inspiration | life: acoustic & amplified

Archive for the category “inspiration”

24 Feb 2016

What is our relationship to that which is larger than us? – Mark Nepo

Picasso, when asked if painter’s ideas come to him “by chance or by design answer: “I don’t have a clue. Ideas are simply starting points. I can rarely set them down as they come to my mind. As soon as I start to work, others well up in my pen. To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing… When I find myself facing a blank page, that’s always going through my head. What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas”.

Thank you, in advance. It’s what I desire. 💞

Posted in action, Adventure, art, attitude, awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, music, mystery, Reality, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

20 Feb 2016

morning blessing

photos by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

I place on the alter of dawn:

The quiet loyalty of breath,

The tent of thought where I shelter,

Waves of desire I am shore to

And all beauty drawn to the eye.
May my mind come alive today

To the invisible geography

That invites me to new frontiers,

To break the dead shell of yesterdays,

To risk being disturbed and changed.
May I have the courage today

To live the life that I would love,

To postpone my dream no longer

But do at last what I came here for

And waste my heart on fear no more.

🌀

– John O’Donohue
Excerpt from, ‘A Morning Offering’

TO BLESS THE SPACE BETWEEN US (US) / BENEDICTUS (Europe)

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

Love

So fragile

With no guarantees

Of longevity

Or comfort

Begs to be felt

Now

To be counted for the sake of goodness

This is the only moment that counts

The only thing eternal

Don’t wait

Take a deep deep breath

Of the spirit that is giving it all

Say thank you

For the only gift that matters

The only thing that remains

All else can be destroyed

When nothing else remains

What is this eternal gift,

given new every morning?

Love

💖

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

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, beloved, Blessing, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, Gratitude, Happiness, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, light, Love, nature, Patience, Peace | Leave a comment

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

🛤

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

10 Feb 2016

now just relax

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

08 Feb 2016

do or do not….there is no try – Yoda

I want to be the song, a poem

I don’t want to play the record

Perch behind the lens

Hold the pen.

I want to be the song

Live the photo

Experience the novel.

Enough interpreting my existence.

Enough searching for the symbol, the reflection, the meaning.

I am resonant, alive, pulsing

One.

Treble and bass.

Light and shadows.

Beginnings and endings.

All of it.

I want to be the song.

Beating, polyrhythmic, harmonious.

The lyrics my prayers.

I want to live the photo.

Still, present, vibrant.

The image my essence.

I want to experience the novel.

Aching, poignant, truth.

The plot my story.

I want to be alive.

Color, beauty, heart-break.

Engaged, awake, heart-felt.

In awe.

Longing.

Loving.

💞
Spread the Love

Eloiza Jorge

💞

click on the photo below to go to Eloiza’s blog Deepening Wisdom

https://deepeningwisdom.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/i-want-to-be-alive/img_1833/

There comes a time when nothing is meaningful except surrendering to Love. Do It!
💞

– Rumi

Your great mistake is to act the drama

as if you were alone. As if life

were a progressive and cunning crime

with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions.

To feel abandoned is to deny

the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,

even you, at times, have felt the grand array;

the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding

out your solo voice. You must note

the way the soap dish enables you,

or the window latch grants you freedom.

Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.

The stairs are your mentor of things

to come, the doors have always been there

to frighten you and invite you,

and the tiny speaker in the phone

is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease

into the conversation. The kettle is singing

even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots

have left their arrogant aloofness and

seen the good in you at last. All the birds

and creatures of the world are unutterably

themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

Everything is Waiting for You
…

EVERYTHING IS WAITING FOR YOU by David Whyte

Excuse me while I kiss the sky.
Pardon me while I hug the moon.

Forgive me while I dance with the ocean.

Give me a minute while I laugh with the stars.

Hold your horses while I sing to the angels.

Patience, my old friend, while I make love to the world.

Get some rest while I fly the skies with the eagles.

Count some sheep while I paint a masterpiece with Mother Nature.

Then…

Come lay down beside me and hold me.

caress my skin with lovers hands.

whisper secrets my soul longs to hear.

sing to me softly.

kiss me like the butterflies.

while I love you forever

and ever,

we fall asleep together

every night,

and I wake to see the face I love every morning.

Sweet dreams, my love.

good night.

🌙

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

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, be, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Choice, connection, Dreams, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, healing, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, music, mystery, Passion, People, perceptions, Purpose, Reality | 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.

🌀
– 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 …I let things die, and filled in holes…watered children and sappy songs.

