Big

"Believe in something big. Your life is worth a noble motive."

-Walter Anderson

Waking up to this is sometimes hard to remember, but indeed the daily practice.

Grace

"Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. ...Touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace."

-Frederick Buechner

Trusting in our own ability to live a graceful life is the daily practice we must adhere to.

Caring

 "We won't always know whose lives we touched and made better for our having cared, because actions can sometimes have unforeseen ramifications.  what's important is that you do care and you act."

-Charlotte Lunsford

Showing up and shining your light is the simplest way to care about those around you.

Nobody-But-Yourself

"To be nobody-but-yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody but yourself---means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight--and never stop fighting."

-E.E. Cummings

The trenches are deep and muddy and frightening, but the sky is still blue and beautiful...hold your ground.

Darkness

"You do build in darkness if you have faith. When the light returns you have made of yourself a fortress which is impregnable to certain kinds of trouble; you may even find yourself needed and sought by others as a beacon in their dark."

-Olga Rosmanith

Remember that lighthouses come in all shapes and sizes.

Hope

"The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started."

-Norman Cousins

If i pass this test, i won't care what other judgements anyone makes of me....

Bold

"Act boldly and unseen forces will come to your aid."

-Dorothea Brande

Off we go...into the wild blue yonder.

To Carry On

"In your life's journey, there will be excitement and fulfillment, boredom and routine, and even the occasional train wreck...But when you have picked a dream that is bigger than you personally, that truly reflects the ideals that you cherish, and that can positively affect  others, then you will always have another reason for carrying on."

-Pamela Melroy

The fear of dreaming big and succeeding is the only thing stopping us....as my friend used to say...go big or go home.

Faithful

"Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself."

-Andre Gide

Why would we deny what is true to ourselves in this life? Embrace it.

Opportunity

"Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else's hands, but not you."
-Jim Rohn

Stand up and be big.

Mystery

"Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here now.  Don't miss it."

-Leo Buscaglia

Keep your eyes, ears and hearts wide open...

The Dark

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work; you don't give up."

-Anne Lamott

It's dark for sure...but the dawn will be sweet.

Possiblities

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this:  you haven't."

-Thomas Edison

Keep working towards all possible outcomes...

Calm before the storm

"What is life for?  It is for you."

-Abraham Maslow

That is the best piece of news I've heard all day...

What I do

"What I do, you cannot do; but what you do, I cannot do.  The needs are great, and none of us, including me, ever do great things.  But we can all do small things, with great love, and together we can do something wonderful."

-Mother Teresa

The small things I do are what matters...

The Key

"The key is to trust your heart to move where your unique talents can flourish.  This old world will really spin when work becomes a joyous expression of the soul."

-Al Sacharov

I have a set of keys...do you?

"People will try to tell you that all the great opportunities have been snapped up.  In reality, the world changes every second, blowing new opportunities in all directions, including yours."

-Ken Hakuta

The wind must be blowing my way then...

Being Humble

"The most beautiful paintings and sculptures, the greatest poetry, have not always been born from torment or bitterness. Often they have sprung from contemplation, from joy, from an instinct or wonder toward all things. To create from joy, to create from wonder demands a continual discipline, a great compassion...With time and sincerity, you will discover a way to work and write that does not harm you spiritually, that does not tempt you to vanity, that is the deepest expression of your spirituality. You will find a voice that is not your voice only, but the voice of Reality itself...If you can be empty enough, that voice can speak through you. If you can be humble enough, that voice can inhabit you and use you.

-Thuksey Rinpoche

In the end all the suffering and angst and despair must be outweighed by the compassion for oneself as an artist, writer, musician, creator and human being.  Just when we thought art was all of the challenges of life...it is actually the moment in life when you are most alive and light and free....we just don't give ourselves the opportunity to be in that state often enough.  The act of being humble and free is the moment of utmost creativity...we all have it in us...the voice....use it.

Illusion

"Despair is the only cure for illusion.  Without despair we cannot transfer our allegiance to reality--it is a kind of mourning period for our fantasies.  Some people do not survive this despair, but no major change within a person can occur without it."

-Philip Slater

Oh good...I thought I was the only one....

"Art and religion are, then, two roads by which men escape from circumstance to ecstasy."

-Clive Bell

I knew taking the left fork was working.

Who Knows?

"It is quite hard at times to distinguish a genius from a lunatic."

-Dorothy Thompson

I'm just sayin....

Some People

"Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead."

-Charles Bukowski

So I guess I got that going for me....