True wealth

For in the true nature of things,

if we rightly consider,

every green tree is far more glorious

than if it were made of silver or gold

Martin Luther King

The present moment

If you view everything as practice,

your suffering will disappear.

Shido Bunan, 1603-1676, Zen Master

Ready

I do not write every day, I read every day, think every day, work in the garden every day, and recognize in nature the same slow complicity. The same inevitability.

The moment will arrive, always it does, it can be predicted but it cannot be demanded. I do not think of this as inspiration. I think of it as readiness.

Jeanette Winterson, Art Objects

Sanctuary

In the Middle Ages, anyone could gain protection from other people – even the legal authorities – by simply running into a sacred building and saying the word “Sanctuary!” This ritual triggered a system of safety respected by everyone in the society.

Simple rituals like saying “Sanctuary!” signal to our bodies and minds that we’ve entered a sacred recovery space. By creating your own small rituals, you can teach your mind and body to drop into this healing state.

Once you have a place, a time, and a ritual, you can touch in with the peaceful energy of sanctuary any time you feel especially vulnerable. We can all recover a bit of peace, confidence, and hope whenever we need it. The door inside us – the state of mind that leads to peace – is real. It opens to an infinite sacred space in our own hearts, minds, and souls. And that is real as well. If we go there and ask for sanctuary, we can always find it. Little by little, breath by breath, our spirits can recover from anything.

Martha Beck Blog, How to seek sanctuary in a Time of Chaos

Wanting it to be otherwise

Can you feel that starting where you are,

and relating from where you are,

is much more empowering than starting

with the demand that it be otherwise?

Phillip Moffitt

Sunday Quote: The inner voice

You will never be able to escape from your heart.

So it is better to listen to what it has to say

Paolo Coehlo, The Alchemist