Content.

Lao Tzu: Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

Today.

Thomas Moore: To live ordinary life artfully is to have this sensibility about the things in daily life, to live more intuitively and to be willing to surrender a measure of our rationality and control in return for gifts of the soul.

De-Load.

There are days in everyone’s life when they feel overwhelmed by the stresses and tasks and projects and phone calls and emails that weigh upon them. Yes, even the minimalists like me get overwhelmed from time to time.

How do you deal with it? There are many ways, of course, from eating and smoking and drinking to exercise and meditation and more.

My recommendation: Cut back. Simplify. De-load.

Sunshine + Happy.

This morning I got to feel sunshine on my face. Living here in the Midwest it is often simply cold for days on end. And it often snows. Often. Living in the Midwest in the winter, well, you get the point!But today it is amazing out there: beautiful bright sunshine and very, very cold. Brrrr......

Body + Soul.

Theodore Roosevelt:
It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man
who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while
DARING GREATLY
so that his place shall never be
with those timid souls
who know neither victory or defeat.

Really Now,

I want to let go of the hurt.
...the insecurity...the past.
When...

I do, I'm sure he will see the way I see
him, and, in that moment, he'll
finally understand what he lost.

The hardest thing's loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back. But if you know his shit and she knows yours and at the end of the day, you stllI wouId rather give up than t nothing is ever gonna be worth it.

Intorducing.

One of the things I am focusing on in 2008 is how to bring more creativity into my everyday in different ways. I am broadening my scope, checking out new things, finding different ways of seeing the world around me. I also want to work on including my family in some of these creative activities so that we can all grow in this area.

Unbreakable.

An overcommitted, out-of-balance, sleep deprived woman, constantly trying to weed out the good from the great so that I can be, experience, give, share, teach, learn and soak in all that is best and needed (and even wanted) for my soul

Compassion Every Day.

Dalai Lama- If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives. I’m not talking about the short-term gratification of pleasures like sex, drugs or gambling (though I’m not knocking them), but something that will bring true and lasting happiness. The kind that sticks.

Why develop compassion in your life? Well, there are scientific studies that suggest there are physical benefits to practicing compassion — people who practice it produce 100 percent more DHEA, which is a hormone that counteracts the aging process, and 23 percent less cortisol — the “stress hormone.”

But there are other benefits as well, and these are emotional and spiritual. The main benefit is that it helps you to be more happy, and brings others around you to be more happy. If we agree that it is a common aim of each of us to strive to be happy, then compassion is one of the main tools for achieving that happiness. It is therefore of utmost importance that we cultivate compassion in our lives and practice compassion every day.

SuperStar.

LOVE IT!

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

The Small Things.

William Ellery Channing:
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.

Today.

Daphne Rose Kingma : Language does have the power to change reality. Therefore, treat your words as the mighty instruments they are - to heal, to bring into being, to remove, as if by magic, the terrible violations of childhood, to nurture, to cherish, to bless, to forgive - to create from the whole cloth of your soul, true love.

an end + a beginning + my word

A fresh start. A new beginning.

I am now ready for new images, new words, new things to motivate + inspire + help me grow in 2008.

For me, in 2008, I am looking forward to getting to the heart of the matter - whatever that is. Clearing away excesses. Focusing on the most important things and not worrying about the rest. Taking a deep breath and beginning one foot in front of the other.

My word for 2008: happy.

happy |ˈhapē|
adjective ( -pier , -piest )
1 feeling or showing pleasure or content: having a sense of confidence in or satisfaction with (a person, arrangement, or situation)

Here's to moving forward. To fullness of life. To you and yours.

If you have decided on a word for the year I would love to read what it is - feel free to share in the comments.

01.02.08

Today
Author Unknown : This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.