Ranted about the radiance of Angels and cardboard boxes filled with 36 years of married love…

I chopped up word search puzzles because there is passion and paradox in loving words that heal, instead of hate…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 winter…

Family and friendships took in artists and dreamers…wedding vows that added deeper love to our days…heart shaped rocks in tiny boxes on tables to say we belong to one another…and children that grow into wonderful stories of every lasting love…

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 doors…

I taught class while learning the heart of acceptance, forgiveness, fables and follies…how one can know absolutely nothing, and everything one needs to know…to be a water-bearer flowing…to kneel while pouring…to bend at just the right moment, to wash a glass, dimly lit…

I fought a concrete city with a magical jungle holding religions and relationships…forgave myself for not knowing how long I had been loved and known…how one gift could change it all…found sacred ground under a community with feet. Dancers who know how to move to a rhythm and a beat…

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

A year like no other…just beginning to gather purple Iris for another…

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

02 Feb 2016

together in a hopeful world

Yesterday there was a facebook post from Jen Lemen over at Hopeful World http://hopefulworld.org (she’s one of my most admired people on the planet) telling me that it was a half-way-between-solstice moment and she would be burning a fire in celebration and prayer. If anyone wanted to be part…just say ‘yes’ and she would bring us! I said, ‘Yes, please’ as quickly as I could type it!!!
And so, last night, while I was sleeping…Jen Lemen was doing something so amazing, I get chill bumps every time I think about it!!! She was holding me, and mine, in that space between.

Yes, there was INTENTION, there was fire, there was singing, there was celebrating and grieving, there was prayer for the world, for everyone who requested it…and, Holy Batman, Batman, there was prayer for ME and all I hold within and without me.
What a gift! Beauty and all she is! Powerful and humbling! Encouraging and valuing! I feel it all this morning and I say, Thank you, Jen! Thank you, more than I can say! I am so blessed by you and your work!! 💞

I woke up to these words from Jen this morning:

Writing blessings. Saying prayers. May you be happy and peaceful. May no harm come to you. May no difficulty come to you. May you be deeply blessed. May you take care of anyone and everything smaller and sweeter than you are. May you surrender your power to make space for a forgotten voice. May you notice the earth and how she moves and breathes. May you say yes when you’re called and stay quietly beside until the time is right. May you become love and be love and find love and hope for more love, when others say it doesn’t matter or all hope is gone. #pathofprayerandpleasure #urbanfamily #bliss #mysticlife #blessings #imbolc #brigid #celticspring

🙏🏻

– Jen Lemen @ Hopeful World

http://hopefulworld.org

The poet gives you a little stone to stand on,

a ledge, a moment of the world or your own mind

to notice, to ground yourself in,

and from there to leap
maybe to another stone, a similar noticing,

maybe to another star, the light you are made of,

or a beauty pouring itself into you,

or maybe just leap all the way to God.
When you are praying

the smallest thing

can be what you stand on,

can be your prayer.
Any time, from even a single twig

you can leap

and wherever you land will be God.

The leaping is God.
__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Follow and support Jen Lemen @

http://hopefulworld.org

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

Posted in action, Adventure, Alone, attitude, awareness, beauty, beloved, big, Blessing, Choice, connection, dark, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Glory, grace, Gratitude, Grieving, Happiness, Hope, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, light, Love, mystery, Passion, Prayer, receiving, Reflection, Relationships, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

30 Jan 2016

yes, please, beat again

Grace
Nothing I have ever done or will ever do

can separate me from

or bring me into the heart of the Beloved.
Oh, I can distract myself from the longing

that whispers day and night for that sacred union,

and some days I am too tired to notice

that what I ache for is and always has been here:

. . . . right here in and at my fingertips,

in the way the breeze lifts my hair,

the way the earth pulls me to her,

the way shared laughter makes my sides ache.
Nothing I have done or will ever do

can make me worthy or unworthy

of being touched by the Lover’s hand and heart,

of being the Lover’s hand and heart in the world.
Grace – the way Infinite Love

gives Himself to us in every moment,

the way God unfurls Her tender mercy in our hearts-

is a constant invitation to say with the fullness of our being:

Yes.

❤️

~Oriah Mountain Dreamer

there is terrible beauty in every human heart

tell me a story that will live with me forever

love always shares grace always wins

you can’t miss if you show up

pay attention…

the message is always revealed at the appointed intersection

letting go brings the right miracle

at the right time the song playlist repeats

crazy love flows into mystic waters slowly drips the sweetest tupelo honey

deep calling to deep

honor chooses to say yes to the best invitations

making the call brings me the messages I need to build the new bridge from the friend bench of this manna-filled moment

there is always more than enough to share

gratitude buckets fill and overflow

removing scales from blurry, tearful, kaleidoscope eyes

as perfect peace falls into rightful place

color shards blooming into new masterpieces of never before seen glory

diamonds dance on the water

flaming beauty evolves, drives me to my knees,

shedding shoes, and fear,

as we talk

I lift my face to the sun and free soar

full wing, open soul, with the gulls,

who always fly in trust, never a shadow of doubt, that they are loved to the sky

right here, and in every tick of time,

in, and in between, every click of the second hand,

around the bend of eternity and back again
🌀

AL 1/30/16

in gratitude and honor for connecting with Liz on this beautiful morning of sun, warm and snow drifts

photo above by Fisherman Dan @ Branford, CT

🌃

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

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Blessing, connection, courage, create, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, friendship, inspiration, intimacy, Joy, laugh, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, Patience, Peace, People, Poetry, Reality | Leave a comment

26 Jan 2016

fall down 7 times, get up 8

There is a path we all walk in life. All the places we go when the path gets too rocky and exhausting and brutal and beautiful are dead-end detours. If you take these detours you are not bad, but you are wasting your time and energy.

