(1) Making the right choice isn't usually the comfortable one immediately, but it does pave the way for long-term contentment.
(2) Whenever you think you're exhausted, there are always a few more drops in the energy well to drink and a few more steps you can squeeze out of yourself.
(3) Listen to family and friends. They know you and care for your ultimate happiness; and they have insights that you usually lack from being in the thick of situations.
(4) Wisdom is often the whisper you can't hear until you turn off the loudest voices in your ear.
(5) There is life after heartbreak -- and not just life, but abundant life! :)
(6) We can learn things we never would have been able to about ourselves by welcoming into our home a needy animal who's looking to love and be loved.
(7) Sleep is the most underestimated tactic for preventing and curing illness.
(8) It is in setting boundaries that we actually find freedom.
(9) Even after nine years of living on my own, there's still no place like home.
(10) Desiderata. 'Nuff said.
(11) Be willing to reconsider attitudes and values that have (consciously and unconsciously) shaped you to this point.
(12) It is so important to know and defend your worth in every moment it may be questioned. Do not stay silent.
(13) Life is short. Speak up. Fight for justice. Believe in your dreams. Chase them into reality. Pave a path for others to follow.
(14) Live as if everything could change next breath. It's much harder to take it all for granted.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
It's that time again ...
I used to hate New Year's. In addition to the outrageous price hikes and getting trampled by the masses vying for your spot in the bar, restaurant or parking lot, it all seemed so forced to decide because the calendar was on this day instead of that day that we were going to decide collectively to improve ourselves. That being said, I'm no fan of St. Valentine's Day for the same reason. The commercial underpinnings and emotional manipulation of consumers makes my stomach turn, but more importantly, the celebration of love and our loved ones should be an intentional *daily* -- not yearly -- act. The world would be a better place if we kept that as a focus.
My dislike for Valentine's Day remains, but my feelings for New Year's have changed. I now see the merit in setting aside time to reflect and resolve to be better. It's far too easy to let each day melt into the next and let inertia root us in the status quo. Setting aside time at regular intervals -- even if it is 365 days -- to pause and hold oneself accountable is a healthy habit that I am sorry I ever criticized. It may be true that most of us fall away from our resolutions temporarily or permanently during the year; but the fact that we don't succeed at a perfect record shouldn't negate the value of the effort and the worthiness of the cause. For that reason, this year I have decided to have New Year's every day: that is, to reflect nightly on what I did right, what I did wrong and what I could do better tomorrow. I've been doing it for the last couple of evenings and noticed a marked improvement in the amount of awareness I bring to each day, the baby steps in growth and the feeling of being more alive. In this way, too, the bite-sized efforts to grow daily allow me to focus on those other habits I might have made a vague resolution to change but felt overwhelmed or unsure of where to start. The structure is the vehicle for change.
My dislike for Valentine's Day remains, but my feelings for New Year's have changed. I now see the merit in setting aside time to reflect and resolve to be better. It's far too easy to let each day melt into the next and let inertia root us in the status quo. Setting aside time at regular intervals -- even if it is 365 days -- to pause and hold oneself accountable is a healthy habit that I am sorry I ever criticized. It may be true that most of us fall away from our resolutions temporarily or permanently during the year; but the fact that we don't succeed at a perfect record shouldn't negate the value of the effort and the worthiness of the cause. For that reason, this year I have decided to have New Year's every day: that is, to reflect nightly on what I did right, what I did wrong and what I could do better tomorrow. I've been doing it for the last couple of evenings and noticed a marked improvement in the amount of awareness I bring to each day, the baby steps in growth and the feeling of being more alive. In this way, too, the bite-sized efforts to grow daily allow me to focus on those other habits I might have made a vague resolution to change but felt overwhelmed or unsure of where to start. The structure is the vehicle for change.
Existential crisis -- sort of
"It might be a quarter-life crisis, just a stirrin' in my soul / Either way I wonder sometimes about a still verdict-less life" (John Mayer)
As I look ahead to the new year and the path I'd like to pave for myself, the one thing I know is that I am still committed to fighting injustice, pushing myself to use the blessings God's given me to do that, and to improving our world.
