life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “confidence”

31 May 2016

all things new 


God is not doing an old thing. God is not doing the next thing. God is doing a new thing and new things don’t fit in old vessels. As I was praying I believe the Lord is saying that He is making old vessels new again. Shedding off the old and making it new. This may mean old ways of thinking, repetitive ways that don’t work anymore or don’t yield results as they used to. Old bodies that don’t function the way they used to. Feeling any younger yet? Old and achy bodies will be regenerated into young, flexible and new bodies for the new thing to be placed into. New wine doesn’t go into old wine skins. God needs us 50ish people (give or take a few years) to impart into the younger generations and we need to be as active as they are.

🌎

      – David Hoffman


I meet you in the dark 

with my secret information,

my furtive questions.

I bring my grainy picture.

You bring me out into light

and give me yours, so much better,

for you too have been observing 

even more keenly

and loving even more deeply. 

God I come over and over

to give you 

my view of myself

and walk away with yours.

__________________ 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net


Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, confidence, connection, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, fun, Gratitude, Habits, healing, inspiration, People, perceptions, power, Prayer, Reality | Leave a comment
24 May 2016

let the desire for beauty rule your life


Abandon every

program and routine.

There is no sequence

of postures.

Stand valiantly and

gently sway

in the breeze of your

own breath.

Let your body rise and fall,

circling slowly, a vast

starry firmament between

the ligaments of each bone,

muscles washed in

attention, moving

out of their ocean wheels,

galactic cells, Wordless

creations of the infinitesimal…

There are no instructions.

There is no book.

No, more slowly.

Go nowhere,

micro-movements

inventing themselves

from molten stillness.

Now it is your own dance.

_________________

Classless Yoga by Uradiance 

💃🏻

http://yourradiance.blogspot.com/2016/05/classless-yoga.html?m=1


Excuse me while I kiss the sky. 

Pardon me while I hug the moon. 

Forgive me while I dance with the ocean. 

Give me a minute while I ring up a few stars. 

Hold your horses while I sing with the angels. 

Patience my old friend while I make love to the world. 

Get some rest while I fly the skies with the eagles. 

Count some sheep while I paint a masterpiece with Mother Nature. 

Then…

Come lay beside me and hold me close, 

touch my soul with lovers hands,

whisper the secrets my heart longs to hear, 

sing to me softly, 

kiss me like butterflies, 

while I love you forever

and ever, 

and we fall asleep together 

each night, 

for a thousand years

then a thousand more. 

Sweet dreams, 

my love. 

and good night. 

💤

AL



Posted in Adventure, art, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Change, Choice, confidence, connection, determination, Faith, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
17 May 2016

you got this…





It won’t matter that 10,000 doors might be slammed in your face because when door number 10,001 flies open, revealing pathways of jade and gardens of love, with flowers dancing, fountains sparkling, friends blushing, moonbeams glowing, and abundance abounding, you’ll completely forget about all the other doors. 
Happens every day, 

    The Universe


LOVE seeing this quote of mine as inspirational art!!! Soooo grateful to John Cool-Sign! Check out his Etsy store, thatcoolsign, for all the yummy stuff!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/thatCoolSign?ref=search_shop_redirect&show_panel=true

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, commitment, confidence, connection, Dreams, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, inspiration, risk, strength, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
16 May 2016

