Truth

DSC_0876-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Truth can appear as disaster in a land
of things unspoken.

Joy Harjo

Belonging

RIC_6978-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


I am not saying that it would be lovely if we could be
connected; I am saying, we are connected. Whether 
or not I like the idea, you belong to me. We belong 
to all creatures, and all creatures belong to us. 

N. Gordon Cosby, 
Seized by the Power of a Great Affection

Creative Challenge

RIC_6889-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     Can we approach life itself as a creative challenge, through
     the medium of whatever it is that we do on a daily basis?

        David Ulrich, 
        The Widening Stream: the Seven Stages of Creativity

Peace

RIC_6246-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Paz, peace, paix,
mir, shalom, salaam:
we will plant olive trees
where before
there were thorns!

Federico Mayor

Sacred

RIC_9277-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Ask what is in the wind

ask what is sacred.

Margaret Atwood,

The Circle Poems

Nothing Has Been Lost

RIC_6013-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     Do not believe in redemption –
     nothing has been lost.

        Theresa Vincent, 
        Nothing Has Been Lost

Participating in Mystery

RIC_6089-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     If I am made in the image of the creator, 

     then I am myself a creator, 

     and my acts of creating participate in mystery. 

        Pat Schneider, 

        How the Light Gets In

The Mystery

Ghost Ranch 2 (2013, 7.23), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

All of us live in relation to mystery, and becoming conscious of that relationship 

can be a beginning point for a spiritual practice — whether we experience mystery in nature, 

in ecstatic love, in the eyes of our children, our friends, the animals we love, 

or in more strange experiences of intuition, synchronicity, or prescience.

Pat Schneider, How the Light Gets In

Art

RIC_6904-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Art does not reproduce what we see.
It makes us see.

Paul Klee

War & Labour

Untitled, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The essential act of war is destruction, 

not necessarily of human lives, 

but of the products of human labour.

George Orwell

Being Here

RIC_7336-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


The closer we get to our own dying, 
the more amazed we may be at being here at all.

Mary Grace Orr

Art

Ghost Ranch 21 (2013, 7.30), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Art is here taken to mean
knowledge realized in action.

René Daumal

Prayer

Ghost Ranch (2013, 7.), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Prayer is, for me, an intentional openness to 
the presence of mystery in my life.
Sometimes it is labor, sometimes ecstatic surprise. 
Sometimes both.

Pat Schneider, How the Light Gets In

Passion

RIC_6902-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

There can be no truly great creation without passion. 

Gertrude Stein

Blessing

Ghost Ranch 8 (2013, 7.24), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

May the stars light your way

and may you find the interior road.

Forward!

Traditional Irish Farewell

Intensity

RIC_6456-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Genuine creativity is characterized by an intensity of awareness, 
a heightened consciousness. 

Rollo May

Primary Medium

Ghost Ranch 16 (2013, 7.30), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     We are the primary medium of the creative act – 
     not film or clay, paints or words. Learning to see, 
     learning to be, and learning to come into
     accord with the deeper sources within and 
     without – these are, undoubtedly the greatest 
     challenges given us, the most potent test of our 
     creative aspirations and capabilities. 

        David Ulrich, The Widening Stream

Advice

Ghost Ranch 10 (2013, 7.24), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Stranger, 

Pass by what you do not love.

Advice to medieval travelers, René Daumal

Pilgrimage

Ghost Ranch 6 (2013, 7.29), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Making a pilgrimage is a way to prove your faith 
and find answers to your deepest questions. 

Ahmet, Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage

Unknown

Ghost Ranch 1 (2013, 7.24), a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, 
there is no such thing. 
Making your unknown known is the important thing. 

Georgia O'Keeffe