2/27/07

When you take action, you build momentum for courage. You can think and rethink until you overthink all the what-ifs. Or you can take a step or two forward and get an entirely new perspective. When you take action, entirely new possibilities reveal themselves to you. ~ Doug Hall, The Maverick Mindset

2/26/07

What we need are more people who specialize in the impossible. ~ Theodore Roethke, Breathing on Your Own

2/23/07

Every morning I awake torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor it. This makes it hard to plan the day. ~ E.B. White

(click on image for desktop wallpaper ~ 250k)

2/21/07

The purpose of art is the lifelong construction of a state of wonder. ~ Glenn Gould

2/20/07

That's one of the good things about pixie dust. The more you give away the more there is. As long as we keep believing in Tink and her relatives, we will never run out. ~ Randy Berbaum

2/16/07

His open countenance revealed that he was his own greatest resource for wonder and magic. ~ Diane Osbon on Joseph Campbell, Reflections on the Art of Living: A Joseph Campbell Companion

2/15/07

It’s not what we know that matters, but what we don’t know because therein lie the seeds of wonder….~ John Dufresne, The Lie That Tells A Truth

Twenty years ago today, I was a newly single mom, sitting by myself and feeling very sad at my first Valentine’s Day alone in many years. The neighbor had taken Katie for a bit and I was glad of a little time to cry without having to explain.

About an hour after Katie left there was a knock on the door. I dried my tears, blew my nose, pasted on a smile and went to answer it. I will never forget that moment. My beautiful daughter standing there beaming, holding out a bouquet of flowers, “Happy Valtines Day Mommy!” The tears began to flow again, but this time the smile was real.

Valentines come in all shapes and sizes. Some have fur. Some aren’t here anymore. And some are here, but not really. Some are things, or even ideas or thoughts. Valentines are anyone or anything that we care about, anyone or anything that we love.

So Happy Valentine’s Day to all my Valentines – Katie, Stu, Kimba, Dad, Mom, my artwork, my writing, my imagination, my dreams, my curiosity, my life, Planet Earth and all of you!

2/9/07

last week i fell in love with a bracelet i saw on amazon. it was a silver cuff imprinted with the phrase “cleverly disguised as a responsible adult.” it took me several days of deliberation to finally make the choice to buy it (which shows you how much i needed it!). it arrived yesterday morning right before I went to get my allergy shot. at the doctor's office i showed it to my doctor, who smiled said, "well, that will certainly boost your immune system!"

hmmm…I wonder if I can write it off as a medical expense… ;)

2/8/07

Our heads are round so that our thoughts can fly in any direction. ~ Francis Picabia, Breathing on Your Own

the roo game continues

from my friend ginger:

Someone sent this to me today. It seems to fit in with your Roo game:

"Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present -- love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring us pleasure -- the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience Heaven on earth." -- Sarah Ban Breathnach

i would like to thank all of you who have been playing the roo game, both those that sent their thoughts and stories and those who are playing on the sly...;)

each joy we feel adds joy to the world. we make the world a better place just by being happy. cultivate your joy garden today. play the roo game. and pass it on ;)

2/7/07

Bliss is like a flak jacket. It’s a protecting thing. If you have enough bliss, it’s invincibility. ~ David Lynch, Catching the Big Fish

2/5/07

My favorite piece of music is the one we hear all the time if we are quiet. ~ John Cage, Love Letters to the Universe

2/2/07

we left our heroine yesterday with a broken tooth and a dead battery, but also with the certain knowledge that although it seemed like bad things were happening, she knew that really good things were happening. she just didn’t know what they were.

this morning as she was working out, she marveling at the fact that the more she worked out, the more flexible her body had become. (insert emoticon for epiphany here) that was it! all the challenges of the month were helping her become more flexible, more resilient. she had been exercising her resiliency muscles!

of course, it did frighten her just a little bit to think what these muscle might be needed for….but that, i imagine, is tomorrow’s story ;)

p.s. way to go phil!

the roo game (level 2)

last week, lying in bed sick for the second time in as many weeks, i thought of lora lea's roo game - getting up in the morning and saying "something wonderful is going to happen to me today." i thought to myself, “yeah right” (i am notoriously pessimistic when i am sick). but then i thought again, “what if something wonderful is happening to me right now? what if there is a reason, a purpose behind this sickness that i, with my limited vision, just cannot see right now?”

so many things in life that, at the time, seem the worst thing imaginable, have turned out to be the best things imaginable. i cannot always know the reasons, or the outcome. all i can do is trust.

so i have kept that thought with me - “something wonderful is happening to me.” this week so far i have broken a tooth, got up to a dead car and endured a day-long category 5 migraine. today i spend an hour and a half at the dentist. but something wonderful is happening to me. i believe that.

am i naïve? perhaps. stupid? some might say so. denying reality? maybe.

smiling and at peace? yes.

wanna play? ;)