have a little faith…speak a lotta truth…

The opposite of joy is not sorrow. It is unbelief.
❤️

–Leslie Weatherhead

Truthfulness.
Being honest with someone else really just means opening up to share out of our own self-honesty, being transparent about our own experience, the deepest within us, in a way that creates the space for the other to also feel safe exposing the vulnerability within themselves.
When truth is more important to us than fear of loss, we discover our wings. 
When we are no longer afraid of change, of losing what we think we have, or the fulfillment we imagine to be sourced outside of us, and are willing to risk it all for our heart’s knowing, for the uncompromising integrity in that, the relief is surprisingly immediate. 
Though it may involve facing the hurt of disillusionment, the fall of pride, the surfacing of old wounds, that is simply a part of the rebirth offered by a radical commitment to self-honesty. 
The self-respect and confidence that emerges out of such an honoring, the willingness to offer up the surface dance to a deeper wisdom, makes it possible to gaze into the eyes and soul of another, with no need of approval, or fear of rejection, and no shame in being fully seen. True self-honesty diffuses self-judgement, and therefore any need for defensiveness. It reveals our innocence. We can finally just be ourselves. 
And, maybe for the first time, without any subtle need of them, without any emotional dependency, we really truly see the one in front of us. We meet the naked beauty of the other, as never before, on equal ground. When we aren’t hiding from ourselves, we no longer need to hide from the world, which will always reflect back to us what we are avoiding. In this way, life is in continuous support of our liberation. 
Free from the subconsious pressure of hope and expectation born of fantasy, of projected values and assumptions, free from the inner conflict of unexpressed gut feelings, it becomes so easy to give, to receive, to experience the fulfillment of true connection. Unconditional presence. Real love. The joy of that is far greater than any birthing pains. 
Be honest to your heart, and give that a voice in your relationships. You’ll never regret it.

   – Joshua Isrealievitch



Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Blessing, Change, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, power, Prayer | Leave a comment
06 May 2016

make the most of it


Setting priorities is a difficult process…
No, it’s not!

That’s just what I keep saying. 

But, it’s really very simple –

Just this…
What is the most important thing(s) in my life?
How do I reorganize my life around 

the most important thing(s)?
Am I willing to do the work focused on that/those?
Those questions are on me. 

The answers are very clear,

very simple. 
YES! 
Ok, then…

Get busy

make your music happen 

Focus 

Work

Do it!

This is it!

Set your sites…

Now…

Go…

💃🏻

AL





Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Career, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, create, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, focus, fun, grace, Happiness, inspiration, Joy, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music | Leave a comment
05 May 2016

spring slowly but surely


The trees here are still mostly bare,

their infinite fingers of resolute patience.

They are in no hurry. What will come, 

will.
South of here it’s different, and farther north. 

But this is here. 
On some twigs the tenderest green

emerges, a different green, and fragile

as new things are.
Without yet the singing, buzzing and sweetness

they gather life in near-freezing wind, bare,

or nearly so.
Sap runs. You can’t see it.

Small things underground shift,

and something larger than all this.

Tomorrow is more open than the western sky,

moving.

__________________ 

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net



photos above by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

🌾

If you have become ash,

Then wait you become a rose again.

And do not remember how often you have become ash

But how often you were reborn in ashes to a new rose.

🌹

~ Rumi


I’ve been paying attention this spring

my current obsession is 

the dogwoods birthing 

it’s been a patient process

over the past couple of weeks

it all started with tiny beads on the end of bare branches

every day they appear a bit more 

they’re almost fully blooming now

my favorite tree is early in my walk

it’s mainly white with pink centers

but three large branches are pink with white centers 

it’s simply beautiful

the magnolias came 

and went quickly this year

the weeping cherries

are currently bawling their pink tears 

falling in puddles on the ground

I find them on my shoulders

in my hair

This slow spring is reminding me

not to rush

just allow

beauty in all she is

knows herself

everything we love

is always

right on time

🌳

AL

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, Change, confidence, Glory, Growth, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Passion, Patience, soul and spirit, strength, transformation, Trust | Leave a comment
01 May 2016

what if?


May this be a morning of innocent beginning,

 When the gift within you slips clear 

 Of the sticky web of the personal

 With its hurt and hauntings,

 And fixed fortress corners,
A morning when you become a pure vessel

 For what wants to ascend from silence,
May your imagination know

 The grace of perfect danger,
To reach beyond imitation,

 And the wheel of repetition,
Deep into the call of all 

 The unfinished and unsolved
Until the veil of the unknown yields

 And something original begins 

 To stir toward your senses

 And grow stronger in your heart… 

💞

John O’Donohue
Excerpt from, ‘For the Artist at the Start of Day’

 BENEDICTUS (Europe) / TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US (US)


…quietly just now, just one word:

Believe. 

Believe the best.

Believe the hard is being worked out for good.

Believe the best is still to come. 

Believe in the One who is Best.

