“When darkness surrounds, even the smallest spark can guide the way. It’s not the size of the light that matters, but the courage to hold it through the night.”
Dipendra Tamang
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
Dr. Martin Luther King
“Why would I want to cede any kind of emotional sovereignty to anyone in the ceremony of my everyday life?“
– James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw
I don’t. I choose not to. In this climate of unease and lack of basic civility, kindness, inclusion and honor – of grace – some days this is difficult. I want to react, to explain, to cry, to rant… I have learned better though. These things, these actions, do not one iota of good and change nothing. Better to live the authentic me in these times and not let my energy be dimmed or diminished. Love with fierce passion. Act don’t react my Father always said.
So here we are. And we still, always in all ways, have each other, so much LOVE, and a bounty of blessings of beauty in northwest Montana and all over this magnificent planet. We maintain who we are and celebrate the ceremony of our everyday lives. We honor each soul, and know there is no “other”.
Love, truth and energy are wished for everyone.
“This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy.”
Walt Whitman
Love, Give, Stand Up!
These words by Silvatiicus Riddle resonated today. Of course not everything is terrible, not even most things, not even a large percentage of things. Perspective. Laying down the learned anger, the fear, the rhetoric, and remembering the love that permeates all, the overwhelming beauty, the magnificence of life, the privilege of it, are all at our fingertips, alive in our hearts,and available for the asking. In this little piece of the world we inhabit, yes, we have everything we need.
“Not everything is terrible.
Read that again. Say it aloud. Know that it is ultimately the truth.
Somewhere birds sing. Somewhere cats play and roll in the grass. Somewhere there is a brand new baby seeing snowfall for the first time. An ocean washes the tired feet of a grandmother with a lifetime of memories etched into her kindly face. Somewhere someone is deeply in love, and falls asleep with their lover’s face still in their eyes. Somewhere there are trees that have seen terrible men rise and fall, that have watched war planes flying overhead, that have felt in the ground and mycelium the distant strike of the ax, and yet…they dig their roots deeper. They reach up proudly for the sunlight, unashamed. They allow the world around them to fall away, or shift with time. Because sometimes, when it is difficult, when it is scary, that is the only way to live.
The flowers will grow. The storms will pass. Life will begin and end and begin again, because that is the way of it. It may not be okay in the whole world, but you can sing. You can pet the soft fur of your animals, you can feel the coolness or warmth of a comforting drink. The touch of a hand. You can recall the survival of an ancestor through trying times, call their strength to you. You can read a good story, or make one up. Tell one about a great adventure –a quest for the precious jewel that gives you life, and how the old witch helped you discover that you’ve carried it with you all along, that it exists inside of you, and you have everything you need right now, in this very moment. Because you do. You really do.
In the little piece of the world that you claim beneath your feet, it is okay. You carry your world with you.
Not everything is terrible.
Remember, and seek out the good.”
Silvatiicus Riddle
“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reasons for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.”
Albert Einstein
“In the next twenty centuries…humanity may begin to understand its most baffling mystery—where are we going? The earth is, in fact, traveling many thousands of miles per hour in the direction of the constellation Hercules—to some unknown destination in the cosmos. Man must understand his universe in order to understand his destiny.
Mystery, however, is a very necessary ingredient in our lives…Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis for man’s desire to understand. Who knows what mysteries will be solved in our lifetime, and what new riddles will become the challenge of the new generation? Science has not mastered prophesy. We predict too much for the next year yet far too little for the next ten. Responding to challenges is one of democracy’s great strengths. Our successes in space can be sued in the next decade in the solution of many of our planet’s problems.”
Neil Armstrong
“…it is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.”
-Mary Oliver
“Do not be dismayed by the brokenness of the world. All things break. And all things can be mended. Not with time, as they say, but with intention. So go. Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally. The broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you.”
-L. R. Knost
“I was born to walk the Earth, experience the amazing beauty of this planet, and witness the splendor and magic of all things—to be overwhelmed by a ray of sunlight, touched by an encounter with a frog, mystified by the texture of a rock wall.
I was born to splash through the creeks, sing through the canyons, laugh with the squirrels, just as I did as a small child in the woods behind our family’s home.
I was born to be a kid, and not take life too seriously, or get sidetracked by a career, a project, or anything that ties me down to the life of bills, shiny new toys, status, and pavement.”
-Scott Stillman
“The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”
-Carlos Santana
“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe to match your nature with Nature.”
-Joseph Campbell
