
Gifts – Mary Oliver


Patience visited me
And it reminded me
That good things take time to come to fruition
And grow slowly with stability
Peace visited me
And it reminded me
That I may remain calm through the storms of life
Regardless of the chaos surrounding me
Hope visited me
And it reminded me
That better times lay ahead
And it would always be there to guide and uplift me
Humility visited me
And it reminded me
That I may achieve it
Not by trying to shrink myself and make myself less
But by focusing on serving the world and uplifting those around me
Kindness visited me
And it reminded me
To be more gentle, forgiving and compassionate toward myself
And those surrounding me
Confidence visited me
And it reminded me
To not conceal or suppress my gifts and talents
In order to make others feel more comfortable
But to embrace what makes me me
Focus visited me
And it reminded me
That other people’s insecurities and judgements about me
Are not my problem
And I should redirect my attention
From others back to me
Freedom visited me
And it reminded me
That no one has control over my mindset, thoughts and wellbeing
But me
And love visited me
And it reminded me
That I need not search for it in others
As it lies within me.
Tahlia Hunter

Listen, oh beautiful soul.
Every day a new feast
comes running into your life.
Always a new experience.
Your body is like a guest house,
receiving company from the hidden world.
Some are positive,
some are tragic,
and still others who are frantic.
All mirroring your needs.
All showing you ways to expand.
All challenging your beliefs.
Whoever that comes from these unseen lands,
receive it without regret.
Welcome all that come to you,
with no judgment.
Remember, every visitor,
here a short time,
meant only for your growth.
Rumi 🧡
Translated by Sharhram Shiva
Art Credit: Freydoon Rassouli

“This world is in deep trouble,
from top to bottom; but it can be swiftly healed by the balm of love.”
~Rūmī
“If you believe life is a gift,
so it shall be.
If you know that goodness
is everywhere.
You will begin to see it.
If you wish for beauty,
it shall appear.
If you imagine a better world,
You will take a first step
To create it.
If you see the worth in others,
You will see that you are also of worth.”
~ Author Anonymous

UNFORSAKEN
He wanted to borrow her light,
For it comforted him in the night.
He wanted to borrow her eyes
To see all the beauty she finds.
He wanted to borrow her lips
Just borrow her taste, just a kiss.
He wanted to borrow her heart
For his was so lost in the dark.
She willingly offered her light,
But she felt quite lost in his night,
And she offered of him her eyes
But it left her vision blind,
She melted her taste in his kiss
And now it’s the taste she does miss.
She gave him her beautiful heart,
But he held it in all of the dark.
She waited for all to return
But the borrowed was taken and burned,
So she lost all her love in his night,
She forgot she was holding the light,
But her eyes have a vision so deep
That her heart has no choice but to keep,
So as she burns her truth in the night,
Her wings start to lift her in flight.
See, she gave but nothing was taken,
She just lost it in all the forsaken,
But the truth of her love never died,
It just gave her the dance of the night.
In the night we give love sacrificed
Till we fall, in the empty of sight
Yet the fall is always to find
A love that is ne’er sacrificed.
Each time our love is taken,
Let it grow, never leave it forsaken,
For love always grows, never dies,
But the night has to be sacrificed.
Tis the contrast of dark with the light
That gives every wing strength to fly.
We make love, dancing colours to life,
Making rainbows; we rain till we shine.
Heather Lea
Artist unknown

A Woman may crave to be near water , or be belly down , her face in the earth , smelling the wild smell .
She might have to drive into the wind .
She may have to plant something, pull things out of the ground or put them into the ground .
She may have to knead and bake , rapt in dough up to her elbows .
She may have to trek into the hills leaping from rock to rock trying out her voice against the mountain .
She may need hours of starry nights where the stars are like face powder spilt on a black marble floor .
She may feel she will die if she doesn’t dance naked in a thunderstorm , sit in perfect silence , return home ink -stained , paint-stained , tear-stained , moon -stained …
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes ~
Artist Credit : Andy Kehoe
Serendipity Corner

Do not love half lovers
Do not entertain half friends
Do not live half a life
and do not die a half death
If you choose silence, then be silent
When you speak, do so until you are finished
Do not silence yourself to say something
And do not speak to be silent
If you accept, then express it bluntly
Do not mask it
If you refuse then be clear about it
for an ambiguous refusal is but a weak acceptance
Do not accept half a solution
Do not believe half truths
Do not dream half a dream
Do not fantasize about half hopes
Half the way will get you no where
Half an idea will bear you no results
Half a life is a life you didn’t live,
A word you have not said
A smile you postponed
A love you have not had
A friendship you did not know
The half is a mere moment of inability
but you are able for you are not half a being
You are a whole that exists to live a life
not half a life.
~ Khalil Gibran
#KhalilGibran #englishliterature
#quotestoliveby #quoteoftheday
#quotesaboutlife