The uncertainty sets in when I look at the various models I can apply to bring about those changes. Do I use the "mightier" pen to report reality and open the door for others to reform broken systems? Do I dive into crafting storylines to move, console and challenge people with plots and characters? OR do I roll up my sleeves and individually help them one by one? Which scenario better fits my skill set and dreams? The artistic freedom to create but remain at an arm's length from problem-solving, or the gratification of being centrally involved in the process of reform but sacrificing the time to write creatively?
As I look ahead to the new year and the path I'd like to pave for myself, the one thing I know is that I am still committed to fighting injustice, pushing myself to use the blessings God's given me to do that, and to improving our world.
The uncertainty sets in when I look at the various models I can apply to bring about those changes. Do I use the "mightier" pen to report reality and open the door for others to reform broken systems? Do I dive into crafting storylines to move, console and challenge people with plots and characters? OR do I roll up my sleeves and individually help them one by one? Which scenario better fits my skill set and dreams? The artistic freedom to create but remain at an arm's length from problem-solving, or the gratification of being centrally involved in the process of reform but sacrificing the time to write creatively?
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Bite-sized inspiration
"The world is full of suffering.
It is also full of overcoming it."
--Helen Keller
It is also full of overcoming it."
--Helen Keller
Friday, December 25, 2009
No room in the inn
A stable would certainly be the last place in the world where one would look for [the Son of God]. The lesson is: divinity is always where you least expect to find it. So the Son of God-Made-Man is invited into his own world through a back door.
--Fulton J. Sheen
--Fulton J. Sheen
Saturday, December 19, 2009
God among us
It must have come as a relief to a pair of overwhelmed parents when their child, Jesus, was born as just a baby. The uncertainty leading up to his birth must have been already much to deal with, and likely included wondering if they were up to the task; if there was anything they could teach him at all or if he would so obviously be God from His first moments on Earth.
It must have come as a shock to a power-hungry ruler when the Messiah he so feared came cloaked in the humblest of forms. Nowhere is it so evident that God is the champion of underdogs as the Christmas story. The nativity is an eye-opening, soul-wrenching glimpse into the psychology of our King. He does not operate as we would (thank goodness); He has no need for flash and fear. He possesses infinite might and His power does not depend on winning over the proud. The ordinary is His vehicle for deliverance and change. Oh sure, His strength stretches beyond 'the ordinary' and cannot be boxed into a label. But often His will is enacted under the radar simply because the humble carry it out. No trumpets sound. No cameras flash. No ceremony takes place. The seeds are planted in the quietest ways. In the least expected places. And the results catch the world by surprise.
It must have come as a shock to a power-hungry ruler when the Messiah he so feared came cloaked in the humblest of forms. Nowhere is it so evident that God is the champion of underdogs as the Christmas story. The nativity is an eye-opening, soul-wrenching glimpse into the psychology of our King. He does not operate as we would (thank goodness); He has no need for flash and fear. He possesses infinite might and His power does not depend on winning over the proud. The ordinary is His vehicle for deliverance and change. Oh sure, His strength stretches beyond 'the ordinary' and cannot be boxed into a label. But often His will is enacted under the radar simply because the humble carry it out. No trumpets sound. No cameras flash. No ceremony takes place. The seeds are planted in the quietest ways. In the least expected places. And the results catch the world by surprise.
Bite-sized inspiration(s)
Some favorite quotations about art:
Any great work of art... revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world - the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air. --leonard bernstein
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. --stella adler
All art requires courage. --anne tucker
Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. --ralph waldo emerson
Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on the wings of misery and travail. --theodore dreiser
Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul -- and you answer. --star riches
Any great work of art... revives and readapts time and space, and the measure of its success is the extent to which it makes you an inhabitant of that world - the extent to which it invites you in and lets you breathe its strange, special air. --leonard bernstein
Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one. --stella adler
All art requires courage. --anne tucker
Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free. --ralph waldo emerson
Art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on the wings of misery and travail. --theodore dreiser
Art is when you hear a knocking from your soul -- and you answer. --star riches
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)