Metaphor

RIC_0455-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


     When we humans dare to approach the deepest and most holy
     experiences of our lives, all language becomes metaphor. 

        Pat Schneider, How the Light Gets In

A Line

Five Oaks 2013-2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

A line is a dot that went for a walk. 

Paul Klee

Form

Five Oaks 2013-7, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Form is the shape of content. 

Ben Shahn

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

Untold Story

Labyrinth, St. James UC, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Maya Angelou

Journey

Labyrinth 2, St James UC, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.


I will walk a thousand leagues in falsehood, 
that one step of the journey may be true.

Junayd

Paths

Labyrinth, Five Oaks 1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Paths are made by walking.

Nipun Mehta

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

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

 

Seeing

RIC_7678-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

We don't see things as they are;

we see them as we are.

Anais Nin

Paths

RIC_7986-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

The paths I trace are not the only paths. 

Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Silence within

RIC_7978-2, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in life has a purpose.

Elizabeth Kübler-Ross

Happiness

RIC_8027-1, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

Happiness is not a state to arrive at,
but a manner of traveling.

Margaret Lee Runback

Living well with stories

_RIC3487, a photo by rchoephoto on Flickr.

A good life requires living well with stories.
When life goes badly, a story is often behind that too.

Arthur W. Frank, letting stories breathe

Change

_RIC3511
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

When the way comes to an end, then change –

having changed, you pass through.

The I Ching

Beginning & End

_RIC3510
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

The beginning and the end reach out their hands to each other.

Chinese proverb

Letting go

RC1_9869
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Suffering is only letting go of things that don't work anymore. On the other side of suffering is belief.

Don Coyhis, Mohican Writer

Centre of the Universe

_RIC2594
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

The centre of the universe is everywhere.

Anywhere is the centre of the universe.

Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk)

Journey

_RIC2598
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

There is only one journey. Going inside yourself.

Rainer Maria Rilke

Starting Point

RC1_9867
Originally uploaded by rchoephoto

Any place we stop to rest must also serve as the platform from which we leave.

Catherine Bateson