life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “find art at pinterest”

18 Nov 2014

The present is the only point where time touches eternity. – C. S. Lewis

Jane Hirshfield has a line of poetry which has been tweeted all over the world which reminds us –
How fragile we are between the few good moments.

I think somehow we have been sold the idea that life should be all thrill. That, if every moment isn’t exciting, we are somehow failing at life. I have learned, over the past 18 years, that the real wonder of life is not in the passing thrilling moments, but in the recognition of the simple and divine in the every day ordinary.

Andy Rooney says it like this –

For most of life, nothing wonderful happens. If you don’t enjoy getting up and working and finishing your work and sitting down to a meal with family or friends, then the chances are you’re not going to be very happy. If someone bases his/her happiness on major events like a great job, huge amounts of money, a flawlessly happy marriage or a trip to Paris, that person isn’t going to be happy much of the time. If, on the other hand, happiness depends on a good breakfast, flowers in the yard, a drink or a nap, then we are more likely to live with quite a bit of happiness.

IMG_3610.JPG
The world is full of wonder! Happiness and joy are available to all who open their senses to the beauty of the unexpected sources carried in every breath we take.
Asking, seeking and knocking are all that’s required to begin!

IMG_3860.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Faith, find art at pinterest, Happiness, Joy, mystery, nature, Smile, soul and spirit, thankfulness, time, Today, Trust, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
17 Nov 2014

aging gracefully

IMG_1955-1.JPG

IMG_1957.JPG
Young souls lean on science.

Mature souls lean on faith.

And old souls prefer long walks and short talks; whistling to hip-hop, country, or rock; and on occasion, tree spotting.

There! On the horizon! Oak!
————————————————
The Universe
http://www.tut.com

IMG_3862.JPG
Love unites all, whether created or uncreated. The heart of God, the heart of all creation, and our own hearts become one in love. That’s what all the great mystics have been trying to tell us through the ages. Benedict, Francis, Hildegard of Bingen, Hadewijch of Brabant, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Dag Hammarskjöld, Thomas Merton, and many others, all in their own ways and their own languages, have witnessed to the unifying power of the divine love. All of them, however, spoke with a knowledge that came to them not through intellectual arguments but through contemplative prayer. The Spirit of Jesus allowed them to see the heart of God, the heart of the universe, and their own hearts as one. It is in the heart of God that we can come to the full realisation of the unity of all that is, created and uncreated.
– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org

IMG_3864.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beliefs, beloved, Faith, find art at pinterest, Life, Love, mystery, nature, Tenderness, thankfulness, Thoughts, Trust, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
16 Nov 2014

happy day

IMG_3608.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, find art at pinterest, touch, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
15 Nov 2014

beautiful perspective

IMG_3796.JPG
Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf. –Albert Schweitzer

IMG_3598.JPG

IMG_3728.JPG

IMG_3749.JPG

IMG_3413.JPG

IMG_3788.JPG

IMG_3654.JPG

IMG_3810.JPG

IMG_3804.JPG

IMG_3531.JPG
Photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Choice, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Patience, People, perceptions, Seasons, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
14 Nov 2014

Change starts with you but it doesn’t start until you do. – Tom Ziglar

IMG_2143.JPG

What if this road, that has held no surprises
these many years, decided not to go
home after all; what if it could turn
left or right with no more ado
than a kite-tail? What if its tarry skin
were like a long, supple bolt of cloth,
that is shaken and rolled out, and takes
a new shape from the contours beneath?
And if it chose to lay itself down
in a new way; around a blind corner,
across hills you must climb without knowing
what’s on the other side; who would not hanker
to be going, at all risks? Who wants to know
a story’s end, or where a road will go?

What If This Road by Sheenagh Pugh

IMG_3221.JPG

IMG_2853.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Blessing, Change, Choice, confidence, create, determination, find art at pinterest, healing, home, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
12 Nov 2014

warrior

IMG_3724.JPG
The moment that he begins to walk along it, the warrior of light recognises the Path.

Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field.

Then, accepting the help of God and of God’s Signs, he allows his Personal Legend to guide him towards the tasks that life has reserved for him.

On some nights, he has nowhere to sleep, on others, he suffers from insomnia. ‘That’s just how it is,’ thinks the warrior. ‘I was the one who chose to walk this path.’

In these words lies all his power: he chose the path along which he is walking and so has no complaints.

Paulo Coelho
Manual of the Warrior of Light

IMG_3763.JPG
The sun punches through the cloud gaps
with strong fists and the wind
buffets the buildings
with boisterous good will.

Bad memories are blown away
over the capering sea. Life
pulls up without straining
the jungle tangle between us
and the future.

Easy to forget
the last leaves thicken the ground
and the last roses are dying
in their sad, cramped hospitals.
For gaiety’s funfair whirls
in the gray squares. Energy
sends volts from suburb to suburb.

And April, gay trespasser,
dances the dark streets of November,
Pied Piper leading a procession
of the coloured dreams of summer.

“April Day in November, Edinburgh” by Norman MacCaig

IMG_3744.JPG

IMG_3360.JPG

IMG_3751.JPG

IMG_3648.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, determination, Dreams, find art at pinterest, healing, Joy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, power, Prayer, Respect, Seasons, Solitude, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
11 Nov 2014

the voice of calm still whispers

IMG_3647.JPG
Times may turn dark;
they always have.
Our calling remains unchanged.
The voice of hope is undiminished.

The world may turn
toward ravage and greed;
the acid of fear stain our faces,
the voracious appetite of power
consume the earth and its silent ones,
but the Holy One’s tender mercy
does not waver or abate.
The voice of calm still whispers.

Your path may take you
through ulcered valleys of shadow.
The Gentle One is still with you.

Our path is not to save the world;
only One may do that.
Our path is to learn to love
even in the darkness.

Our calling is still to be woven in,
to cry out for the hurting,
to take mercy to the streets,
to be gentle among the violent
and strong amidst the fearful,
to mend the fabric even as it is torn,
to heal and bless even in our defeat.

Life may turn dark; it often does.
Crucifixion reoccurs.
But the world in its suffering
will be made pure light.
Even in the evening of our power,
even in the dusk of the world,
the light of the Merciful One shines on,
and we are given this: to share the light,
to share the light
until we ourselves are pure light.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.org

IMG_3621.JPG

IMG_3615.JPG

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, Blessing, confidence, find art at pinterest, Freedom, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, strength, success, Trust, Uncategorized, Winning, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
10 Nov 2014

questioning

IMG_2017.JPG

IMG_3675.PNG
I must let go.
For so long I have held to the habit of holding on.
Even my muscles
Are tense; deeply fearful are they
Of relaxing lest they fall away from their place.
I cling clutchingly to my friends
Lest I lose them.
I live under the shadow of being supplanted by another.
I cling to my money, not so much
By a wise economy and a thoughtful spending
But by a sense of possession that makes me depend upon it for strength.
I must let go—
Deep at the core of me
I must have a sense of freedom –
A sure awareness of detachment – of relaxation.
I must let go of everything.
I must let go of pride. But—
What am I saying? Is there not a sense of pride
That supports and sustains all achievement,
Even the essential dignity of my own personality?
It may be that I must let go
My dependence upon triumphing over my fellows, which seems
To give me a sense of security in their midst.
I cringe from my pain; I do not relish
The struggle of life but I do not want to let go
Because the hurt and the tension of contest feed
The springs of my pride. They make me deeply aware.
But I must let go of everything.
I must let go of everything but God.
But God—May it not be
That God is in all the things to which I cling?
That may be the hidden reason for my clinging.
It is all very puzzling indeed. When I say
“I must let go of everything but God”
What is my meaning?
I must relax my hold on everything that dulls my sense of Him,
That comes between me and the inner awareness of His Presence
Pervading my life and glorifying
All the common ways with wonderful wonder.
“Teach me, O God, how to free myself of dearest possessions,
So that in my trust I shall find restored to me
All I need to walk in Thy path and to fulfill Thy will.
Let me know Thee for myself that I may not be satisfied
With aught that is less.”
Source: Deep Is the Hunger
howard thurman
prayer

IMG_3678.PNG

IMG_3697.PNG

Posted in America, attitude, awareness, Choice, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, healing, Letting Go, truth, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
09 Nov 2014

queen of making do

IMG_3544.JPG

IMG_3546.JPG

IMG_3548.JPG

IMG_3551.JPG

IMG_3553.JPG
Isn’t there always something forgotten, something
lost, something gone? Praise this too,
for the blessings it brings. You will seek out
some recourse—reused paper, borrowed brush,
makeshift paint; some other—and make it work.
You will engage a new friend, beg or barter,
find a different, maybe better, way.
You will go where you didn’t know you could.

Left Behind by Alice D’Alessio

IMG_3561.JPG

IMG_3579.JPG

IMG_3570.JPG

IMG_3571.JPG

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Change, Choice, courage, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Growth, Life, soul and spirit, worry, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
08 Nov 2014

simple secrets 😃

IMG_3478.JPG
The Secret of Surrender
Seeing the Illusion
by Madisyn Taylor

Surrender should be seen as a great strength and comes when we let go of trying to attain the impossible.

Most of us were raised and live in a culture that emphasizes the ideals of independence and control. The general idea is that we are on our own and we don’t need any help from anyone else, and if we are really successful it’s because we are in complete control. However, true lasting success comes only with surrender, which is the opposite of control. We cannot accomplish anything truly great on our own, without any help, and the idea that we can is an illusion that causes most of us a great deal of suffering. Surrender comes when we see that illusion and let go of trying to attain the impossible. Surrender can then be seen as a great strength rather than a weakness.

Even small moments of surrender are powerful indicators of how different our lives could be if we would only let go. We’ve all had the experience of extending huge amounts of effort and energy to reach a particular goal only to realize that we can’t make it happen after all. At the moment of letting go, realizing that we need to ask for help or simply release our agenda entirely, a profound feeling of relief may rush over us. This warm, open sensation is the essence of surrender, and if we didn’t feel that we didn’t really let go. But it is never too late to let go, even of things in the past that didn’t work out the way we wanted them to, because surrender is always an option in every moment of our lives.

When we finally do surrender, our goals actually become possible, because the act of surrender is, in essence, asking for the help we need. This help may come in the form of other human beings or unseen helpers such as angels or inner guides. It may also come in the form of shifting circumstances, the small miracles that we call grace.
http://www.dailyom.com

IMG_3322.JPG

IMG_3164.JPG

IMG_3154.JPG

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, courage, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, success, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

Post Navigation

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →