life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “courage”

04 Nov 2015

somewhere in New Jersey…

  
‘I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it’s very difficult to find anyone.’ 

‘I should think so — in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!’

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

 

this morning began at 4! I’ve been on my adventure for a couple hours now. This post is at my first Starbucks stop (chestnut praline latte, how I love thee) more posts and poetry as I go today… ❤️

   
    
 http://youtu.be/dBN86y30Ufc

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, confidence, connection, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, fun, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, Passion | Leave a comment
03 Nov 2015

epic

  
Life is an epic journey 

A pilgrimage 

Not for the faint of heart 

Without the challenging parts of the path 

We grow weak 

Without those things that can kill us 

We grow bored 

We need life to be interesting 

challenging

changing

to feel alive 

Yes, life is a crazy sort of journey 

Welcome to the great adventure 

💃🏻

AL

 

 Wild Mercy
The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wildness we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wilderness lives by this same grace. Wild mercy is in our hands.

– Terry Tempest Williams

Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert Dwellers

 

Listen to Ain’t No Mountain High Enough

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, courage, determination, do, find art at pinterest, Freedom, inspiration, intimacy, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
01 Nov 2015

hello

   
    
    
   
   
listen to Michael Buble sing Feeling Good

Posted in action, Adventure, Alone, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Burnign Bridges, Career, Change, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, determination, do, Dreams, Encouragement, Freedom, Gratitude, home, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Losing, Love, People | Leave a comment
31 Oct 2015

tricky 

  
So, I’ve been thinking about discipline- you know, the thing we think we need to find if we are going to do the things we know are good for us (like eating well, exercise, daily meditation etc.) I can clamp down with my will and pick up those aspirations daily- but at times it just feels like endless work, and sooner or later I run out of steam. 
So lately, I’ve been trying something different. Instead of berating myself and insisting that today (or tomorrow) I will dig deep and find the necessary discipline, I’ve been thinking about giving myself gifts. 
As in- today, I’m giving myself the gift of taking a walk in the autumn leaves, of taking my time in prayer and meditation, of making a wonderful stew for dinner. If I can keep my attitude in the range of doing something kind for myself (as opposed to doing something I think I “should” do) not only is it easier to create good self-care, it becomes about receiving that care with gratitude. 
And that’s just a more enjoyable way to receive the gift of this day. 

~Oriah 

 

   


   

Halloween was confusing. All my life my parents said, ‘Never take candy from strangers.’ And then they dressed me up and said, ‘Go beg for it.’ I didn’t know what to do! I’d knock on people’s doors and go, ‘Trick or treat.’ ‘No thank you.’

– Rita Rudner  

  

 

Posted in action, attitude, awareness, be, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, grace, Growth, Habits, Happiness, Happy Holiday!, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, nature, power, Relationships | Leave a comment
30 Oct 2015

let the light  

  
You work with what you are given, 

the red clay of grief, 

the black clay of stubbornness going on after. 

Clay that tastes of care or carelessness, 

clay that smells of the bottoms of rivers or dust.
Each thought is a life you have lived or failed to live, 

each word is a dish you have eaten or left on the table. 

There are honeys so bitter 

no one would willingly choose to take them. 

The clay takes them: honey of weariness, honey of vanity, 

honey of cruelty, fear. 
This rebus —slip and stubbornness, 

bottom of river, my own consumed life— 

when will I learn to read it 

plainly, slowly, uncolored by hope or desire? 

Not to understand it, only to see. 
As water given sugar sweetens, given salt grows salty, 

we become our choices. 

Each yes, each no continues, 

this one a ladder, that one an anvil or cup. 
The ladder leans into its darkness. 

The anvil leans into its silence. 

The cup sits empty. 
How can I enter this question the clay has asked? 

🔹

Rebus by Jane Hirshfield

 

 The lion still roars 
I walk in grief 

On the purple beach 

the grey-green water 

meeting the sky 

Into infinity 

the world unending 

I sit on driftwood 

Fascinatingly carved by water 

Into pieces of art 

and shapes that look like 

cattle skulls in the desert 

I cry as I pick up rocks 

Why do i grieve such simple things?

