WHATEVER APPEALS

"The reward for conformity is that everyone likes you except yourself."

~ Rita Mae brown ~

We all have a style of clothing and interior design that suits us, 

that is us, 

and when we get in trouble 

is when we pretend that 

we don't. 

I honor my personal taste. 

OUR PATH THROUGH THE WOODS

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what they had to teach..."

~ HD Thoreau ~

The first path we choose through the woods may not be the best one. It may get us from point A to point B, but be steep, and full of prickers. If we are willing to explore alternative routes, we may find a better one the next time, and maybe a better one still the time after that.
     The point is, there's more than one way to get where we're going, and some routes are intrinsically more satisfying to the soul.

I choose the bubbling brook over thorns and prickers.

SUCH AS IT IS

"Believe in life."

~ Robert Louis Stevenson ~

In spite of the weather, 

and all that may worry me, 

life is good; 

and has a way of blessing me, 

even when circumstances 

might suggest 

otherwise.

I am grateful.

THE FANTASY OF FEAR

"There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them."

~ Andre Gide ~

Fear is a scary dream, and a story that we make up. 

It's not out there in the future waiting to get us, but on the inside. 

It's big and dark and incapacitating. 

It makes us plan and scheme.

It drives us and directs us.

It makes us react.

And it makes our physical form heavy and loaded down,

Or edgy and frantic.

It robs us of the sacred nature of what's actually happening

And hides us in the prison of our own creation.

Why do we need?

Maybe... we don't.

I let go of fearful fretting and surrender to the now. 

FLEXIBILITY

"Whatever is- is best."

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox ~

Are we flexible if we are willing to change plans, but doing so stresses us out?

True flexibility, seems to me, is an ability to be easy and flowing with however things shift and bend, and not get bent out of shape ourselves 

by a change in the wind.

I am happy and relaxed, even when plans change.

BEAUTY

"O poor mortals, how ye make this earth bitter for each other."

~ Thomas Carlyle ~

Let's look for the beauty in each other instead of the things we mistrust.

Let's respect our different perspectives.

Let's be courteous,

and have integrity,

and spread love instead of judgment.

Let's be humble.

Let's be kind.

I celebrate the human race. 

EMPATHY

"I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble."

~Rudyard Kipling ~

If I could walk a mile in another person's shoes, then I would know why they do what they do and make the choices that they make. As I cannot do that, my ability to imagine with empathy will have to suffice.

I am generous with others and give them a break. 

KEEPING THE BROAD SPECTRUM

"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."

~ Aesop ~

Stress is a function of emphasis- too much in one place and not enough in another.

I recognize the mixed ingredients that make up my life and do not focus on one to the exclusion of the others. 

LIFE AS ART

"To send light into the darkness of men's hearts- such is the duty of the artist."

~ Schumann ~

Art is the result of graceful, intuitive living, 

clear thinking, 

the courage to press on using error to advantage, 

and the good sense to walk away

 for distance, 

space, 

and the broader view.

I make my life a work of art.

MIND NOISE

"Tis the great art of life to manage well

The restless mind."

~ John Armstrong ~

It would be disturbing at best to hear the thoughts inside everyone's head. The constant, insistent inner chatter  is noisy, chaotic, and sometimes downright mean. We are little oligarchs inside our minds, snapping orders, declaring laws, pardoning and condemning others, and understanding the real meaning behind everything.

We solve the problems of the world. 

     And it's exhausting.

     And if we can quiet the noise down, there is peace.

     So let's make quieting that noise down a priority in our lives. 

I hear the thoughts that arise in my mind and do not attach to them.

I let them pass by like clouds.

LITTLE BY SLOWLY

"Life will have vastly barren places until I cover my own desert with green."

~ Muriel Strode ~

For much of my life I have felt disposable and have expended lots of effort proving my worth. 

I am learning,

little by slowly,

to treat myself 

with the care 

I deserve.

I am unique and irreplaceable.

ALL IN GOOD TIME

"Haste makes waste."

~ Ben Franklin ~

There's no question. Every time I rush, I leave a sloppy trail behind me, both emotional and physical. It's one thing to proceed steadily and with care, and quite another to be frantic and intense and operate from self-imposed inner urgency that makes me, and everyone around me, tense.
     And there's no need for it. It doesn't speed things up, not really. More often, whatever I've done in a rush requires doing over, and re-addressing. I have to revisit the mess I've made in a calm and clear state of mind to make it right.

I catch myself rushing and stop. 

RECONSTRUCTION

"The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold."

~ Aristotle ~

Rebuilding anything- a building, a body, a relationship- requires first that we face it head-on and stripped-down. We have to look at it. We have to see what's strong, what's rotten, what needs to be cut away, and what needs repair. And then we get to work.

New life of any kind requires brut honesty about the old. 

HEAT

"Yes, let us love winter..."

~ Pietro Aretino ~

Sitting in front of a hearth fire heals me, as does sitting in the sun on a cold day. There is something more than temperature that penetrates the skin- a sense of cleansing, and wellness, and comfort, and plenty. Fires in the summer have a different kind of healing power. Winter fires are medicine for bitter cold and the soul.

I sit in front of the fire and heal.

THE FALLACY OF FIGURING

"We think too much, and too morbidly- brood, meditate, become sickly with our own pallid fancies, allowing them to swarm upon us by night and by day..."

~ Walt Whitman ~

We make things into much bigger deals than they actually are by over-thinking about them, 

especially in advance: 

what it's going to be like, 

how important it will be when he reacts or she reacts, 

and how we will respond to their reaction... 

We play it all out over and over in our minds trying to get it right before it even happens.

     And then it happens.

And it's over.

It's rarely ever how we imagined it.

And we go on with our lives.

I trust in the inspiration of the moment to carry me through.

DOING OUR BEST

"Patience and tolerance is our code."

~ Bill Wilson ~

Everyone is doing the best they can given their history, their assumptions, their level of consciousness, and their state of mind. Life pushes and stretches us all to our limits in order to grow us, and the varied nature of where we are and how, exactly, we're being stretched, can generate misunderstanding between us. Given that fact, patience and tolerance are useful, and kindness and compassion are key.

I am where I am emotionally, and let others be where they are. 

THE DIFFICULTY OF CHOOSING

"To decide is to make peace within, and let the chips fall where they may."

~ Lisa Tabak ~

Making decisions takes energy. It requires commitment, and commitment requires investment. Once invested, we are relieved, but getting there, pressure builds- the tension of speculation- this, or that?
     We don't want to make the wrong decision or be careless or flippant, so we bring everything we have to the process of choosing. And then, when it's done, if we don't second guess ourselves, we likely need a nap.

I acknowledge that making decisions is hard work.

CHANGING TEMPERATURES

"In the winter... you can have longer, quiet stretches when you can savor belonging to yourself."

~ Ruth Stout ~

If I am cold, and then I get warm, the warmth makes me cozy and sleepy. 

I want to curl up like a cat in a patch of sunlight and purr and snooze.

Warming up after being cold is a cozy blessing. 

QUIET TIME

"unplug iPod

music stops abruptly

cricket song instead"

~ Dr Sun Wolf ~

Modern life is full, 

and often, 

arguably, 

even over-full. 

It's jam packed with work, people, obligations, technology, and entertaining things to do. 

We must claim quiet, unrestricted time for ourselves 

or life becomes 

unbearably heavy. 

We must, 

or we will wear ourselves 

thin.

I do what I need to do to keep my life light. 

ONE

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole.
whose body Nature is, and God the soul."
~ Alexander Pope ~

We are all survivors of something.

I am not alone. 

RENEWAL

"I am drunk with the wine of me, intoxicant of my own being,

Bacchante of my own soul's steepings,

Beset by the realization of me, driven by knowing.

I pour myself out like the singing starling."

~ Muriel Strode ~

We all need to find those things that renew and refresh our spirits, 

and be honest about what depletes us. 

It's our job, and ours alone, to take good care of our precious selves.

I treat myself with love and kindness. 

CHANGING TASTES

"I will swear by a thing to-day, but I will have the courage to denounce it tomorrow, if needs be. The vows of ignorance are not binding upon enlightenment."

~ Muriel Strode ~

Our tastes change over time- our taste for food, for color, for music, for pleasure. What was of no interest before may suddenly draw our attention. We are ever changing, ever-evolving, and ever-fresh. And that's true for those around us as well, so we best not judge ourselves or anyone else using the measure of assumptions from the past.

I give everyone, including myself, a fresh start everyday. 

GOALS VERSUS COMMITMENTS

"If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results."

~ Jack Dixon ~

There's a difference between goals and commitments. One is a point of arrival, and the other is a grounding rod that serves us across time.
     I used to be oriented to goals, and the longer I live, the less I care about them. Life, it seems to me today, isn't about getting anywhere in particular. It's about the ongoing journey of being where we are in a way that rings true.

I am grounded by what I commit to.