“Leave the dishes.
Let the celery rot in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator
and an earthen scum harden on the kitchen floor.
Leave the black crumbs in the bottom of the toaster.
Throw the cracked bowl out and don’t patch the cup.
Don’t patch anything. Don’t mend. Buy safety pins.
Don’t even sew on a button.
Let the wind have its way, then the earth
that invades as dust and then the dead
foaming up in gray rolls underneath the couch.
Talk to them. Tell them they are welcome.
Don’t keep all the pieces of the puzzles
or the doll’s tiny shoes in pairs, don’t worry
who uses whose toothbrush or if anything
matches, at all.
Except one word to another. Or a thought.
Pursue the authentic-decide first
what is authentic,
then go after it with all your heart.
Your heart, that place
you don’t even think of cleaning out.
That closet stuffed with savage mementos.
Don’t sort the paper clips from screws from saved baby teeth
or worry if we’re all eating cereal for dinner
again. Don’t answer the telephone, ever,
or weep over anything at all that breaks.
Pink molds will grow within those sealed cartons
in the refrigerator. Accept new forms of life
and talk to the dead
who drift in though the screened windows, who collect
patiently on the tops of food jars and books.
Recycle the mail, don’t read it, don’t read anything
except what destroys
the insulation between yourself and your experience
or what pulls down or what strikes at or what shatters
this ruse you call necessity.”
Louise Erdrich – Advice to Myself.
Andrea Kowch

We are a culture that glorifies the explosion.
Consumption is our icon next to destruction and erosion,
And while the waters are still flowing,
addiction dips it’s toes in;
And adds to the pollution,
Which is why some of us are glowing.
Tuned to confusion through over stimulation of useless information,
As we are speaking about nothing while in communication,
We cling to opinions that hinder revelation.
Time for an excavation,
Not of the land,
But the inner world of man;
For all of our relations.
The rocket ships we take;
A symbol of exploration,
Or escape?
I must ask.
Why can’t we take care of what we have before we expand our destructive path?
Our new symbol is the mask,
Our old one was the flag;
Trading freedom for security,
And doing it quite fast.
This is a ground breaking,
Earth quaking,
Life shaking,
Quickening of our reality.
The warriors are awakening.
Focus on vitality.
Foundation for our families.
Everyday a celebration.
Fireworks of appreciation explode vocally through me without even littering or frightening anyone locally.
Implode on an inner world to cultivate a love so innate that there is no need to escape.
This is what we celebrate.
Discern, observe, manage, regulate.
Write a book,
Become an author.
Chop wood,
Carry water.
With a skip in the step,
And a song in the heart.
Dance to the stars.
Work harder and harder on something you love;
Then do something you don’t like for someone going through something tough.
Spread the laughter and sweep the heavy,
Not under the rug but off of the levee.
Fire works,
To burn up all that heavy burden that we carry,
So don’t freak out when things get scary.
There is a way to face the music,
And dance right through it;
Even the mess humans are cocreating,
Can be cleaned and made pristine if we worked together as a team instead of constantly debating.
I am praying,
But not just bargaining or asking God,
Nor constantly complaining;
They are yearnings of the heart and soul,
Told of what this life is needing~
My deepest prayers are not the words I say;
It is the act of my heart beating.
To keep us alive,
Our hearts are bleeding.
Pumping the love.
Delivering the message.
Passing on the truth of trust.
Carrying out the way for us all.
That’s a living prayer;
Listen for the call.
Let’s build another way,
Not another mall.

They have come for us
We who are female
We who bleed
They are trying to pull us backwards
To a time where their hatred of us was open
Where they controlled all of what we said and did
Their patriarchy perpetuates itself through their churches
WAKE UP WOMEN
Step out of your complacency
Step out of your father’s house
Step out of your husband’s house
Step out and lift your voice
Embrace your freedom
Embrace your sisters
Embrace your sovereignty
We women are sacred and whole unto ourselves
Shed the males who oppress you
Shed the beliefs that limit you
Shed anything that you wish
YOU are in charge of yourself
YOU are in charge of your body
YOU should be running the world
YOU are spiritual power embodied
REMEMBER WHO YOU REALLY ARE AND RISE
– Tizzy Hyatt
Image: Joey Spadaro
