Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Beauty’ Category

Nov 29

Selection, Elimination, Emphasis

“If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for a moment.”― Georgia O’Keefe

“I think it’s so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary–you’re happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous.”― Georgia O’Keefe

Bold color.
Shapes, hues, texture.
Curiosity and interest.
Focus and forefront.
The power of what we remove to see what is present.
Clarity, discernment, appreciation.
To find brilliance in each and every ordinary day, in small ways.
A good pursuit.
Selection, elimination, emphasis.

“Nothing is less real than realism. Details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis, that we get at the real meaning of things.”― Georgia O’Keeffe

Nov 16

Walk in Peace

“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

“Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves.”― Corrie Ten Boom

Pause and pursuit.
Quiet and clarity.
Slow and motion.
Space and place.
Look around on the path you walk today.
Seek beauty, color, delight.
Inside and out.
Focus attention, intention, direction.
Plant seeds along the way.
Joy, awe, kindness.
Walk in peace.

“waste time wisely, my friend. Time spent in rest, joy, company and kindness is never wasted. As for everything else, just do it. You won’t regret the things you tried and failed at. But you will regret a life spent waiting. Those who wait, wait. You have a life to live.”― Donna Ashworth, I Wish I Knew: Poems to Soothe Your Soul & Strengthen Your Spirit

Nov 14

In the Present Moment

“Life is available only in the present moment.”― Thich Nhat Hanh, Taming the Tiger Within: Meditations on Transforming Difficult Emotions

“May you live every day of your life.”― Jonathan Swift

Drop anchor.
Pause.
Hover.
Look longer.
Color, nuance, hue.
Breathe deeply.
In and out, repeat.
In the slowing, witness beauty.
Partake in quiet.
Put down the unnecessary.
Tune out to tune in.

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”― Thich Nhat Hanh

Nov 11

Flowers and Blessings

“Every day, bring some flowers to your life. Every day bring some blessings in someone’s life.”― Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”― Will Rogers

Clear out the clutter.
Open a window.
Create some space.
Let fresh air into your thoughts and perspective.
Choose the path of goodness, forgiveness, forgetting, generosity, kindness, joy, delight.
A daily decision, not by accident.
Intention followed by action, practice, commitment.
To see the world anew, I need to change, not the world, not the other person.
Do not waste any more time offended, judging, assuming.
Today is it.
Be present, grateful and participate.
Find beauty and light.
Plenty in reach.
Gather it up then cast it far and wide.

“Open the window of your mind. Allow the fresh air, new lights and new truths to enter.” ― Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

Nov 6

Seekers of Sweetness

“Man’s main task is to give birth to himself. ”― Erich Fromm

“My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird — equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.
Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? Am I no longer young and still not half-perfect? Let me keep my mind on what matters, which is my work,
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture. Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart and these body-clothes, a mouth with which to give shouts of joy to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is that we live forever.” – Mary Oliver

To give birth again and again.
Daily. In moments. Amidst ordinary.
Unfolding slowly.
Unfurling intently.
Color, texture, flavor, vibrancy.
Life all around to love.
All the ingredients for a delicious day.
May you be struck by awe, rapt by delight, held in grace.
Do your work, love the world, as it is right now.
Shouts of joy.

“Tell me, at what velocity does joy travel?”― Clint Smith

Oct 31

Amid Small Things, Great Beauty

“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”― Mary Oliver

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa

Astonishment over diminishment.
Wondering and wandering over the beaten path.
Forward not back.
New things into today and forward motion.
Put the heavy baggage of worry, resentment, cynicism, expectations down.
Walk lightly with delight, joy and awe.
Amid small things, ordinary days, beauty abound.
A daily practice to choose where to invest mindshare, heartshare, attention.
Intention followed by action.
Repetition and commitment.
Presence in now, not the road behind or too far ahead.
The call of each day.
Allow, invite, welcome a new story.

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh

Oct 30

The Flying

“Love is not the limitation; love is the flying.”― Wm. Paul Young

“The only answer in this life, to the loneliness we are all bound to feel, is community.”― Dorothy Day

In the activities and commitments of this day.
May you transform the transactional into relational.
Mundane into magic.
Distance into proximity.
Ordinary into extraordinary.
By adding the secret ingredients.
Curiosity, empathy, enthusiasm, wonder, kindness, joy and love.
Love ties it all together.
Give and receive it.
All is transformed and made new by love.

“Most of our life is unimportant, filled with trivial things from morning till night. But when it is transformed by love it is of interest even to the angels.”― Dorothy Day

Oct 21

Grow Goodness

“Nowhere to go, nothing to do … Lost and found in the moment … Just practice this … Maybe here is where we find wholeheartedness and our true freedom.”― Joan Halifax, Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

“kept looking for goodness
kept asking everyone
where I could find the
good in the world
it was not
until I
looked
within
and
grew
my own
goodness
that I
began
to see it
everywhere”
― Cleo Wade

Full cup.
Whole heart.
Light spirit.
Beauty within moving out.
Change the narrative.
Write a new story.
One of gratitude, delight, joy, laughter, hope, optimism.
Grow goodness.
Change the world.

“the time is always right to reclaim your narrative”― Cleo Wade, Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life

Oct 1

4 Comments

Nature’s Treasure

“Nature unfolds her treasure at the first ray of sunrise.” – Kishore Bansal

“The sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light while it’s here is up to us. Journey wisely.” – Alexandra Elle

Enchantment.
Awe.
Delight.
Wonder.
Nature showing off, showing the way.
May your breath be taken away.
May you have a loss of words to describe the beauty of a new day.
May you be found by peace and let her in.
This moment. This day.
Yours for the taking.
Yours for the giving.

“Next time a sunrise steals your breath or a meadow of flowers leaves you speechless, remain that way. ” – Max Lucado

Sep 26

The Fruit of Joy

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.”― Henri J.M. Nouwen

“May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding, and leads you to freedom. If you are weary, may you be aroused by passion and purpose. If you are blameful and bitter, may you be sweetened by hope and humor.” ― Elizabeth Lesser, Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

Make stillness a part of your daily journey.
Witness and savor.
Slow and pause.
Allow still points through the day.
To awaken.
To be in awe.
Inquiry, attunement, flow.
The rhythm and dance that resides beneath busy, noise and chaos.
The utility and necessity of beauty, color, light.
Not luxuries but necessities.
Not in far off places.
Just beneath, above, around and within you.
Right now.
Go there and join yourself for a bit with wonder and delight.
The fruit of joy.

“Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.” – Saint Augustine

« Older Entries
%d bloggers like this: