life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “courage”

17 Feb 2016

am i?

 

 Quiet friend who has come so far, 
feel how your breathing makes more space around you. 

Let this darkness be a bell tower 

and you the bell. As you ring, 
what batters you becomes your strength. 

Move back and forth into the change. 

What is it like, such intensity of pain? 

If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine. 
In this uncontainable night, 

be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses, 

the meaning discovered there. 
And if the world has ceased to hear you, 

say to the silent earth: I flow. 

To the rushing water, speak: I am

šŸ›¤

qII, 29 [Let This Darkness Be a Bell Tower] by Rainer Maria Rilke

   

 Crossroads and choices, now is the time to decide which path will lead to the garden and more healthy life choices. One just doesn’t wait until Midsummer and think about growing fresh produce for a salad.

   – Old Moss Woman’s Secret Garden/facebook

  
When an open heart meets an open hand, the result is more feast and more love, enough for a small village to be nurtured from this drawer alone. I see this and recognize him instantly: a soul brother, a lover of life, a father, a friend, a ringleader, a listener, a creative co-conspirator, a holder…of space, of hearts, of possibilities. A man with much to give and more to say, to a yearning, hopeful world.

   – Jen Lemen

   
 photo sources found at http://www.pinterest.com

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, beloved, big, Blessing, Choice, commitment, connection, courage, determination, do, Faith, find art at pinterest, Happiness, healing, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, Passion, Patience | Leave a comment
16 Feb 2016

on a day like today

 

  

 

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, connection, courage, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, grace, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
13 Feb 2016

that feelingĀ 

  
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.

ā¤ļø

~ Khalil Gibran

 

We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn’t approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God’s love. Evil does not belong to God.
God’s unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God’s ever-present love.

ā¤ļø
– Henri Nouwen

 

   

ā€˜In all the languages in the world, there is the same proverb: ā€œWhat the eyes donā€™t see, the heart doesnā€™t grieve over.ā€ 
Well, I say that there isnā€™t an ounce of truth in it. The further off they are, the closer to the heart are all those feelings that we try to repress and forget. 

If weā€™re in exile, we want to store away every tiny memory of our roots.

 If weā€™re far from the person we love, everyone we pass in the street reminds us of them.
ā€˜The gospels and all the sacred texts of all religions were written in exile, in search of Godā€™s understanding, of the faith that moves whole peoples, of the pilgrimage of souls wandering the face of the Earth. 

Our ancestors did not know, as we do not know, what the Divinity expects from our lives ā€“ and it is out of that doubt that books are written, pictures painted, because we donā€™t want to forget who we are ā€“ nor can we.ā€™

______________________________
(in “Eleven Minutes”, by Paulo Coelho)

  
 

photo sources found at http://www.pinterest.com 

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, commitment, confidence, connection, courage, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, Glory, healing, Judging, Letting Go, Life, Love, Reality | Leave a comment
10 Feb 2016

now just relaxĀ 

  
 

yup!  

  

Posted in A Course in Miracles, action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, balance, be, Becoming Yourself, Beliefs, beloved, Blessing, Career, Choice, commitment, community, confidence, connection, courage, create, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, focus, Freedom, Glory, grace, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Miracles, mystery, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
10 Feb 2016

what if feeling bad is an ok part of being human?

  
I wish I had a nickel for every stranger who has ever told me, I’ve lost all hope. This happens to me regularly and what surprises me most is my instant reaction which is always something along the lines of “I know that feeling so well” or “Me too.” It seems this is one of the most common, most human feelings we can have and one we aren’t “supposed” to have if we’re evolved, rational creatures. It seems it’s a pitiable feeling to have, requiring an intervention or precipitating an emergency, but what if it just is something we feel sometimes, that’s very painful, made more painful by the feeling we are not supposed to feel it and that we should never ever say it out loud. What if our long days, months, years even with this feeling are hollowing out necessary places in our hearts where we can feel, really feel, what we long for? Like respect? Tenderness? Acceptance? Love?

   – Jen Lemen / facebook

    http://hopefulworld.org

   
  

  

 

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, connection, courage, dark, Death, determination, do, Faith, find art at pinterest, Grieving, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Patience, People, Reality | Leave a comment
07 Feb 2016

all that’s left Ā 

 

 
If you have seen the snow 

somewhere slowly fall 

on a bicycle, 

then you understand 

all beauty will be lost 

and how even that loss 

can be beautiful. 

And if you have looked 

at a winter garden 

and seen not a winter garden 

but a meditation on shape, 

then you know why 

this season is not 

known for its words, 

the cold too much 

about the slowing of matter, 

not enough about the making of it. 

So you are blessed 

to forget this way: 
a jump rope in the ice melt, 

a mitten that has lost its hand, 

a sun that shines 

as if it doesnā€™t mean it. 

And if in another season 

you see a beautiful woman 

use her bare hands 

to smooth wrinkles 

from her expensive dress 

for the sake of dignity, 

but in so doing trace 

the outlines of her thighs, 

then you will remember 

surprise assumes a space 

that has first been forgotten, 

especially here, where we 

rarely speak of it, 

where we walk out onto the roofs 

of frozen lakes 

simply because weā€™re stunned 

we really can.

āšœ
Upon Discovering My Entire Solution to the Attainment of Immortality Erased from the Blackboard Except the Word `Save'” by Dobby Gibson

 

 I woke up thinking, 

how can I make this day different? 

how can I live in inspiration within these circumstances? 

how can I improve myself today? 

Within this day I can make new choices. 

Better decisions towards my health. 

Towards my future. 

Towards my goals. 

Within this day I can eat and drink the things I know are health-full 

I can read and write the words I know will inspire beauty and love. 

I can think about each moment and choice as a precious gift. 

I can allow the people in this house grace to choose for themselves without judgement. 

I can exercise my body and make it better and stronger. 

I can pray, fellowship and meditate growing in love and intimacy with God and the world. 

I can open my mind and awareness to all the beauty and miracles surrounding me and say thank you. 

I can find home within my heart and bless this dwelling place. 

I can and I will live this way today, 

I can and will commit to this way of living from this day forward. 

Each choice matters. 

I will live this moment well. 

āšœ

AL

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, strength, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
06 Feb 2016

Oh so good!!! xo

   
releasing all that holds me from 

allowing the flow

stepping into what feels so good

 love opening in every direction from my center 

returning to me from every direction to my center

I fly free  

At home in the blue sky

 šŸ’ž

AL

Posted in action, Adventure, Alone, attitude, awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Blessing, Change, Choice, connection, courage, create | Leave a comment
03 Feb 2016

now open

  
You must give birth to your images.

They are the future waiting to be born.

Fear not the strangeness you feel.

The future must enter you, long before it happens.

Just wait for the birth,

for the hour of new clarity.

šŸŒ€
– Rainer Maria Rilke

 

Today is my friend, writer, fellow spirit seeker, Donna Knutson’s birthday!! Wishing her happy today and every day! 

Sharing and loving her beautiful thoughts and words describing the lovely world event of her time here:
When 58 is Almost Gone and 59 Flowers Are Coming on Strong 

Purple Iris ā€¦I let things die, and filled in holesā€¦watered children and sappy songs.

Ranted about the radiance of Angels and cardboard boxes filled with 36 years of married loveā€¦

I chopped up word search puzzles because there is passion and paradox in loving words that heal, instead of hateā€¦then tied them on a string, like prayer flags blowing through the bedroom in a February wind.  

I wrote Voice with purple pen on a hundred sheets of silk like paper, folded them in drawers and placed them near the windows, so the morning sun could warm their chords and prepare the world for what sound would come that day.

I angled photos and trinkets from baskets, memorizing short periods of my day where love was the only witness to my growing , to fading a bit more like Autumn, then into a bright summers sunset spoken softly now, rose colored, like winterā€¦

Family and friendships took in artists and dreamersā€¦wedding vows that added deeper love to our daysā€¦heart shaped rocks in tiny boxes on tables to say we belong to one anotherā€¦and children that grow into wonderful stories of every lasting loveā€¦

It was August before I blew kisses to the toddlers playing in a nearby gym, their jumping and fantasies whirling with my inner child, shaking fingers and toes, while hopping through a hundred thresholds, finding keys to a million doorsā€¦

I taught class while learning the heart of acceptance, forgiveness, fables and folliesā€¦how one can know absolutely nothing, and everything one needs to knowā€¦to be a water-bearer flowingā€¦to kneel while pouringā€¦to bend at just the right moment, to wash a glass, dimly litā€¦

I fought a concrete city with a magical jungle holding religions and relationshipsā€¦forgave myself for not knowing how long I had been loved and knownā€¦how one gift could change it allā€¦found sacred ground under a community with feet. Dancers who know how to move to a rhythm and a beatā€¦

God speaking Yes, porous and free ā€¦a mystical thread sewn into the bone of the body, 

A year like no otherā€¦just beginning to gather purple Iris for anotherā€¦

Beauty,

Donna 

   
    
 
photo sources found at http://www.pinterest.com

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, grace, Growth, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
01 Feb 2016

pay attention to the daily messagesĀ 

  
miles come

miles go

some stay a while

some roll on beneath our feet

or our wheels 

barely noticed

driving in the fast lane

with the windows rolled up tightly

in God we trust

unfolding on every bill we pull from pocket

but, the world doesn’t work that way…

or does it? 

peace, 

love,

always seal the deal

walk away free,

changed 

ready to see some new things

every choice brings us to our new place

right here 

right now

notice it

say thank you

ā¤ļø

AL

   
    
   

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beloved, Blessing, Choice, connection, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, healing, home, Hope, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, perceptions, Reflection, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
01 Feb 2016

can we buy what we want?

 

Thinking that money will somehow make one happy isn’t thinking at all. 
Hey, sorry, you know better. But you might not believe how many people think that just because they don’t have much of it now, its lack is at the root of their challenges, which is never the case. 
Nev-a, 

    The Universe

      http://www.tut.com

 

It is hard, these steps. This releasing of the emotional debris that encases our heart. The shedding of the false-identifications that obstruct our path. The farewells to that which doesn’t serve. The fundamentlal shift from survivalism to authenticity as a way of being. It is hard, these steps. Because you are not just clearing your individual debris- you are tapping into and releasing the debris carried by your entire ancestry. You are shedding the armor of millions before. You are saying goodbye to ways of being that have served and imprisoned countless generations. You are making the shift from an animalistic way of being to one that is genuinely human. Do not underestimate your significance, fellow seekers of the heart. We may be the first deep release travelers. We may be the first authenticity-questing collective. We may be the first soulpod to consider the possibility that there is a sacred purpose at the heart of every birth. Our load, heavy. Our courage, essential. Our significance, profound. Our need for one another, irrefutable. We rise in unison, or not at all. We rise in unison, one hard ass step after another…

    – Jeff Brown 

  
Do not fall out of flow or confidence simply because a task led to hardship or disappointment. On any worthwhile journey, there will be many dead-ends and storms. Endure. Have faith and resolve. Don’t torment your mind wishing the path were conflict-free. Anticipate difficulty and decide to meet all obstacles as if they were obvious, inevitable, stones meant to sharpen your will and character. Happiness isn’t at the end of the path; it is in knowing that you met life and its inevitable hardships and blessings with a mindful grace, strength, and gratitude. What is in front of you is not terrifying or random or impossible – it is your proving ground, your opportunity to learn to bring peace to the chaos, your podiums to show your family and loved ones real grit and love and perseverance. Your only defeat in life will come from a mindset you choose that bemoans difficulty versus anticipates and rises above it.

   – Brendon Burchard

 

 Beauty comes in many forms–and there is no form more beautiful than you. Just exactly as you are, this minute, right now, without changing a thing…you are beautiful. Beautiful enough to take God’s breath away.
   – Neale Donald Walsh

 

  

photos found at http://www.pinterest.com 

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, Poetry | Leave a comment

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