Singing Freedom

RIC_4022-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The caged bird sings

with a fearful trill

of things unknown

but longed for still

and his tune is heard

on the distant hill

for the caged bird

sings of freedom.

Maya Angelou,

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Travel

RIC_3271, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Always travel lighter
than the heart.

Lorna Crozier,

Packing for the Future:  Instructions,
What the Living Won't Let Go

Sanctuary

RIC_8136-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


May you never
feel alone or
lose sight of the
sacred seasons of your soul.

Paula Timpson, Let Your Soul Create a Sanctuary

Coming Alive

RIC_8384-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you

     come alive, and go do it! Because what the world

     needs is people who have come alive.

        Howard Thurman

Courage

RIC_8073-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Courage, without which there is no freedom,

is a virtue rare, precious and hard.

Timothy Garton Ash on Aung San Suu Kyi

Being you

RIC_7581-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     I do not have to be different or better than I am to find a measure 
     of happiness and to be able to make a difference in the world.

       Mary Jo Leddy, Radical Gratitude

Peace

RIC_6939-3, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.

Albert Schweitzer

Remembering

RIC_2288-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     If memory is kept alive in order to cultivate old hatreds and
     resentments, it is likely to culminate in vengeance, and in a
     repetition of violence. But if memory is kept alive in order to
     transcend hateful emotions, then remembering can be a healing.

       Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela,
       A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid

Heart

RCC_6054-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

In each human being there is a meeting with the divine.

That intersection is the heart.

Coleman Barks, Rumi: Book of Love

Being Peace

RIC_6060-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

     There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the

     thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing

     are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you

     inner peace? If they have not, there is something wrong

     with them so keep seeking! If what you do has brought

     you inner peace, stay with what you believe is right.

       Peace Pilgrim

Art

RCC_8638, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.

Pablo Picasso

Birds

RIC_2289, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

God loved the birds and invented trees.

Man loved the birds and invented cages. 

Jacques Deval

Capacity to be alone

RIC_6171-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The capacity to be alone thus becomes linked

with self-discovery and self-realization;

with becoming aware of one’s deepest needs, feelings, and impulses.

Anthony Storr, Solitude: A Return to the Self

.

Own wings

RIC_5011-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

No bird soars too high,
if he soars with his own wings.

William Blake, The Narriage of Heven and Hell

Life

RIC_5281-1*, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Learn from yesterday,
live for today,
hope for tomorrow.

Albert Einstein

Strength

RIC_3250, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Strength indeed lies in accepting one’s frailties and not in persuading oneself that one has “overcome” them.

Tariq Ramadan, What I Believe

Emotion

RIC_2066, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We are more likely to be motivated by emotion than information.

Tom Butts

Vision of a culture

RIC_2030, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The vision of a culture lies in what becomes its major institutions,

in what it remembers, as its most impacting events,

in who it sees as its heroes.

Joan Chittister

Bearing Witness

RIC_1706 a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Once we know, what do we do? ...

... May be the only hope is that our humanity might kick into a higher gear, that the more we admit to seeing, the more we will beleive we are not that different from each other.

Kim Echlin, The Disappeared

Time to think

RCC_0186
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Sit down and be quiet.

You are drunk, and this is the

edge of the roof.

Rumi