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Posts tagged ‘joy’

Dec 5

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Power of Beauty, Out and In

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely.”― Louisa May Alcott

Put beauty in your path every day.
It’s not hard to be found.
Pause, look up and around.
Buy yourself flowers.
Take a walk in the woods.
Drive a different way.
Read poetry.
Turn off auto-pilot.
Turn up the music and sing.
Look within and find it too.
Kindness, compassion, humor.
Celebrate this day.
On the very ground you stand.
Imperfection and all.
This day shall not pass again.
Do not pass it by.

“The greatest illusion is that life should be perfect”― Charlie Mackesy

Nov 26

Path of Plenitude

“I will be the gladdest thing under the sun! I will touch a hundred flowers and not pick one.”― Edna St. Vincent Millay

“For a New Beginning
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”
― John O Donohue

Into the grace of beginning
Crossing the threshold
Of new things blooming, unfolding
Seen with awakened senses
Light spirit
Hope-filled heart
Trusting the journey
Gratitude, praise, awe
And for the choice to live there each day, with delight.

“Fullness of joy is discovered only in the emptying of will.”― Ann Voskamp

Nov 25

infinitesimals

“I am a hunter of beauty and I move slow and I keep the eyes wide, every fiber of every muscle sensing all wonder and this is the thrill of the hunt and I could be an expert on the life full, the beauty meat that lurks in every moment.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

“The whole of the life — even the hard — is made up of the minute parts, and if I miss the infinitesimals, I miss the whole. These are new language lessons, and I live them out. There is a way to live the big of giving thanks in all things. It is this: to give thanks in this one small thing. The moments will add up.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Fullness of time
Made of moments
Ordinary days
Encounters
Glances and gazing
Attention and expectation
Joy before us each day
Woven in beauty, gratitude, grace and noticing

“Wherever you are, be all there.” I have lived the runner, panting ahead in worry, pounding back in regrets, terrified to live in the present, because here-time asks me to do the hardest of all: just open wide and receive.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are

Nov 24

A Way, Not a Day

“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.”― Harry A. Ironside

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! my extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”― Henry David Thoreau

Not a day
A long weekend
The start of holiday flurry and hurry
An approach
Foundation
Perspective
Attitude
Commitment
Deliberate practice
Daily habit
Noticing and simple joys
Toys and fresh dug holes
May thanksgiving be a way, not a day.

“Eucharisteo—thanksgiving—always precedes the miracle.”― Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts


“A has one aim in life… to bestow his heart.”― J. R. Ackerley

Nov 22

Stacking Stones

“We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them.”― William Arthur Ward

“The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of like is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.”
― William Arthur Ward

Generosity of spirit
Deep well of gratitude
Overflowing awe and wonder
Kindness, laughter, love
Learning, grow, change, overcome, care, serve, dare, befriend, give
Stacking stones
Build some beauty, delight, joy today

“There is no small act of kindness.
Every compassionate act makes large the world.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

Nov 20

Keep Going, Don’t Miss the Scenery

“I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.”― Abraham

“Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen Hard.
Practice wellness.
Play with abandon.
Laugh.
Choose with no regret.
Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Onward
Slow but sure
Imperfection
Error
Adjust
Persist
Stumbles to be sure
When in a hole, stop digging
Take a break
Look up and around
Reset
Get up
Keep going, growing
Don’t miss the scenery along the way
Laughter, light, joy
Amid all of it
Present and awake
Never too late
New day
Light and easy.

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”― Confucius

Nov 19

Inner Pause, Trail of Light

“Leave a trail of light behind you
Everywhere you go.
Whose darkness you’ll illuminate
You may never know.”― L.R. Knost

“Here’s to the bridge-builders, the hand-holders, the light-bringers, those extraordinary souls wrapped in ordinary lives who quietly weave threads of humanity into an inhumane world. They are the unsung heroes in a world at war with itself. They are the whisperers of hope that peace is possible. Look for them in this present darkness. Light your candle with their flame. And then go. Build bridges. Hold hands. Bring light to a dark and desperate world. Be the hero you are looking for. Peace is possible. It begins with us.” – L.R. Knost

Freely
In abundance
Without reserve, measure, comparison
Be kind
Door opener
Gentle breeze
Dancer of hope
Bridges not walls
Hand holding and hugs
Make this day a better place and space
Offer peace, enthusiasm, delight
Leave a trail of joy
Cast light

“Patience is an inner pause, a brief stillness, a moment we give ourselves to breathe through our initial reaction so we can move to the place where a calm, thoughtful response is born. Patience is a gift of time we give ourselves so we can give the gift of peace to others.”― L.R. Knost

Nov 18

Color this Day

“As we work to create light for others, we naturally light our own way.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

“what if
we just
acted like
everything
was easy?”
― Mary Anne Radmacher

Travel lightly
Easy
Unencumbered
Untethered
Put down rocks of yesterday and tomorrow
Grace for this day
Abundance in presence
Joy on purpose
Cast light, color too.

“Begin each day as if it were on purpose.”― Mary Anne Radmacher

Nov 16

Forefront and Backdrop

“There is a magic made by melody:
A spell of rest, and quiet breath, and cool
Heart, that sinks through fading colors deep
To the subaqueous stillness of the sea,
And floats forever in a moon-green pool,
Held in the arms of rhythm and of sleep. ”
― Elizabeth Bishop

“There are those fortunate hours when the world consents to be made into a poem.”― Mark Doty

Space and reflection
Curiosity and attention
Pause and praise
Spell of rest to notice
Forefront and backdrop
Magic of melody, flow
Music and poetry woven into this day
To be found, to be written
Joy, no slight thing

“What did you think, that joy / was some slight thing?”― Mark Doty

Nov 14

Sacred Spaces, In and Out

“It seems that intuitive listening requires us to still our minds until the beauty of things older than our minds can find us.”― Mark Nepo, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What Is Sacred

“Let all your thinks be thanks.”― W.H. Auden

Within, to heart, not head
Venturing out, beauty abound
Enter the stream
At ease in the flow
Stay here for a spell
Sacred spaces, of awe and wonder
Tune out the noise to listen.

“Now, I want only to give away all that I’m blessed to know and disappear in the stream.”― Mark Nepo, Seven Thousand Ways to Listen: Staying Close to What Is Sacred

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