life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “Happiness”

Heart and Mind

It is important to make decisions from a place of balance in your life by taking a breath and checking in with heart and mind.

Each of the myriad decisions we make every day has the potential to have a deep impact on our lives. Some choices touch us to our very cores, awakening poignant feelings within us. Others seem at first to be simple but prove to be confusingly complex. We make the best decisions when we approach the decision-making process from a balanced emotional and intellectual foundation. When we have achieved equilibrium in our hearts and in our minds, we can clearly see both sides of an issue or alternative. Likewise, we can accept compromise as a natural fact of life. Instead of relying solely on our feelings or our rationality, we utilize both in equal measure, empowering ourselves to come to a life-affirming and balanced conclusion.
Balance within and balance without go hand in hand. When you are called upon to choose between two or more options, whether they are attractive or distasteful, you should understand all you can about the choice ahead of you before moving forward. If you do not come to the decision from a place of balance, you risk making choices that are irrational and overly emotional or are wholly logical and don’t take your feelings into account. In bringing your thoughts and emotions together during the decision-making process, you ensure that you are taking everything possible into account before moving forward. Nothing is left up to chance, and you have ample opportunity to determine which options are in accordance with your values.
Though some major decisions may oblige you to act and react quickly, most will allow you an abundance of time in which to mull over your choices. If you doubt your ability to approach your options in a balanced fashion, take an extended time-out before responding to the decision. This will give you the interlude you need to make certain that your thoughts and feelings are in equilibrium. As you practice achieving balance, you will ultimately reach a state of mind in which you can easily make decisions that honor every aspect of the self.

www.dailyom.com

The Surrender

I went to school this morning
In the world frosted and glittering
I watched a golden tree
Freely unloading itself
In the beautiful a-bun-dance of autumn

I watched in silence from a distant bench
And then I stood with the tree
and accepted the flow of life
the circle of season
It surprised me
It was a musical process
this sound of surrender
Filling me

I felt the soft plops of berries
the whisper dance of leaves on my hat
The drum beat leading the celebration dance
of..
letting go
freedom
re-birth to come
at my feet
I was a witness to the grand nature of trees

It taught me lessons
in minutes
answers I have been searching for
for years

I trust dreaming
Everything is the poetry of love

AL 11/5/12

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Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t. ~ Jerry Rice

For the past 5 years I have published a newsletter called Songs from the Valley. I really had no idea how to do it, or what the result would be, I just enjoyed creating the first issue so much I committed to creating it for one year.

The first year was a time of figuring out what this publication would become. In March, of 2008, I featured my first artist, in April, I decided to publish two issues a month. By May, it began to take shape around a subject, rather than putting in random hodge-podge inspiration and in December, I decided that I would continue to create and publish it – that it truly was one of the best things I had ever done in my life. In 2010 I started a website and on March 18, 2011, I started this daily, poetry and quotes blog, to go along with the 2 issues a month.

I have been asked many times how I do it, how I find time. As I look back over the past five years, I see the actions that are reflected in the quote above. I made it happen by living my life in a way that others haven’t. It’s not about me being right or wrong, it’s just about what you want. I want to be all I can be and not aim low. When I started the newsletter, I wanted to create something good that my children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren, could find one day, and know who I am, what I loved, how I live my life, what I stood for and what I learned about life. As I look back over the body of work, I am so blessed by how I have spent my time, the hours were well worth the effort! I am extremely grateful for what I have accomplished.

As this year of 2012 comes quickly to a close, I feel the time for something new is happening. It is time for things to shift and I am not sure the newsletter will continue to be the same. There are new things being born, and I feel the end of this particular publication may be ending, to make way for something new and exciting. I am not sure exactly what it will be, as of yet, but I feel things stirring around in my heart, in my imagination. Inspiration is bubbling and brewing and my music is coming to the forefront of this next phase of life upcoming. It is exciting and feels important. I ask for your prayers as I figure these things out and begin to incorporate new areas of discipline into my going, and begin to accomplish my highest calling from a heart of love.

www.songsfromthevalley.com for current issue on Place featuring artist  Beverly Erschell http://www.beverlyerschell.com/

never stop learning!

faking a rainbow
Have you tried listening with your elbow
When you don’t like the song?
Tried spinning in circles
When you can’t get along?
When you have a bad day
Try stomping and say
“Everything’s crap!”
Then go take a nap
With your head nestled in
Your favorite friend’s lap.
Have you tried singing in thirds
When you don’t know the words?
Tried dancing in dirt
When your feelings get hurt?
Tried hanging from trees
When you can’t feel your heart?
And tried something dumb
When you’ve tried everything smart?
When the clouds have rolled in
And keep you from seeing
Try faking a rainbow
Till it bursts into being.

http://dharmacomics.com/post/34112370772

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the truth is inside you, but you gotta listen n follow!

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Presents

I give you an emptiness,
I give you a plenitude,
unwrap them carefully.
— one’s as fragile as the other —
and when you thank me
I’ll pretend not to notice the doubt in your voice
When you say they’re just what you wanted.

Put them on the table by your bed.
When you wake in the morning
they’ll have gone through the door if sleep
Into your head. Wherever you go
they’ll go with you and
wherever you are they’ll wonder,
smiling about the fullness
you can’t add to and the emptiness
that you can’t fill.

