Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Purpose & Kindness

RIC_7779-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_7779-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Lord, let me shake
With purpose. Wild hope can always spring
From tended strength. Everything is in that.
That and nothing but kindness.

James Dickey, The Strength of Fields


.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Fun

RIC_7996-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_7996-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


The world is magical;
there are good people in it.
Inherent in life is fun.

Alice Walker,
The Same River Twice: Honouring the Difficult

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Business of our lives

RCC_8694 by rchoephoto
RCC_8694, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.



   Here we have a prospect of one common interest
   from which our own is inseparable, that to turn all the
   treasures we possesses into the channel of Universal
   Love becomes the business of our lives.

      John Woolman

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Secrets of Tomorrow

RIC_7581-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_7581-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


   
   What you learn today, for no reason at all, will help
   you discover all the wonderful secrets of tomorrow.

     Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Friday, January 27, 2012

Optimism

RCC_9929 by rchoephoto
RCC_9929, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.



    Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.
   Because unless you believe that the future can be
   better, you are unlikely to step up and take
   responsibility for making it so.

    Noam Chomsky

Thursday, January 26, 2012

What lies within us

RC1_0691 by rchoephoto
RC1_0691, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.




What lies behind us and what lies
before us are small matters when
compared to what lies within us.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Labyrinth

RIC_7641-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_7641-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


There are no blind ends in a labyrinth, the path often doubles back on itself, the direction forward which we are facing is continually changing, and if we do not turn back or give up we will reach the centre to find the rose, the Goddess, the Grail, a symbol representing the sacred feminine. To return to ordinary life, we much again travel the labyrinth to get out, which is also a complex journey for it involves integrating the experience into consciousness, which is what changes us.


Jean Shinoda Bolen, Crossing to Avalon
 


Monday, January 23, 2012

The one and only one

RIC_9608_edited-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9608_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Only you can make your mind up!
You’re the one and only one.

Theodor S. Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, Hunches in Bunches

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sympathy

RC1_0715 by rchoephoto
RC1_0715, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Sympathy is a consequence of inclusion, the affectionate
result of an expanded identity that occurs when “self” and
“other” are recognized as simply “self.”

Lin Jensen, "Having the Lake to Ourselves”
   in The Best Buddhist Writing 2011, ed. by Melvin McLeod

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Friday, January 20, 2012

What do you want of your life?

RCC_6610 by rchoephoto
RCC_6610, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


I asked myself the question, "What do
you want of your life?" and I realized
with a start of recognition and terror,
"Exactly what  I have – but to be
commensurate, to handle it all better. 

May Sarton, Journal of a Solitude

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Art is the mirror

RIC_9647-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9647-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Art is the mirror, perhaps the only one,
in which we can see our true collective
face. We must honour its sacred
function. We must let art help us.

Alice Walker,
  The Same River Twice: Honouring the Difficult

Monday, January 16, 2012

Monoculture

RCC_1860 by rchoephoto
RCC_1860, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 


The governing pattern a culture obeys is a master story – one
narrative in society that takes over the others, shrinking
diversity and forming a monoculture. When you’re inside a
master story at a particular time in history, you tend to
accept its definition of reality. You unconsciously believe and
act on certain things, and disbelieve and fail to act on other
things. That’s the power of the monoculture; it’s able to
direct us without us knowing too much about it.

 F. S. Michaels, Monoculture: How One Story Is Changing Everything

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Adventure

RIC_9915-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9915-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Adventure is stepping through brand-new doors with your mouth shut and your eyes wide open.

Barbara Kingsolver, High Tide in Tucson


.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Learning

RIC_9722_edited-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9722_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 


... that is what learning is.
You suddenly understand
something you've understood all your life,
but in a new way.

Doris Lessing







Friday, January 13, 2012

Being Alive

RIC_9807-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9807-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 


     I will not be just a tourist in the world of images, just
   watching images passing by which I cannot live in, make love
   to, possess as permanent sources of joy and ecstasy.

   Anais Nin



Thursday, January 12, 2012

Gratitude

RCC_8419 by rchoephoto
RCC_8419, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


At times our own light goes out and is
rekindled by a spark from another
person.  Each of us has cause to think
with deep gratitude of those who have
lighted the flame within us. 

Albert Schweitzer

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Courage, Hope & Strength

RCC_9351 by rchoephoto
RCC_9351, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


However confused
the scene of our life appears,
however torn we may be
who now do face that scene,
it can be faced,
and we can go on to be whole.

Muriel Rukeyser

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Friday, January 6, 2012

Within yourself

_DSC6719 by rchoephoto
_DSC6719, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.



Why should you look for treasure abroad?
Within yourself you have a bright pearl.

Pao-Chi

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Who you are

RC1_4403 by rchoephoto
RC1_4403, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 



You cannot determine who you are by what you do.

M. Craig Barnes, The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Images

RCC_1291 by rchoephoto
RCC_1291, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 





 Illustrations tell stories that exemplify the point of
   the text.  Images embody the point.

  M. Craig Barnes,
     The Pastor As Minor Poet: Texts and Subtexts in the Ministerial Life

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Every Moment

RIC_9711_edited-1 by rchoephoto
RIC_9711_edited-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     Cancer changed the way I ate, slept, and most
     importantly the way I live. Before cancer I was like most
     folks, just cruising along. It was during my treatment,
     when starting to discover what cancer could give to me —
     the ability to absorb every moment as if each one were
     my whole life.


       Eric Smith, Live Now: Artful Messages of Hope, Happiness & Healing