It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. ― Babe Ruth
Never. Never. Never Quit.
– Winston Churchill
life: acoustic & amplified
poetry, quotes & thoughts about life
Archive for the category “courage”
love beyond reason. trust without borders
photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT
We develop grace as we learn with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should.
The idea of trusting the universe is a popular one these days, but many of us don’t know what this really means and we often have a hard time doing it. This is partly because the story of humankind is most often presented as a story about struggle, control, and survival, instead of one of trust and collaboration with the universe. Yet, in truth, we need to adhere to both ideas in this life.
On the one hand, there is much to be said about exerting control over our environment. We created shelter to protect ourselves from the elements. We hunted for animals and invented agriculture to feed ourselves. We built social infrastructures to protect ourselves and create community. This is how we survive and grow as a civilization. However, it is also clear that there are plenty of things that we cannot control, no matter how hard we try, and we often receive support from an unseen force – a universe that provides us with what we cannot provide for ourselves.
It is a good idea to take responsibility for the things in life that we can control or create. We work so we can feed, clothe, and shelter our loved ones and ourselves. We manifest our dreams and visions in physical form with hard work and forethought. But at a certain point, when have done all that we can, we must let go and allow the universe to take over. This requires trust. It requires a trust that runs deeper than just expecting things to turn out the way we want them to. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. We develop equanimity and grace as we learn to trust that, with the guiding hand of the universe, life will unfold exactly the way it should. We are engaged in an ongoing relationship with a universe that responds to our thoughts and actions.
🌀
dailyom.com
by Madisyn Taylor
Not known, because not looked for
But heard, half heard, in the stillness
Between two waves of the sea.
Quick now, here, now, always –
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)…
– T. S. Eliot
🌀
‘What if it were so much
simpler than that’
said the wiseman.
‘But …’ said the fool
🌀
But Said the Fool by Nic Askew
decisions determine destiny
Today I want to feel my way
into a familiar name
for the One who holds us all:
a name of endearment,
like the names lovers use in the tangled sheets
a name that ripples through sunlight and tears.
I will listen for that name today,
Knowing it is the name the Beloved uses to call me.
😍
~Oriah House (c) 2015 
My child, don’t be afraid. I am here. I know how hard it is to feel, sometimes. This moment, I know, is difficult to let yourself feel. Don’t hold back. Don’t protect yourself from feeling, your emotions this way and that. This is a gift from Me, the way your heart swings from high to low. I am the constant one. I keep you still.
There are things you will have to face now. I know you want to bury your head, and I let you do that, your head buried on my chest. But know when you lift your head, I will be there to help you to rise. And you will rise, and your feet will find firm footing, and you will square your shoulders and take one step forward, and then another, and you will find you know your way.
There is much ahead, and the path does not always seem clear. But I help you to rise. I go ahead, and I help you to rise. And when you stumble, I will help you to stand again. And when you are scared, I will firm your trembling lip and I will navigate you through the storm of emotions and I will quiet your quivering heart.
You are fierce and gentle. You are beautiful and strong. You are chosen and delighted in. You are all I’ve made you to be. I took everything from you that has kept you from rising. I have taken everything that makes you feel small and unsure and hesitant.
You can go forward, to the places I lead you. And you will know who you are. My child, the one who knows your Father, the one who knows your own name.
😍
loop
You are loved. Always and forever.
the very most grand adventurous perspectives
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar, raileth on the rich.
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.
Since kings break faith upon commodity,
Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee.
– Philip the Bastard from “King John” (2.1.592)
People don’t like love, they like that flittery flirty feeling. They don’t love love – love is sacrificial, love is ferocious, it’s not emotive. Our culture doesn’t love love, it loves the idea of love. It wants the emotion without paying anything for it.
– Matt Chandler
time wears down
as life takes its anguished toll
of strained shoulders and weary back
from the unyielding pressure of anger’s mighty weight
lash of black eyed look,
the demon,
lying in wait,
blame unleashed
words stripping tender heart skin
of the vulnerable
innocence unprepared for attack
leaving hope in shreds,
shame cocks its hat sideways
flames of passion freeze in place
ice, brittle, cutting
fills veins,
painful,
slicing to ribbons
destroying all goodness in its path
wounds with nothing to hide
nowhere to hide
Only you can change this –
you CAN change this!
I know for sure…
you can…
if you choose to…
God only knows
if you will
🔹
AL
3 spectacular wishes on this day…for every day
love
home
music
AL 5/13/15
Real riches are the riches possessed inside.
