Anticipating Summer

Aaah, summer - that long anticipated stretch of lazy, lingering days, free of responsibility and rife 

with possibility. It's a time to hunt for insects,

master handstands, practice swimming

strokes, conquer trees, explore nooks and

crannies, and make new friends. ~Darell Hammond

I know that if odor were visible, as color is, I'd see 

the summer garden in rainbow clouds. ~Robert Bridges

Absolute Gifts

To be an artist includes much; one must

possess many gifts - absolute gifts - which

have not been acquired by one's own effort.

And, moreover, to succeed, the artist must

possess the courageous soul. ~Kate Chopin

Every creator painfully experiences the

chasm between his inner vision and its

ultimate expression. ~Isaac Bashevis Singer

Life in the Shade

But friendship is precious, not only in the

shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks

to a benevolent arrangement the greater

part of life is sunshine. ~Thomas Jefferson

Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself. ~Truman Capote

A Vision in Silence

The more often we see the things around us -

even the beautiful and wonderful things - 

the more they become invisible to us. 

That is why we often take for granted the beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees, the birds, the clouds - even those we love. Because we see things so often, we see them less and less. ~Joseph B. Wirthlin

We need to find God, and he cannot be found

in noise and restlessness. God is the friend 

of silence. See how nature - 

trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; 

see the stars, the moon and the sun, 

how they move in silence... 

e need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa

Nature's Dance

Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time 

like dew on the tip of a leaf. ~Rabindranath Tagore

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing. And when you have reached the mountain top, then you hall begin to climb. 

And when the earth shall claim your limbs,

then shall you truly dance. ~Khalil Gibran

Treasured Lessons

Our mothers give us so many gifts. 

They give us the precious gift of life, 

of course, but they also leave treasured

lessons that can guide us along our journeys

even when they are no longer with us. ~Maria Shriver

And so our mothers and grandmothers have,

more often than not anonymously, 

handed on the creative spark, the seed 

of the flower they themselves never hoped 

to see - or like a sealed letter they could 

not plainly read. ~Alice Walker

Light & Shadows

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us. ~Samuel Smiles

Above the cloud with its shadow is the star with its light. Above all things reverence thyself. ~Pythagoras

Shadows

Time flies over us, but leaves its 

shadow behind. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne

The true work of art is but a shadow 

of the divine perfection. ~Michelangelo