Those precious shells 

I spent hours snorkeling for 

In 1985 

You polished them 

til they were smooth as silk 

So beautiful 

I loved everything about them 

and that memory they held 

Back When the world was still 

A mystery 

And I knew nothing about hardship 

Loss or pain 

I thought love and life were simple 

That you wanted me to be happy

That you loved me 

That we would build a family together 

I kept those shells in a special jar 

Would let the kids play with them

For a special treat 

I loved their delight in them 

As they played for hours 

sorting the colors and shapes 

Loving the story of us at the start

I Kept them close to me 

Through all the losses 

Then they were gone 

lost to me forever 

way after my innocence 

but somehow they took 

some shred I was holding on to 

Some secret part of me and you 

that was still beautiful 
As I picked up small beautiful rocks 

today at the beach 

They reminded me 

and it all returned 

all the losses 

all the pain 

What you chose 

The choices I was forced to make 

The price of gaining my soul 

The cost of winning my freedom 

I cry so deeply 

Right to the core 

such intense love 

for the wounded heart 

carried in small pieces 

of the world 

connecting all the pain 

and love together 

Bittersweet grief 

Bittersweet love 

Exquisite pain 

Exquisite joy 

Will I ever find love that understands this? 

Will I ever share this same heart as one? 

Will I ever make it home? 

Will I ever make it? 

Will I ever? 

Will I? 

Will? 

💙

AL

 

    

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

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, connection, courage, dark, Death, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, giving, grace, Grieving, Growth, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, Reflection, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
28 Oct 2015

look where you’re standing  

 
Pick a crevice, 

a homey gap 

between stones 

and make it 

your own. 
Grow a life here 

from wind 

rain 

and the memories of ancients 

embedded in limestone. 
The bees will use you 

for their sweet honey. 

The rock will soften under 

your touch. 

You will draw moisture from fog 

and hold it. 

Your presence 

will build soil. 
This is all we have 

in this life 

all we own: 

a flowering 

an opening 

a gap between stones 

for tiny tender roots. 

🎋

Flowering by Linda Buckmaster 
 

   

 

    

Listen to Eli Young Band sing Even if it Breaks Your Heart 

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

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Growth, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, Patience, Relationships | Leave a comment
27 Oct 2015

peaceful 

  
To bring about peace in the world, to stop all wars, there must be a revolution in the individual, in you and me. Economic revolution without this inward revolution is meaningless, for hunger is the result of the maladjustment of economic conditions produced by our psychological states: greed, envy, ill-will, and possessiveness. To put an end to sorrow, to hunger, to war, there must be a psychological revolution, and few of us are willing to face that. We will discuss peace, plan legislation, create new leagues, the United Nations and so on and on; but we will not win peace because we will not give up our position, our authority, our money, our properties, our stupid lives. To rely on others is utterly futile: others cannot bring us peace. No leader is going to give us peace, no government, no army, no country. What will bring peace is inward transformation which will lead to outward action. Inward transformation is not isolation, is not a withdrawal from outward action. On the contrary, there can be right action only when there is right thinking, and there is no right thinking when there is no self-knowledge. Without knowing yourself, there is no peace.

💞

The First and Last Freedom, J. Krishnamurti

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

   

  

  

  photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

Listen to Cat Stevens sing Peace Train 

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, confidence, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, healing, Leadership, Letting Go, Life, Love, Peace, People | Leave a comment
23 Oct 2015

be brave 

 

 Most of the greatest achievements on the planet are unknown to others – private overcomings, silent attempts at belief, re-opening a shattered heart. The real path of champions truly lies within – the transforming of suffering into expansion, the clearing of horrifying debris, the building of a healthy self-concept without tools. The greatest achievers have found a way to believe in something good despite being traumatized and fractured on life’s battlefields. No matter what else they accomplish in their lives, they are already champions. One day the world will realize that it is much harder to heal a shattered heart than excel at athletics. Go(l)d medals all around…
   – Jeff Brown

  
They have told you to be quiet

since your crib,

when your needs, your cry for the divine

disturbed them.

You too have learned the command,

to silence your soul, to silence others.

Stand still and listen: 

what is the voice within, crying out, silenced? 
Rise; take heart.

The Beloved is calling you,

wants to hear your plea,

to honor your word,

to hear what has not been spoken,

wants you to come, 

to ask for what must be asked for

and must be given.
Now, you have been called

and you have been heard.

Whom have we silenced?

Whom are you called to call

to reveal

the miracle of God? 

Rise, take heart.

The Beloved is calling you.

__________________ 
Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

 

  

   
  
In the space between breaths 

It can be gone 

A months worth of words 

Erased with a fingertip 

A 12, 30 even 60 year marriage over 

With 4 words spoken: 

I want a divorce 

A home with all it’s possessions 

Destroyed in a matter of minutes in the fury of nature – 

Fire or storm 

Life 

So fragile 

With no guarantees 

Of longevity 

Or comfort 

Begs to be lived 

Now 

To be counted for the sake of goodness 

This is the only moment that counts 

Don’t wait 

Take a deep 

deep breath 

of the spirit that is giving it all 

There is only one thing eternal

Say thank you 

For that one thing that will always remain

All else can be destroyed 

But not this. 

What is this eternal gift? 

this one and only gift that remains, that matters?

