Tag: Joy

Sunday Quote: Longing

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Could it be in longing we are most ourselves?

Li-Young Lee, LV

Demented gardeners

Karl Duffy1 Comment

[Even some] lovely people feel that their real identity is working on themselves, and some work on themselves with such harshness. Like a demented gardener who won’t let the soil settle for anything to grow, they keep raking, tearing away the nurturing clay from their own heart, then they’re surprised that they feel so empty and vacant. Self-compassion is paramount. When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life. Your soul knows the geography of your destiny better than you do.

John O’Donoghue, Anam Chara

Off to work

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The place God calls you to

is the place where your deep gladness

and the world’s deep hunger meet

Frederick Buechner, born 1926, American writer, preacher, and theologian

Sunday quote: Perspective

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You are floating in empty space in a universe that goes on forever.

If you have to be here, at least be happy and enjoy the experience. 

Michael Singer,  The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself

As is

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My daughter, Gina, and I like to shop in consignment stores for vintage clothing. There are great finds in such shops, a silk paisley scarf, a retro leather jacket, sequined heels. Many of the clothes have a small stain, a missing button or a slight tear in the fabric. I noticed in one store, all the clothes carried a cardboard tag with the price and the disclaimer “As Is” 

I like these tags. I think we should hang them on ourselves and each other like Christmas tree ornaments. What a beautiful gift to accept ourselves, others and our circumstances “As Is”, with all the beauty, imperfections and challenges that make up this very human life of ours.

Frank Ostaseski, The Five Invitations: Discovering What Death Can Teach Us About Living Fully

We shall dance

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Our life is shorter than flowers.
Then shall we mourn?

No, we shall dance
Plant gardens
Dress in colours
And teach our children
To make the world more beautiful.

Because our life
Is shorter than flowers.

Toltec fragment