breath of kindness

But oh! the blessing it is to have a friend to whom one can speak fearlessly on any subject; with whom one's deepest as well as one's most foolish thoughts come out simply and safely.  Oh, the comfort - the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person - having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.  

- Dinah Craik

remember.

 

Take the time to come home to yourself every day.  

Robin Casarjian

which is...

 

cherry tree, port townsend, washington . february 20, 2010

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.  

e.e. cummings

today.

 

beach at fort worden, port townsend, washington . february 20, 2010

we must get outside. we must leave the place we know to discover. we must recognize the blue sky as an invitation. yes. we must rediscover who we are as we breathe in, breathe out and soak up all that stands before us. we must push ourselves to leave behind the chatter and find the sounds that await us.

this is your invitation.

get outside.

now.

As you sit on the hillside, or lie prone under the trees of the forest, or sprawl wet-legged by a mountain stream, the great door, that does not look like a door, opens.  

Stephen Graham

do not forget.

photos from exercises in maddie's bones of a poet class (loving it)

Tonight, I want to again share a prayer in the form of a quote from a wise man from my favorite show:

“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out. A doctor passes by and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey you. Can you help me out?’ The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a priest comes along and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole can you help me out?’ The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on. Then a friend walks by, ‘Hey, Joe, it’s me can you help me out?’ And the friend jumps in the hole. Our guy says, ‘Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here.’ The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out.’”

- John Spencer as Leo McGarry on The West Wing (Season 2, Episode 10)

May all people who feel as though they are in a hole realize they are not alone.

You are not alone.

 

ask yourself.

florida sunset . many years ago

The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.

Richard Bach

yes.

pike place market singer . june, 2009

Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognize them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own powers, our own criterion of truth and beauty. Every man, when he gets quiet, when he gets desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. There is no mystery about the origin of things. We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up to discover what is already there.

Henry Miller

emerge. (yes.)

The only way I have ever understood, broken free, emerged, healed, forgiven, flourished, and grown powerful is by asking the hardest questions and then living into the answers through opening up to my own terror and transmuting it into creativity. I have gotten nowhere by retreating into hand-me-down sureties or resisting the tensions that truth ignited.

Sue Monk Kid

good things.

pike place market peonies . june 2009

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.

Confucius

because this is what it is really all about.

market flowers . april 2009

Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbor. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.

Mother Teresa

(i would add, in that second sentence, give love to yourself)