Believe. [Mark9:23]

💞

   Ann Voskamp @ aholyexperience.com



Posted in Adventure, art, attitude, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beliefs, beloved, Blessing, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, create, Faith, find art at pinterest, Imagine, inspiration, Life, Love, mystery, Poetry | Leave a comment
30 Apr 2016

graceful surrender


Start close in,

don’t take the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.
Start with

the ground

you know,

the pale ground

beneath your feet,

your own

way to begin

the conversation.
Start with your own

question,

give up on other

people’s questions,

don’t let them

smother something

simple.
To hear

another’s voice,

follow

your own voice,

wait until

that voice

becomes an

intimate

private ear

that can 

then

really listen

to another.
Start right now

take a small step

you can call your own

don’t follow

someone else’s

heroics, be humble

and focused,

start close in,

don’t mistake

that other

for your own.
Start close in,

don’t take

the second step

or the third,

start with the first

thing

close in,

the step

you don’t want to take.
…

START CLOSE IN by David Whyte


Days of wine and focus

of hanging on

of staying strong

of keeping faith

of sitting still

of being silent

of standing in my own shoes

of letting go 

of allowing the mystery

of hearing the call

of accepting what is

of not crossing borders or boundaries

of opening and opening

of trusting the journey

of seeing the face of God

of surrender into something bigger than I can know

of making the daily commitment

of acknowledging the grace

of thanking for everything

of looking for the miracles

of talking to trees

of taking time to prepare

of expressing my thanks

of helping in time of need

of following my own path

of obedience rather than sacrifice

of love and love and love

of all things love

💞

AL


Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, confidence, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, healing, intimacy, Joy, Life, Love, soul and spirit, strength, transformation, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
26 Apr 2016

the art




When they say 

Don’t I know you?

say no.

When they invite you to the party

remember what parties are like before answering.

 
Someone telling you 

in a loud voice 
they once wrote a poem.

 Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.

Then reply.

If they say 

We should get together

say why?

It’s not that you don’t love them anymore.

 You’re trying to remember 

something 
too important to forget.

Trees. 

The monastery bell at twilight.

Tell them you have a new project.

It will never be finished. 

When someone recognizes you in a grocery store 

nod briefly 

and become a cabbage.

When someone you haven’t seen in ten years

appears at the door,

don’t start singing him all your new songs.

 You will never catch up.

Walk around feeling like a leaf.

Know you could tumble any second.

Then decide what to do with your time.

🐧

The Art of Disappearing by Naomi Shihab Nye


there is terrible beauty in every human heart 
tell me a story that will live with me forever
love always shares grace always wins
you can’t miss if you show up
pay attention…
the message is always revealed at the appointed intersection 
letting go brings the right miracle
at the right time the song playlist repeats 
crazy love flows into mystic waters
deep calling to deep
honor chooses to say yes to the best invitations
making the call brings me the messages I need to build the new bridge from the friend bench of this manna-filled moment
there is always more than enough to share
gratitude buckets fill and overflow
removing scales from blurry, tearful, kaleidoscope eyes 
as perfect peace falls into rightful place
color shards blooming into new masterpieces of never before seen glory
diamonds dance on the water
flaming beauty evolves, drives me to my knees,
shedding shoes, and fear, 
as we talk 
I lift my face to the sun and free soar 
full wing, open soul, with the gulls,
who always fly in trust, never a shadow of doubt, that they are loved to the sky 
right here, and in every tick of time,
in, and in between, every click of the second hand,
around the bend of eternity and back again

🐧

AL

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, forgiveness, Letting Go, Life, Love, Party, Reality | Leave a comment
22 Apr 2016

love came calling

 

 
Love came to tell me,

‘there is nothing that does not include me…

from your breath

to the neighbor 

who is hard to ‘tolerate.’

Everything is love

it’s all connected

it’s all life’s about

So, Love came to call,

to tell me,

to make sure I truly understood, 

what love looks like. 

The real thing

is costly,

is all powerful,

all encompassing. 

Yes, love came 

and stayed,

whispering in my ear,

every damn day

reminding me,

‘There is nothing

that does not include me…

nothing’

😘

AL

 

 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, compassion, confidence, connection, Faith, find art at pinterest, grace, Hope, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment

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