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Posts tagged ‘optimism’

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 6

Sun In a Cup

“Bring me the sunset in a cup.”― Emily Dickinson

“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.”
― Emily Dickinson, The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson

Hope, light, joyTeaspoons and cups
Ordinary and abundant
For the taking
In the receiving
In the giving especially
Dwelling quietly in each day
Awaiting presence, noticing, participation

“I dwell in possibility…”― Emily Dickinson

Mar 19

Cardinal Points

“If self is a location, so is love:
Bearings taken, markings, cardinal points,
Options, obstinacies, dug heels, and distance,
Here and there and now and then, a stance.”― Seamus Heaney, District and Circle

“Awake! arise! the hour is late!
Angels are knocking at thy door!
They are in haste and cannot wait,
And once departed come no more.
Awake! arise! the athlete’s arm
Loses its strength by too much rest;
The fallow land, the untilled farm
Produces only weeds at best.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Complete Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Winter, spring
Spring, winter
Wintering rest
Spring rising
Fallow to fertile
Cardinal points
New creation unfolding
Within first, moving out anew.

“If you feel like you don’t fit into the world you inherited it is because you were born to help create a new one.”― Ross Caligiuri, Dreaming in the Shadows

Mar 1

Better Things Ahead

“Wherever you are, be all there.” – Jim Elliot

“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”― C.S. Lewis

No map.
No list.
No destination.
But to be fully present.
Rapt attention.
Wander and wonder.
Imagination and anticipation.
The journey unfolding as you step into it.
To be here and awake.
Walk it out.
All of it.

“There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind.”― C.S. Lewis

Feb 26

Stop. Look Up.

“There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.”― Dejan Stojanovic

“The sky is everywhere, it begins at your feet.”― Jandy Nelson, The Sky Is Everywhere

Signs, signals, wonders
All around
Awaiting our arrival, attention, tending
Whisper, invitation, welcoming
On this very ground, sky at your feet
To see the same in a different way
Pull over, stop, look up
Brilliant blue sky, big world, beauty abound
In the middle of the noise, chaos, distractions
Abundance in the noticing, awe, reverence
Fresh eyes, curious heart, open arms.

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

Feb 25

Hello Sunshine

“Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields…Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”― Mary Oliver

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.” – Mary Oliver

Loosen your grip.
Put it down.
Lighten up.
Make way.
Give into joy.
Smile spilling into laughter.
Song to dance.
Gratitude, grace, goodness.
May you bask here awhile.
Be made new.

“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things.
I want to be light and frolicsome.
I want to be improbable beautiful and afraid of nothing,
as though I had wings.”
― Mary Oliver, Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays

Jan 21

Spinning Wildflowers

“God is not a technician. God is an Artist. This is the God who made you. The same God who lives inside of you. He comes into us, then comes out of us, in a million little ways. That’s why there’s freedom, even in the blah. Hope, even in the dark. Love, even in the fear. Trust, even as we face our critics. And believe in the midst of all that? It feels like strength and depth and wildflower spinning; it feels risky and brave and underdog winning. It feels like redemption. It feels like art.”― Emily P. Freeman, A Million Little Ways: Uncover the Art You Were Made to Live

“If you ask a question, you
can’t stop there.
You must keep going.
You can’t stop there: World will
wave; will be
facetious, angry. You can’t stop there.
You have to keep on going.”
― Gwendolyn Brooks

Hope
Light
Joy
Laughter
Grit
Faith
Trust
Enthusiasm
Resilience
Stay strong
One step at a time
Keep going
Spinning wildflowers.

“I am somewhat of a meliorist. That is to say, I act as an optimist because I find I cannot act at all, as a pessimist. One often feels helpless in the face of the confusion of these times, such a mass of apparently uncontrollable events and experiences to live through, attempt to understand, and if at all possible, give order to; but one must not withdraw from the task if he has some small things to offer – he does so at the risk of diminishing his humanity.”― Bernard Malamud, The Fixer

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 5

Roadblocks or Openings

“The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook.”― William James

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”― Steve Jobs

What not to do
Making space
For clarity, discernment, meaning
What to carry
What to put down
What not to pick up
Open to being changed
Rather than waiting for circumstances or others to change
Holding things lightly
Grace and gratitude
Ease, joy, delight
Choose your perspective, choose your state of being
Daily work.

“People don’t resist change. They resist being changed.”― Peter Senge

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