In the event that you wake up
and find your soul separated from source
and manifest into material form, don’t panic.
Your condition is only temporary.You have been selected for the opportunity
of human incarnation.This 3D simulation is designed
to break up the monotony of eternity
by giving you a fully immersive experience
as a distinct ego identity.Your body will serve
as your physical avatar
as you navigate a dense and dramatic reality.
There will be many distractions
causing you to forget your true nature and origin.
You will experience a range of emotions
from joy to loneliness to despair.But remember – no matter
what trials and traumas you encounter,
your soul remains perfectly safe.At times you may feel lost or afraid.
This is totally normal.
If you ever need guidance,
simply slow down your busy mind
and bring your awareness
to the quiet place
inside yourself.On this planet, nothing is permanent.
People and things will come and go.
You will fall in love and form sentimental attachments
only to lose everything you hold dear.So cling to nothing too tightly, even yourself,
and when it’s time to let go, let go with grace,
for nothing is owned, only borrowed.As you walk among
the people on the planet,
try to be a good guest.
Tread lightly. Remember
that you are only visiting.
Don’t make a mess.
Listen more than you speak.
Give more than you take.Don’t keep your soft heart
locked inside a glass cage,
protected from wear and tear.You’ll never make it out alive
and time passes quickly.
So come back with some battle scars
and good stories to tell.
Instructions before visiting Earth
Listening as Alchemy
“To listen is to place oneself in relation with uncertainty, with not-knowing, with the unknowable. Alchemists knew this well: the process could not be rushed, outcomes could not be guaranteed. Listening likewise resists certainty. It asks for a suspension of control, a willingness to not know in advance what will emerge. This is why listening feels risky. It exposes the listener to alteration. One cannot listen deeply and remain untouched.”
What an incredibly beautiful post on Listening as Alchemy.
(Thank you Vicki)
Alysa Liu
“At this pivotal moment in American history, Alysa Liu represents something that we all needed very badly. She is joy. She is hope. She is unity. She is the rejection of the patriarchy. She is authenticity. She is bodily autonomy. She is the antithesis of self-centered ivididualism. She is love for the people with whom we share space. She is the embodiment of everything the American dream is supposed to mean.”
– Draco Genesis
Infinite
“The market for something to believe in is infinite.”
– Hugh MacLeod
From this Seth Godin blog post.
Our Greatest Strength
” I think it is more difficult these days to define what makes a good citizen than it has ever been before. Certainly all any of us can do is follow our own conscience and retain faith in our democracy. Sometimes it is the very people who cry out the loudest in favor of getting back to what they call “American Virtues” who lack this faith in our country. I believe that our greatest strength lies always in the protection of our smallest minorities.
– Charles Schulz
Letter to a 10-year-old fan, 9th November 1970
Via What we have got to have in this world is a change of heart
(Thank you Ruth Ann)
Strong Communities and People Acting With Joy
“Authoritarians cannot rise if there are strong communities and people are acting with joy. That is, you need despair and anger in order for an authoritarian to rise. Whatever those things are that you bring to the community, do them and do them with joy, and don’t stop doing the things you love because you’re scared, because that actually is a form of resistance.”
– Heather Cox Richardson
This is one of the many reasons why I am running CreativeMornings and we started a Clubs program in addition to the chapter events. The future is not lonely, it’s hyperlocal!
The Tiniest Nail In The House
“May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful.”
— Mary Oliver
Immediately
“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”
– Seneca
This Makes It Hard To Plan The Day
“I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
― E.B. White
Pope Leo XIV and the Algorithm
“The logic of algorithms tends to repeat what “works,” but art opens up what is possible. Not everything has to be immediate or predictable. Defend slowness when it serves a purpose, silence when it speaks and difference when evocative. Beauty is not just a means of escape; it is, above all, an invocation. When cinema is authentic, it does not merely console but challenges. It articulates the questions that dwell within us and sometimes even provokes tears that we did not know we needed to express.”
– Pope Leo XIV
Nothing More Altruistic
“The more I think it over,
the more I feel that there is
nothing more truly artistic
than to love people.”
– Vincent van Gogh
Between Stimulus and Response
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
– Viktor Frankl
Marriage Is A Long Conversation
“Marriage as a long conversation. – When marrying you should ask yourself this question: do you believe you are going to enjoy talking with this woman into your old age? Everything else in a marriage is transitory, but most of the time that you’re together will be devoted to conversation.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Live In It
“I am not telling you to make the world better. I’m just telling you to live in it. Not just to endure it, not just to suffer it, not just to pass through it, but to live in it. To look at it. To try to get the picture. To live recklessly. To take chances. To make your own work and take pride in it. To seize the moment.”
– Joan Didion
Act of Communion
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
― bell hooks
Connection
“Connection is not a transaction; it’s a vibrational field we can tap into on a daily basis in the most mundane of circumstances.”
– Esther Perel
Kinder Sea
“I wish you a kinder sea.”
– Emily Dickinson
The World…
“The World is a Museum of Passion Projects.”
Pile of Good things
“So, what if, instead of thinking about solving your whole life, you just think about adding additional good things. One at a time. Just let your pile of good things grow.”
– Rainbow Rowell.
One of my favorite quotes. Reminding myself of this as I navigate choppy waters.
The Way
“Finding the way, is the way.”
– Marcus Aurelius
To Create
“To create is to live twice.”
– Albert Camus
Your Purpose
“Your purpose is not the thing you do. It’s the thing that happens in others when you do what you do.”
– Dr. Caroline Leaf
Love is Never Wasted
“Love is never wasted,
For its value does not rest upon reciprocity.”
– C. S. Lewis