Norman MacCaig

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Relax and let all of life flow through you…even the bad days! 🙂

true beauty comes from the heart

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair’d the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o’er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

“She Walks in Beauty” by Lord Byron

be soft. do not let the world make you hard – Kurt Vonnegut

photo by Nici Tietjen Derosie
http://artshapedworld.com/
http://artshapedworld.blogspot.com/

Just a few timeless life lessons we all learn on the road of life…

1. Beauty comes from within. – You will never be beautiful like me.  You can only be beautiful like you.  One does not become beautiful by trying to be beautiful.  One becomes beautiful by finding beauty in what’s already within.

2. Pain has a purpose. – Pain doesn’t just show up in your life for no reason.  It’s a sign that something in your life needs to change.  This change takes strength.  But remember, it’s not that those who are strong never get weak in the knees, or that they never gasp for a breath.  It’s that while their knees are shaking, they force themselves to breathe and to take another step.  Read The Road Less Traveled.

3. There are right people, and wrong people, for you. – There are fake people, and those who are true friends.  There are people who take the heart out of you, and those who put it back.  You have a choice of who to spend time with.  True friends have an honest heart, and will go out of their way to help you when you need it most.  Stick with the people who never let you down and keep their promises.  You can’t fake that.

4. What you focus on grows. – Do not let the negativity wear off on you.  Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.  Promote what you love instead of discrediting what you dislike.  When you choose to focus on the things you love, you end up finding more joy and more love in life.

5. What you don’t start today, won’t be finished by tomorrow. – There are seven days in the week and someday isn’t one of them.  Ask yourself if what you’re doing today is getting you closer to where you want to be tomorrow.  Read Getting Things Done.

6. Sometimes taking your own advice is hard. – You know what to do, but you can’t seem to accept your own good judgment.  You’ve said the same exact words to others, but listening to your own words is a struggle.  That’s why friends are priceless.  Because sometimes you just need to hear it from someone other than yourself.

7. You can’t live your life solely for other people. – When writing the story of your life, don’t let someone else hold the pen.  You’ve got to do what’s right for you, even if the people you love disagree with your dreams.  Live your life so that when it’s time to ask where the time went, you can answer: “It went to joyful moments of self-discovery, to my search for passion, to doing work that felt like play, to standing up for what I believe in, and to exploring this beautiful world with an open heart.  My time went to living MY life!”

8. Forgiveness is the first step to recovery. – Sometimes we don’t forgive people because they deserve it; we forgive them because they need it, because we need it, and because we cannot move forward without it.  So cry, forgive, learn, and move on.  Let your tears water the seeds of your future growth and happiness.

9. Your beliefs become your reality. – What you believe has more power than what you dream or wish or hope for.  You become what you believe.  Even though you cannot control everything that happens, you can control your attitude toward what happens.  And in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.  Read Awaken the Giant Within.

10. Success is rarely easy, but always worth it. – Those who have achieved their dreams know that life is about willpower and persistence.  It’s about hanging on to hope when your heart has had enough, and giving even more when your mind and body want to give up.  Yes, each step may get harder, but the view from the top is priceless, and well worth enduring the journey to get there.

http://www.marcandangel.com/2012/10/11/10-timeless-lessons/#more-473

Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you. – Gandhi

If you have a talent, use it in every way possible.

Don’t hoard it.

Don’t dole it out like a miser.

Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.”

                                – Brendan Francis

Get on with your own creative life. Ideas are free. They don’t cost you a thing. You can live in the world of thought all the days of your life and never go broke.

You will also die unfulfilled, because an idea that never incarnates, that never becomes physical and grounded in this world, will eventually feel like the most painful burden you ever had to carry – one that you can never put down.

People who have had near death experiences report that there is indeed a life review that happens upon our death, and that a part of that life review is to make note of what could have been in our lives had we chose otherwise.

Falling into that category are all the creative opportunities the universe provided for us that we let fall by the wayside because our fears carried more authority within us than our faith.

Trust in the life support system that is inherent in your creative spirit. You will draw to yourself all that you need as you need it, but you must first be willing to risk it all.          – Caroline Myss

When you welcome your emotions as teachers, every emotion brings good news, even the ones that are painful. – Gary Zukav

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WE CAN CHOOSE HOW WE MOVE THROUGH EACH STEP IN OUR STORY!

The path we take makes all the difference!

Vulnerability is the path to intimacy and peace in every area of life.

It’s hard. It takes awareness and then making the choices – every time! Keep showing up. Don’t numb it, don’t apologize for it, don’t fight it. Just feel it all fully and allow it to be. It is what it is. And now make the choice to honor it. And to allow it to make you stronger, better, more fully yourself and more fully aware of how this connects us all together. We are one. When one suffers – we all suffer. That’s human, animal, the planet. If we want to end suffering, we must not want anyone to suffer. We must heal ourselves of these things so that we can truly heal others. Let it flow. Choose to look for and find any beauty right where you are. Choose to embrace the glory in the gray. Choose to speak words of life.

http://songsfromthevalley.com/October-09-2.19-Tears.pdf

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/10/best-tip-for-effective-time-management/

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