Purpose & Kindness

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

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Fun

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

Business of our lives

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

Secrets of Tomorrow

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

Optimism

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

What lies within us

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

Love is the way to feel

RCC_6791, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Whatever happens or don’t. Love is the way to feel.

Alice Walker,

The Same River Twice: Honouring the Difficult

Labyrinth

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

 

The one and only one

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

Sympathy

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

Art

RCC_8638, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

Pablo Picasso

What do you want of your life?

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

Seeing

RIC_9719-3, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The meaning of life is to see.

Hui Neng

Art is the mirror

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

Doorway to God

RC1_6161, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The wailing of broken heart is the doorway to God.

Rumi

Monoculture

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

Adventure

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

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Learning

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

Being Alive

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

Gratitude

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

the grain of sand

RIC_9880-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 

It is not the road ahead that wears you out – it is the grain of sand in your shoe. 

Arabian Proverb

Returning thanks

RCC_3648, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.

Saint Ambrose

But the question

RIC_8823-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr. 

It's not the answer that enlightens, but the question. 

Eugene Ionesco

Courage, Hope & Strength

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

from within

RIC_7529-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

      Life rushes
        from within …

        Willa Cather

Within yourself

_DSC6719, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Why should you look for treasure abroad?

Within yourself you have a bright pearl.

Pao-Chi

Who you are

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

by what we love

RCC_5950, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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Images

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

Goodness

RCC_7302, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Goodness is the only investment that never fails.

Henry David Thoreau

Every Moment

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