You already know…

say it together now…

Love 

💞

AL

Listen to Gavin Rossdale sing Love Remains the Same 

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

Posted in attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Beliefs, beloved, Blessing, Change, Choice, commitment, courage, Encouragement, healing, Imagine, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
20 Oct 2015

one step 

 

 The wasps outside

the kitchen window

are making that
 

thick, unraveling sound
 again, 

floating in
 and out 

of the bald head
 of their nest,

seeming not to move

while moving,
 

and it has just occurred
 to me, 

standing,
 washing the coffeepot,

watching them hang
 

loosely in the air—

thin
 wings; 

thick, elongated 
abdomens; 

sad, down-
pointing antennae—

that this 
is the heart’s constant
project: 

this simple
 learning; 

learning
 how to hold 

hopelessness 
and hope together;

to see on the unharmed 
surface of one

the great scar 
of the other;

 to recognize 
both 

and to make 
something of both;

to desire everything 
and nothing

at once 

and to desire it
 all the time;

and to contain that desire
 fleshly, 

in a body;
 to wash it and rest it

and feed it; 

to learn
 its name and from whence
 it came; 

and to speak 
to it—oh, 

most of all
 to speak to it—

every day, every day,
 

saying to one part,

“Well, maybe this is all
 you get,” 

while saying 
to the other, 

“Go on, 
break it open, let it go.”
💞

Want by Carrie Fountain 

 

   Have you sat with grief? 

Have you let it wring you dry? 

Leave you swollen and exhausted

in it’s wake? 

Allowed the pain from the inner depths of hell, 

deeper than you knew existed, 

to ooze out, 

bubble up into your heart, 

so that your tears could begin 

to wash you clean? 

Have you asked yourself 

the questions with no answers? 

then allow them to just co-exist with you, 

allowing that life is good, 

finding space for gratitude 

even in the unanswerable? 

Have you walked, and talked, 

with death and your losses? 

The innocence murdered 

by anger and hate? 

Precious time stolen 

by monsters and ogres? 

Hearts trampled 

by words of violence and sarcasm? 

Are you familiar with vulnerability? 

With allowing your deepest feelings, 

painful feelings, 

raw feeling, 

real feelings, 

to come out of the grave 

where you try to hide them? 

Exposing your wounds, 

old and new? 

I know how hard it is, 

I know. 

I try to avoid it too. 

I also know the truth. 

It must be done. 

It is the broken road to healing. 

To life! 

The more we feel, 

the more we can feel. 

Go deep, my friend 

Open up wide. 

Sit a spell and let it bubble. 

Feel it all. 

It will feel rotten for a while, 

then comes the morning 

you wake up good as new! 

New and improved. 

I promise you won’t regret it. 

Just trust me on this one. 

I am intimately familiar 

with this process. 

💔

AL

 

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

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Change, Choice, compassion, connection, courage, force, grace, Grieving, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, strength, touch, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
17 Oct 2015

now

 

 
Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider 

A lasting truce with yourself and God.
Now is the time to understand 

That all your ideas of right and wrong 

Were just a child’s training wheels 

To be laid aside 

When you finally live 

With veracity 

And love.
We are each* a divine envoy 

Whom the Beloved 

Has written a holy message upon.
My dear, please tell me, 

Why do you still 

Throw sticks at your heart 

And God?
What is it in that sweet voice inside 

That incites you to fear?
Now is the time for the world to know 

That every thought and action is sacred.
This is the time 

For you to compute the impossibility 

That there is anything 

But Grace.
Now is the season to know 

That everything you do 

Is sacred.

🔹

Today by Hafiz *edit by me…original words ‘Hafiz is’

 

 It’s there 
balled up in the corner of your mind 

covered over with cobwebs 

under the heaviest lock and key 

booby trapped 

even Indian Jones couldn’t get to this 

arc of your self-covenant 

anger slowly poisoning you over the years

toxic rivers seeping out 

flowing through your veins 

as you refuse to touch it 

or to acknowledge it can be conquered

the shadowy ghost of events so painful 

you have avoided them your whole life 

refused to allow 

the crumpled, tangled, horrible 

nightmare of these memories 

to be straightened out 

come into the sunlight 

to begin waste removal 

and cleanup of the mountain of trash

so deep 

it’s eaten you from the inside out 

destroying your peace  

and your chances for building the life you deserve

you’ve tolerated much 

to gain nothing 

will you ever

reach for higher ground?

I pray you will 

some fine day

I feel wonder

for how valued we each truly are,

how beloved. 

I am amazed at how far, and willing, 

God is to go,

to seek just one. 

Love is everything

we are all God’s children,

no matter what we choose to do.  

💞

AL

 

  

photos found at facebook 

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, courage, grace, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Peace, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth | Leave a comment

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