel
that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything
and make your optimism come true.To think only the best, to work only for the best,
and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others
as you are about your own.To forget the mistakes of the past
and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times
and give every living creature you meet a smile.To give so much time to the improvement of yourself
that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear,
and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world,
not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side
so long as you are true to the best that is in you.”~ Christian D. Larson
“To every man there openeth a way, and ways, and a way. And the high soul climbs the high way, and the low soul gropes the low. And in between, on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro. But to every man there openeth a high way and a low, and every man decideth the way his soul shall go.”
-Mehmet Murat Ildan
“If you can live the beauty of the misty mornings, you are the king, you are the queen!”
-Mehmet Murat Ildan
