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Jun 22

Geography of the Heart

“You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control.” – Marcus Aurelius

“People travel to wonder
at the height of the mountains,
at the huge waves of the seas,
at the long course of the rivers,
at the vast compass of the ocean,
at the circular motion of the stars,
and yet they pass by themselves
without wondering. ”― Saint Augustine

Explore. Ponder. Question.
Wander. Seek. Embrace.
Tenderly, with kindness.
And love.
All beauty, mystery, expanse.
Within.
Geography of the heart.
Depth of the soul.
Height of the spirit.

“People are more comfortable with a familiar discomfort than they are with an unfamiliar new possibility.”― Lisa Nichols

Jun 21

Between Two Breaths

“Would there be a little space, she wondered, a little time, some way to hold off eventfulness, to push busyness into the corners of the room and just stand there a minute or two.”― Toni Morrison, Beloved

“Suddenly I feel I am in the space between two breaths, in the moment of time it takes to stretch out a hand to another person, in the second when the heart beats and braces itself to beat again. I stand and wait with nothing to wait for. Am I on board a ship at sea, in a house in a park, in a town in a country? Is nothing changed, can everything be swept away as a dream is swept out of the conscious mind in the morning?”― Sven Holm, Termush

Space and margin.
Float and ease.
Grace and gentleness
Rhythm and flow.
Breadth and dimension
Kindness and care.
Take the pause, often.

“Life is not what we’re chasing. Life is what we’re leaving behind in the chasing.”― Craig D. Lounsbrough

Jun 20

Joy Ethic

“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

“I have drunken deep of joy,
And I will taste no other wine tonight.”
― Percy Bysshe Shelley

Work ethic.
Got it.
Yet only a sliver of life.
Joy.
Love.
Enthusiasm.
Kindness.
Faith.
Resilience.
Grit.
Generosity.
Delight.
Fidelity.
Laughter.
Awe.
Wonder.
Reverence.
Play.
Do not bypass, forego, dismiss.
The fabric of a good life.
Woven together daily.

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”― Nicolas Chamfort

Jun 19

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Soft Centered Arrival

“Presence doesn’t need a grand arrival — only a willingness to begin again.” – Amit Ray

“Equanimity is not a path around. It is the courage to remain in the center until the center opens.” – G. Scott Graham, The Tao of Equanimity

The noise will get louder
The chaos ensue
Demands multiply

The invitation
To this moment
To walk the path

Of presence

No shortcuts
Already here
In the quiet
The noticing

Attention and admiration
Reverence and wonder
Peace in the pause, in the receiving.

“The chase feels like movement — but it leaves you farther from the moment.”― G. Scott Graham, The Tao of Equanimity

Jun 18

Bold, Bright, Heart

“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us?”― Dorothy Day

“People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions. Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that. No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.”― Dorothy Day

Revolution of the heart.
Bold, bright, beautiful.
Laying one brick at a time.
Growing in grace.
Hope abundant.
Work to do.
Thoughts, deeds, words.
Let them be rooted in love.
Cast light.

“The older I get, the more I meet people, the more convinced I am that we must only work on ourselves, to grow in grace. The only thing we can do about people is to love them.”― Dorothy Day, All the Way to Heaven: The Selected Letters of Dorothy Day

Jun 17

True Harvest

“The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched.”― Henry David Thoreau, Walden or, Life in the Woods

“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.”― Henry David Thoreau

Summer sun, rain
Blooming bountiful
Shades of green
Kaleidoscope of brilliant colors
Be made newDaily harvest of fresh thoughts, words, actions.

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees”― Henry David Thoreau

Jun 16

Warrior Soul, Soft Heart

“In my family monarch butterflies are daughters of fire. They come from the sun carrying the souls of warriors who fought and died in battle, and return to feed on the nectar of flowers.”― Holly Ringland, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

“The most beautiful of butterflies is nothing but a well-dressed caterpillar.”― Corina Abdulahm Negura

Signs and symbols.
Time and timing.
Cycles and seasons.
Beginnings and endings.
The path between and through.
Transition to transformation.
Remain present in each and all.
Trusting the process of unfolding, becoming, flight.
There’s beauty right here, right now.
Sweet nectar.

“If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.” – Buddha

Jun 15

Gentle, Quiet, Grace

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.” — Saint Francis de Sales

“Oh! that gentleness! how far more potent is it than force!”― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

For the past three mornings, the girls have been barking with intensity in the backyard.
Each time, going to get them in, a deer standing on the other side of the fence.
Gentle gaze, unmoved by the commotion, undistracted by the noise, rooted in calm ease.
Across traditions and cultures, deer symbolize gentleness, intuition, spiritual renewal.
The ability to navigate life’s challenges with quiet grace.
God enters our days in a million little ways.
Often through nature, children, dogs, deer, other people.
Encounters, distractions, delays, long cuts.
Unseen, bypassed, not on our checklist, sped by on the way to somewhere else.
Make somewhere else this day.
Reset the pace, the cadence.
Someday is this day.
Saunter.
Easy spirit.
Quiet grace.
Just outside your door.
Woven in your heart.
Peace.

“I choose gentleness… Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself.”― Max Lucado

“Gentleness is strength under control. It is the ability to stay calm, no matter what happens.” — Elizabeth George

 

Jun 14

Narrow Path, Beauty Abundant

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul”― John Muir

“It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living.”― David Attenborough

Wandering
Wondering
Exploration
Beauty
Fresh air
Relaxation
Reflection
Reset
Realignment
Renewal
Compound interest
Economy of Delight, Pause, Praise
Refill your tank
Daily

“Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.”― John Muir

Jun 13

Hidden in Plain Sight

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”― Roald Dahl

May I see what’s hidden
In plain sight
Beauty
Fun
Peace
Delight
Joy
In abundance
Rooted in hope and anticipation
Found with curiosity
Fresh eyes, open heart.

“In all things lies a hidden wonder, a transcendent force that eludes the ordinary gaze. Only the conscious soul—awakened and willing to seek, daring to dive where most fear to tread—will uncover it.”― Blade Seventh

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