The path looks like this:
Come back to the path.

There’s no other way.

You will never find your perfect life “balance” on the path for the same reason you will never find a unicorn on the path – because these things don’t exist. Forget unicorns and balance. If you were perfectly balanced, you’d never have to take anyone’s hand to steady yourself, and that would be a tragedy.

There is no solid ground on the path — so don’t hold your breath till you find it. Breathe deeply and keep moving forward awkwardly. You can make it down the whole path imbalanced and flailing. When you fall, give thanks for the opportunity to rest. While you’re down, send love to every other path walker who’s down with you at that moment.

Then get back up.

Or crawl. Crawling is encouraged and respected. Path running is fine, but crawling is much better. Crawlers travel with their eyes close to the ground — so they never miss an inch of the beautiful, rocky path. Crawlers get less glory but learn the most about the path’s terrain.

And know your fellow travelers are both your teachers and students. Your relationships with them will be the hardest part of path walking. To avoid humbling oneself into the role of student and having the courage to position oneself into the role of teacher — many try to walk the path alone.

But the path was not designed for solo treks.

The path was designed to teach Love. Whenever you introduce your true self to a fellow path traveler and listen and speak and learn and stay with her for a while – that is called Love. Walking with and staying with messy fellow path travelers for any length of time is Love. Love is the most brutal and beautiful part of path traveling. Participate. Learn from and teach every path traveler you encounter. Exchanging love with fellow path travelers is how we gather the wisdom and strength we’ll need to overcome the next obstacle on our path.

Note: You do not teach by teaching — you teach by loving. Be humble and courageous.

You always have enough strength.

And courage and wisdom. You always have exactly what you need for your daily trek. Sometimes you won’t believe this, because you will encounter stretches of the path that are treacherous and terrifying, but if you give up in the middle of those stretches — if you sit down permanently in them — then you have to live there. Don’t live in the dark, scary parts. Trust and keep moving. There will be a clearing soon and you will feel the warm sun again.

The One who created your path is outside of time, so your life is an epic movie that has already been scripted. So don’t plan or worry — your job is to trust your path and participate fully and notice as much as you possibly can and keep on moving.

But don’t become proud or ashamed.

Don’t become proud that you are further along than many travelers or ashamed that you are far behind others. Your position on the path relative to other travelers has nothing to do with your strength or stamina or wisdom or cunning. We are all in different places because we all have different entry points to the path.

Where you are and where everyone else is along the path is none of your concern or business.

Let that go.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be, always, and so is everyone else. The portion of the path you wake up to today was written for you.
Everyone is exactly where he or she is supposed to be. You are not your own or anyone else’s path-planner. You are just a traveler. You just keep moving. Trust the Path. Follow in the footsteps of a billion other mighty travelers who have walked and run and crawled the path before you.

Fear not. And carry on, warrior.

🛤

you’re on by Glennon Doyle Melton

on Donald Miller StoryLine Blog http://storylineblog.com/2016/01/26/make-the-most-of-the-path-youre-on/?utm_campaign=coschedule&utm_source=facebook_page&utm_medium=Donald%20Miller&utm_content=Make%20the%20Most%20of%20the%20Path%20You’re%20On

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

Posted in Adventure, attitude, awareness, balance, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, compassion, confidence, connection, courage, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Growth, Habits, inspiration, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, nature, Passion, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

25 Jan 2016

loving the oh-so not-so ordinary

This day is not ordinary. This day may be one of quiet or chaos, challenge or rest. But no moment is ordinary. It may be familiar. It may be predictable. It may make you frustrated and angry, discouraged and sad. It may be one where you see hope, hope all around. It may be the day you see deeper, go further, pursue a new place you’ve never traveled before.

I hold you in what you see as ordinary. I look ahead and stay here with you, in this moment.

Let me unfold it for you.

There is a point where you can no longer see. There is a point where there are obstacles and there is nothing to do but wait on Me, look to Me, desire for Me to take hold of all control and guide you.
Where I guide you, where I am with you, is not the place of ordinary.

There are the regular tasks to get done, the job to do, the responsibilities to complete. It may involve doing the same thing day after day, for a while, and another while.
But still, where I am is not ordinary.

Here—here I am, with you. The intake of your breath, the shape of your skin, the ideas taking place in your mind, the beat of your heart. You are a wonder, a beauty, and this day, with all I’ve made, can never be an ordinary day.

Let Me give you new eyes to see so you don’t miss the possibilities around you that I see. Let Me give you new eyes to see so you don’t get discouraged and mistake wonder for ordinary. Let me show you how what you think is mundane may be an opportunity to be with Me in a new way.
I am always new and always the same. You can always count on Me. But I never stop wanting you to see the hidden wonder in this not-so-ordinary day.

🎭

Loop

http://loop.gatherministries.com/loop-1/?utm_source=Loop+Devotional&utm_campaign=cee6d83e4e-Loop_85_This_Not_So_Ordinary_Day12_16_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a7b9cec9e0-cee6d83e4e-100590649

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