– B. C. Forbes
and then one day…
The road to forgiveness.. after the pilgrim lanes,
and the ruined chapel,
the gull cries and the sea-hush
at the back of the island,
it was the way, standing still
or looking out
or walking, or even talking
with others in the evening bar,
holding your drink
or laughing with the rest,
that you realized part of you
had already dropped to its knees,
to pray, to sing, to look,
to fall in love with everything
and everyone again,
that someone from far inside you
had walked out into the sea light
and the great embracing quiet
to raise its hands
and forgive
everyone in your short life
you thought you hadn’t,
and that all along
you had been singing
your quiet way
through the rosary of silence
that held their names….
😍
Excerpted from LEAVING THE ISLAND by David Whyte
photos found at http://www.pinterest.com
it was bouncing around in my brain this morning – Linda Clark
Getting it Right—Write!
I have a notion
I must confess
A notion you see
That has me quite obsessed
It sits in my head
both day and night
it haunts my dreams
and gives me great fright
It rules my thoughts
this little notion
stirring up doubts
and causing a commotion
It wiggles and niggles
in my brain
with a feverish pitch
it drives me insane
This obsession you ask
what could it be?
My obsession is a task
I seek endlessly!
To get it right
To do my best
To show I’m bright
I can pass the test
This feeling to get it right
Is ever so strong
I work day and night
To not get it wrong
I was given great insight
About this “getting it right”
I just learned recently
A truth that has finally set me free
It’s not it at all
about getting it right.
It’s about happiness and light
and letting your soul shine bright
No have to’s
No pressure
No should’s
Did me a world of good!
So no longer will I labor
to get it right
I will do my best
to give it a rest!
So In my chair I sit and write
No longer will I yearn
or worry with concern
it’s quite easy once when you learn
I will change my mantra
and simply ignore
those three little words
I was obsessed with before
What’s my new mantra
you might ask
I’ve changed my word
just a small task
I am no longer worried
about that word right
I will feed my soul
and simply WRITE!!
🌀
Linda Clark
We seldom notice how each day is a holy place
Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens,
Transforming our broken fragments
Into an eternal continuity that keeps us.
Somewhere in us a dignity presides
That is more gracious than the smallness
That fuels us with fear and force,
A dignity that trusts the form a day takes.
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
🔹
John O’Donohue
for the love of all things poetry 💞
I fit words together,
hoping they mean something.
Wanting them to make sense.
To myself.
To others.
Allowing them my raw emotion.
Willing to give them up freely.
Creating a monument,
for this one moment in time,
to share with the world.
These words become something tangible.
A thing,
a gift,
a piece of art.
A part of me,
stays with them.
Little pieces of me live,
like shapes in a puzzle,
becoming
a picture,
a flower,
a song.
Small particles of my soul,
like tiny rose buds,
opening in my hand,
mesmerizes with it’s
beauty,
touch,
fragrance.
I write words on a page,
and feel love
spreading outward,
as the flowering happens,
as this thought blooms.
As words become thoughts about…
As the pieces become beautiful…
As the poem is born,
of water,
blood,
star dust
and becomes…
a small piece of my soul,
left behind on pages,
for others to find,
sharing a small moment,
never to be lost,
because it has been
recorded,
acknowledged,
emptied.
Gratitude makes room for new
miracles,
learning,
beauty,
as they find their new home
ready,
emptied,
expectant.
Waiting for more
truth,
goodness,
love,
to flow and enter in.
There is always more,
and more than enough.
The heart that gives gathers,
but never tries to hold anything hostage.
Love,
giving,
pretty much everything,
about life,
only works when we allow it,
all of it –
every sacred cow,
every color on the wheel,
every tiny wildflower we see,
every spec of mud,
to be free.
❣
AL
Photos found at http://www.pinterest.com
I am so much more than I ever thought I was – Sherri Yerkes (speaking from the heart)
So several weeks ago now, Robin Ok called to connect on the upcoming Creative Collaborative Retreat 2015.
http://www.creativecollaborativeretreats.com
I still remember her words, “I signed you up for some things that you can say ‘no’ to these if you want….
How exciting! My heart already was saying a great, big, fat ‘yes’ – before I even heard the list, which ended with a session on poetry!
Oh joy!!! YES!!! Ideas poured in…
The retreat weekend came – 13-15 of this month and it was everything, and more, than expected!
Beautiful, powerful, connecting, art-full, musical, spiritual, abundant, accepting, empowering – on-and-on I can, and will, go. I was overwhelmed with love and joy on many levels, but my greatest bit of on-going-bursting-out-all-over joy is from my poetry session.
New words were framed, created, brought out of heart-hiding into beings of light, onto old inspiring paper and into the hearts reading and listening. We shared our poems at the end of the hour – no one left with dry hearts or eyes.
Poems (words) are living things. They touch us, heal us, bring us joy and create space inside us as we bring forward what was inside and allow new thoughts to be born, creativity always creates anew inside and outside of ourselves. We give to receive and in receiving we give back again.
This magic has taken root in some great and powerful ways, I am so amazed at the beauty, the power, the courage, the immensity of these poets – new and seasoned veterans – all old souls.
I am so grateful to have been able to share this session, which helped connect these amazing, gifted women with their inner, living, beautiful poetry. I believe poetry lives inside each of us. The need for beauty is essential for us to live, discovering, excavating that beauty is our life-long, ever-changing, most-challenging and surprising gift.
Check out Barbara Endel’s new, amazing poetry blog –
https://poetintrainingblog.wordpress.com
🔥
This poem came to me yesterday…kinda summed it all up:
Our poems
Are like the wart-hogs
In the zoo
It’s hard to say
Why there should be such creatures
But once our life gets into them
As sometimes happens
Our poems
Turn into living things
And there’s no arguing
With living things
They are
The way they are
Our poems
May be rough
Or delicate
Little
Or great
But always
They have inside them
A confluence of cries
And secret languages
And always
They are improvident
And free
They keep
A kind of Sabbath
They play
On sooty fire escapes
And window ledges
They wander in and out
Of jails and gardens
They sparkle
In the deep mines
They sing
In breaking waves
And rock like wooden cradles.
💞
Living Things by Anne Porter
Living in astonished and passionate gratitude for each of you. Thank you for allowing me to inspire you…thank you for inspiring me!
If you do nothing Nothing will be done.
Sounds like we should know this,
right?
It’s just fascinating to me to see
the result of a decision to create a newsletter dedicated to good news,
then to commit to creating that publication for one full year.
8 full years later,
as I ended that project,
to make way for new projects,
there were over 135 issues
on a website devoted to that good-news thing.
4 years ago I decided to begin a daily poetry and quotes blog,
I now have almost 2000 blog posts.
December 2012, I committed to a poem a day.
11 months later,
I had over 700 poems written.
It’s crazy cool!
And it has been a huge lesson to me,
Dreams and Ideas are great,
but only the commitment, focus
and actually acting on the idea,
will call it forth into the world.
All those words, ideas and poems would still be inside me somewhere,
if I had not said, yes, to DOING it.
Nothing gets done without the work.
Intention and action go together
in order to build the house,
in order to change the world.
AL
a graceful feeling
Anything that you learn becomes your wealth, a wealth that cannot be taken away from you; whether you learn it in a building called school or in the school of life. To learn something new is a timeless pleasure and a valuable treasure. And not all things that you learn are taught to you, but many things that you learn you realize you have taught yourself.
― C. JoyBell
I spent my weekend with my amazing friends, Kitt, Mike, Rebecca and Christian Haberman, in Louisville.
I sum this powerful time of connection and sharing with this:
I learned things. Lots of beautiful things. Things I will have with me always. (Happy Sigh) I am so grateful for all of the great people I have in my life.
I stayed in the room below (Lesley Haberman being all grown up and off in college) and got ready with these messages before me, reminding me, filling my heart. Messages written by a beautiful, teenage girl to remind herself….remember…remember..
💞
Thank you, Lesley, thank you Haberman Family. Love is so very good to us!
What a beautiful world…
some things are sad
Every now and then
we leave off our pious yearnings,
and even our righteous ire,
and sit down to the hard work of being sad for the world.
It takes guts,
God knows—
not anger but sorrow;
it tires prophets and psalmists alike.
The wolf that cries in the long valley,
the sea that chants its lament
over and over with sighs and tears,
the hermit on sore knees,
the angels at their posts
taking turns offering up their aching hearts,
even Christ weeping,
they can’t do it alone.
In the end
it is the broken hearted
in whom we find the deepest companionship.
We come away wet with grief
yet oddly strengthened
with the fibers of hope.
In grief for the world
we touch its worth.
In sorrow we find each other,
and there,
the substance of joy.
Weird, isn’t it,
how that alone
is the healing balm we ask? __________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
“Only he who cries… is permitted to sing…” is what Bonhoeffer said.
Only those authentic enough to lament, are authentic enough to love.
When everything is stripped away and you have nothing left and in all your bare vulnerability, there is communion with God.
– Ann Voskamp
💙
I am bare naked
Down to my bones
Even my comfortable skin is gone
I shiver as the cold blows through me
I have cried many tears
My song has been watered to full growth
Being alive does not come without cost
We love
we lose
we grieve
We lament
We love
We commune
We learn
We choose
to continue to make the choices
to love
to bring the song
that fills spring with joy
and the whole world
With light and love
AL
life: acoustic & amplified 
