It is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in this broken world.
— Mary Oliver —
unmarked trails (invitation)…
a brave and startling truth…
We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
that in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living,
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness,
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
and the proud back is glad to bend.
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction,
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines.When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear.When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world
That is when, and only when
We come to it…
— Maya Angelou —
the laughing heart…
do the thing…
Available people are the ones who are dangerous,
because they confront us with the possibility
of true intimacy…
— Marianne Williamson —
only perfect practice…
With you, intimacy colours my voice.
Even “hello” sounds like “come here.”
— Warsan Shire —
to be the candle or the mirror…
People grow when they are loved well.
If you want to help others heal,
love them without an agenda.
—Mike McHargue —
all roads lead home…
The day will be what you make it,
so rise, like the sun,
and burn.— William C. Hannan —
beautiful gifts…
Our practice is to find our true home.
When we breathe, we breathe in such a way
that we can find our true home.
When we make a step,
we make a step in such a way
that we touch our true home with our feet.
— Thich Nhat Hanh —
happy new year…
This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.
– Walt Whitman –