The simple things

I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness:

a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea.

Nothing else.

Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

We can begin now

We may need to bid farewell to parts of ourselves rooted in safety but not in truth.

In the end we will only carry the reflection, “did I love well”. This will be the residue that either gladdens or aches our heart. As this year comes to an end, let us honor ourselves and those we love by letting go. We can bring fresh eyes to this moment and birth that which enlivens us. As for loving well, we can begin now. We can fly with the angels as we take ourselves lightly.

Ram Dass

Joy

Know that joy is rarer, more difficult, and more beautiful than sadness.

Once you make this all-important discovery,

you must embrace joy as a moral obligation.


 André Gide

Sunday Quote: Always a need

We are all meant to be mothers of God,

for God is always needing to be born.

Meister Eckhart

Enchantments

To live in an enchanting world we also have to assume a receptive posture rather than an exclusively active one.

We can become skilled at allowing the world in, taking its secrets to heart and finding power outside of ourselves.

Thomas Moore, The Education of the Heart

A choice

Past and present join

in the winter solstice.

The days will stretch and we survive.

with losses, yes, and lessons too

to reap the honey of the hive

of history. The yield of what is given

insists a choice – to live; to thrive

Peter Fallon, 1951 – Irish Poet, A Winter Solstice