Actually, I love them. Adore them.
Complex, soft, immaculately designed ~ and so free-spirited! A living work of art, and all I have to do is admire them. Aren’t they just exquisite?
“Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.”
~ Bishop Reginald Heber
“Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
What a fabulous treat to have stumbled upon… Philosophy, books and film in tribute and reverent reflection of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Emerson’s writings have been a mainstay of inspiration to me since my early teens. So I was really pleased to see the always interesting BrainPickings site acknowledging Emerson’s 208th birthday with a terrific post about his life, work and timeless value, including a link to a new publication of Emerson’s famous Self-Reliance by Seth Godin’s Domino Project.
Also included, the marvelous documentary film “Emerson: The Ideal in America” by David Beardsley. I have to tell you, it makes my spirit glad to spread this information. I hope it’ll inspire you to revisit some of the works of one of the world’s truly great thinkers.
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All that rain, and I forgot to walk in the garden. Lifted my head today and saw what the rain did… or I should say, what it couldn’t stop.
Scraggly and unkempt. Small. Skinny. Brilliant.
Bob Dylan’s piercing blue eyes defy his understated presence; his talent for song defines him.
In some ways, Dylan is an acquired taste. So rough around the edges, but so genuinely gifted. You like him or you don’t, but you always admire.
Looming larger than life during the 60’s folk music revolution, his scratchy, often off-key voice reconfigured our concept of singer-songwriter. His words resonating with millions, he always seemed a bit reticent on stage. Like he had someplace he’d rather be. Not a big smiler.
But we love his realness, his mind, his lyrics.
Some call him the greatest poet of our time. And when the poetry lines up with a simple acoustic tune, something close to magical happens. He’s every bit as remarkable as they say.
Philosopher, poet, revolutionary, freedom-lover, troubadour, balladeer, prolific songwriter, living legend. Who would have thought Bob Dylan would be anything but forever young? But then again, he‘s had a lot of work to do, and we’re glad he’s stuck around.
Happy Birthday to one of the very best.
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
“People who look through keyholes are apt to get the idea that most things are keyhole shaped.” ~ Author Unknown
So much of life is about our point of view. Are you so close to something that you miss the bigger picture? Or do you soar above, taking in a broad view, missing the details?
Is your view softened by “rose-colored glasses” or do you see only the hard, harsh angles? When you walk, do you look up, look down, look straight ahead?
Are you near-sighted? Far-sighted? Do you look back, look forward? Do you see what’s right in front of you? Do you consider situations from all sides?
Our perspectives change, of course. But like all thought, we can direct that perspective towards the best possible light.
proactively punctuating life with the plausible, powerful possibilities of positive thought presented through a plethora of “P’s”.
I know, not the image you might expect… Power often connotes masculinity; a certain brawniness. It also gets mixed up with things like control and willfulness. Or conjures up motors and engines, watts and voltage.
But the essence of power is energy. It’s that energy that creates the ability to do great things. It’s a force that inspires and sustains. And it’s a force that’s strongest when it comes from the heart. Uncontrived and elevated.
Power is neither masculine nor feminine, and doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, fat or thin, black, brown, white, red, yellow, green, purple…. We all have power within ~ power to give, to heal, to love. We have power to generate, and accomplish, the stuff of dreams.
(Tell that to your mind.)
Carolyn Naught Saxton / 1920 - 1980
When I was a little girl, my mother was “my world”.
She did all the things you’d expect a Mom might do, like hold your hand, read you a story, fix meals, teach manners, dry tears, cheer you up and on.
As I grew, I saw that she loved to give. And that she loved to laugh. She loved people and loved life, and tried to worry only on Tuesdays.
Lucky for us, she also happened to be an accomplished poet. Her works appeared in anthologies as early as her teens, and her last, perhaps greatest work, was the collection of sonnets published in her book The Pine and The Power.
My mother left the world much, much too soon ~ but she left gifts. Treasured, timeless words; gifts from the heart, mind and spirit.
So on this day reserved for mothers, I’d like to share some of those words. I share them, as I did last year, in honor and life-giving celebration of mothers near and far, here or remembered. Happy Mother’s Day!
…………………………..
God help our children to transcend the dark
And walk the earth with dignity and cheer;
God help them seek the mountains, persevere
The road that twists through thorn and tanglebark,
Ascending finally where eagles mark
Their point of vision. Help our children find
Two masters ~ one the spirit, one the mind ~
And rediscover constancy of heart.
Help us to find cathedrals in the skies,
A will to walk the long uncharted mile;
(The will to find in winter’s legacy
The ochre sands from which the lime trees rise!)
Help us to know the measure of the child ~
To live in time and in eternity.
© Carolyn Naught Saxton
…………………………..
Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi is known for his engineering genius, but there are clearly so many other elements at work in his work that he is far more than “architect”.
He was an artist. Buildings were his canvas. And those buildings are grand treasure troves of design and unbridled creativity.
Revered worldwide as one of the most important modernist style architects, Gaudi lived from 1852-1926. “Over the course of his career, Gaudi developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order. Gaudi’s characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists.”*
Gaudi takes “thinking outside the box” to whole new levels. His extraordinary works, many of which reside in Barcelona, are movement and dance, they’re delicious sugar-laced monuments with creamy frosting; they’re all marshmallows and gingerbread, sand-castles, stone, glass and iron; they’re original, dramatic, striking blends of angle and color.
I marvel at the ingenuity and the boundlessness. Fantastic. Illogical. Stunning.
A sincere compliment, a recognition of good deeds, admiration, applause… “a gold star for good behavior”, a high-five.
Praise knows no boundaries, no judgments. It can be as quiet as one appreciative word, or a thunderous, symphonic tribute. And there’s no one amongst us – saints to sinners, paupers to kings– who doesn’t benefit from receiving, or giving, a genuine expression of praise.
Praise lifts us up. Sprinkle it around your world, and high-five generously.
How could anyone not delight in this stuff of spring?
I think it’d be impossible to see this tree, to take a good look at its magnificent blossoms (that come like a gift, year after year after year), and not be filled with something that feels an awful lot like hope and cheer.
It’s scrumptious, magical, perfection from the best designer we’ll ever know.
