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Archive for the category “truth”

29 Feb 2016

extra special

An extra day —

Like the painting’s fifth cow, who looks out directly, straight toward you, from inside her black and white spots.

An extra day —

Accidental, surely: the made calendar stumbling over the real as a drunk trips over a threshold too low to see.

An extra day —

With a second cup of black coffee. A friendly but businesslike phone call. A mailed-back package. Some extra work, but not too much — just one day’s worth, exactly.

An extra day —

Not unlike the space between a door and its frame when one room is lit and another is not, and one changes into the other as a woman exchanges a scarf.

An extra day —

Extraordinarily like any other. And still there is some generosity to it, like a letter re-readable after its writer has died.

💌

February 29 by Jane Hirshfield

Posted in Adventure, art, attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, Beginning, Choice, commitment, confidence, connection, courage, dark, Death, determination, Encouragement, Faith, find art at pinterest, Grieving, Happy Holiday!, healing, home, Letting Go, Life, Losing, Love, Reflection, soul and spirit, strength, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

14 Feb 2016

bittersweet days

SECOND SIGHT
Sometimes, you need the ocean light,

and colors you’ve never seen before

painted through an evening sky.
Sometimes you need your God

to be a simple invitation

not a telling word of wisdom.
Sometimes you need only the first shyness

that comes from being shown things

far beyond your understanding,
so that you can fly and become free

by being still and by being still here.
And then there are times you want to be

brought to ground by touch

and touch alone.
To know those arms around you

and to make your home in the world

just by being wanted.
To see eyes looking back at you,

as eyes should see you at last,

seeing you, as you always wanted to be seen,

seeing you, as you yourself

had always wanted to see the world.

😍

Posted in find art at pinterest, Happiness, Letting Go, Life, Love, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | 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

07 Feb 2016

all that’s left

If you have seen the snow

somewhere slowly fall

on a bicycle,

then you understand

all beauty will be lost

and how even that loss

can be beautiful.

And if you have looked

at a winter garden

and seen not a winter garden

but a meditation on shape,

then you know why

this season is not

known for its words,

the cold too much

about the slowing of matter,

not enough about the making of it.

So you are blessed

to forget this way:
a jump rope in the ice melt,

a mitten that has lost its hand,

a sun that shines

as if it doesn’t mean it.

And if in another season

you see a beautiful woman

use her bare hands

to smooth wrinkles

from her expensive dress

for the sake of dignity,

but in so doing trace

the outlines of her thighs,

then you will remember

surprise assumes a space

that has first been forgotten,

especially here, where we

rarely speak of it,

where we walk out onto the roofs

of frozen lakes

simply because we’re stunned

we really can.

⚜
Upon Discovering My Entire Solution to the Attainment of Immortality Erased from the Blackboard Except the Word `Save'” by Dobby Gibson

I woke up thinking,

how can I make this day different?

how can I live in inspiration within these circumstances?

how can I improve myself today?

Within this day I can make new choices.

Better decisions towards my health.

Towards my future.

Towards my goals.

Within this day I can eat and drink the things I know are health-full

I can read and write the words I know will inspire beauty and love.

I can think about each moment and choice as a precious gift.

I can allow the people in this house grace to choose for themselves without judgement.

I can exercise my body and make it better and stronger.

I can pray, fellowship and meditate growing in love and intimacy with God and the world.

I can open my mind and awareness to all the beauty and miracles surrounding me and say thank you.

I can find home within my heart and bless this dwelling place.

I can and I will live this way today,

I can and will commit to this way of living from this day forward.

Each choice matters.

I will live this moment well.

⚜

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Change, Choice, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, Gratitude, Letting Go, Life, Love, mystery, soul and spirit, strength, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

02 Feb 2016

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

01 Feb 2016

pay attention to the daily messages

miles come

miles go

some stay a while

some roll on beneath our feet

or our wheels

barely noticed

driving in the fast lane

with the windows rolled up tightly

in God we trust

unfolding on every bill we pull from pocket

but, the world doesn’t work that way…

or does it?

peace,

love,

always seal the deal

walk away free,

changed

ready to see some new things

every choice brings us to our new place

right here

right now

notice it

say thank you

❤️

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beloved, Blessing, Choice, connection, courage, determination, find art at pinterest, healing, home, Hope, intimacy, Letting Go, Life, Love, perceptions, Reflection, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | 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

24 Jan 2016

shiver me timbers

The most living moment comes

when those who love each other

meet each other’s eyes and

in what flows between them.

❤️

~ Rumi

What if love never feels safe? What if it was never meant to provide you with consistent feelings of comfort, certainty, and security? What if it comes spinning out of the stars offering something much more radical, creative, and transformative than ‘safety’ could ever deliver?
Perhaps it wasn’t safety you were seeking after all, but wholeness and an untamed, erupting sort of aliveness?
No matter how many profound insights you have, how many amazingly powerful awakening experiences you collect, or how convinced you become that you have it all together, you will always be at risk for the beloved to step in and pull the rug out from underneath you. He or she will do whatever it takes to reveal your true nature as open, naked, and outside the realm of the conceptual altogether.
No, it will likely never turn out quite like you thought it would. You can be grateful for that. Perhaps the creative and destructive activity of love will never ask that you ‘transcend’ your vulnerability, cover over your sensitivity, ‘heal’ your tenderness, or wiggle into some pre-conditioned, second-hand ‘state’ of ‘high’ vibration. But rather to give everything in service of the most radical vow of all: to remain embodied to and intimate with the full-spectrum explosion of what it means to be an alive human being in a world that has forgotten.
Perhaps love will always seed your world with the emissaries of reorganizing deflation, come to scatter its sacred nectar and fragrances throughout the four directions. Before you turn from this activity and abandon it as an ‘obstacle’ to your path, renew your vow to stay close and to no longer abandon the wildness within you. For this deflation is holy, unbearably creative, and is forming the crystalline substance of the path in every moment.
When you are totally unclothed – of all of your spiritual concepts and certain, safe knowing – love will show you what you are. When the known crumbles away, all that remains is your burning heart. There is nothing more alive than that. There is nothing more sacred than that.

❤️

– Matt Kicata

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, commitment, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, Letting Go, Life, Love, Relationships, soul and spirit, Trust, truth, Uncategorized, Vulnerability, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment

19 Jan 2016

in it to win it

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.

💞

― Mahatma Gandhi