Tag: Gandi

Your Most Precious Art

I purchased these little cardboard signs from a boutique the other day. I didn’t have a lot of time to spare and there were hundreds of them, but I pulled out a few and bought them, and these two that I purchased, shown above, spoke to me the most.

You are your own most magnificent piece of art. You, and how you go about your life, is a one-of-a-kind, priceless form of art in motion. Are you deliberate about your “art”? Are you creative about your “art”? Is your art truly yours and authentic, or is it a copy of someone else’s art? Are you too concerned about being seen and appreciated and understood? If a fabulous piece of artwork is being carefully stored in a warehouse, or sits quietly in an obscure museum or in someone’s personal residence, it is still a fabulous piece of art. Where the artwork is, or if it is being viewed or not, has no bearing on its gorgeous, unique qualities. Is your “art” one dimensional or is it fluid and evolving and multi-faceted? How are you treating the artwork of your life? Think of your most favorite possession. Would you let someone walk on this possession with their dirty feet? I read something the other day, that says that our bodies know to reject poisonous food. Our senses tell us when something is spoiled. We must trust that our bodies also send us clues when something, or someone, is poisonous for our minds. We must learn to trust our built-in messenger system, in order to keep our “art” in pristine, protected quality. Our intuition is the best plexiglass/alarm system for our own artwork, we could ever ask for, if we learn to trust its messages.

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.” – Don Miguel Ruiz

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Here is the question of the day from 3000 Questions About Me:

458. How shy are you when you meet new people?

Monday – Funday

Credit: @woofknight, X

Isn’t the cooler weather wonderful?! After such a hot summer, it’s like diving into a cool, refreshing, clear pool of water.

How’s everyone doing? This was a tough weekend. I’m feeling that universal, low-lying, but seeping in kind of stress in the air, like we had when the pandemic first started. And when you have that kind of permeance of uneasiness, swirling all around you, it sort of punctuates your own individual stresses, doesn’t it? Whatever helps you with stress and concern in your mind and in your body and in your spirit, is your own “toolbox.” Don’t forget to open your toolbox, and to use and to utilize your own helpful “tools.” (exercise, prayer, meditation, music, friendships, nature, healthy, wholesome meals, crying, release, easy chores, funny shows etc.) Also, use this as a time to find and to test new, healthy tools to help ease your stress during eventful times.

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”
– Carl Sagan

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” – Mother Teresa

“For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?”– bell hooks

“Humanity is good. Some people are terrible and broken, but humanity is good. I believe that.” – Hank Green


“We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.” – Albert Einstein

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Ghandi

“During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not.” – Maya Angelou

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

The Start of Something

Today is Inauguration Day. The word “inauguration” means a ceremony to mark the start of something. In my life, I have family and friends whose views would span all areas of the political spectrum, although most of “my people” would land as dots, around the center spot, from what I can tell. I steer clear of political talk, as much as I can. Still, I’ve always prided myself in being open-minded. I like to get to know all different kinds of people. People are way too complicated to pigeon-hole. The older I get, the less I like labels and definitions. I am more attracted to sensations and nuances and the stories behind the stories. I like movement versus stagnation.

If I wanted to personalize Inauguration Day, what would I like to do, to mark the start of, in my own life? What parts of my life would I choose to continue with and to grow and to nurture, and what in my life has given me its lesson, and is ready to be let go? What would a new governing body look like in my own personal life? Things to ponder to make Inauguration Day, a way to help me “to be the change I want to see” (Gandi):

You are the CEO of your own life. Hire, fire and promote accordingly. (Think Smarter)

Drama does not just walk into your life. Either you create it, invite it, or associate with it.

You can’t have change without loss.

Be a good person, but don’t waste your time proving it. (u. fo)

Real growth starts when you are tired of your own shit. (F of F)

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer, is too small to be made into a burden. (Corrie Ten Boom)

A mistake repeated more than once, is a decision.

A deadline causes stress, a purpose causes motivation. (Holiday Mathis)

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.

How your life feels, is more important than how it looks. (Think Smarter)

Your direction is more important than your speed.

Your mind is a beautiful servant, but a dangerous master.

Please understand this: Bad chapters can still create great stories. Wrong paths can still lead to right places. Failed dreams can still create successful people. Sometimes it takes losing yourself, to find yourself. (Cynthia Thurlow, NP)

*****I apologize, these quotes all came from one of my many inspirational notebooks. When I see something that stirs me, I write it down. I have to get better at writing down who to credit with these beautiful wisdoms that were shared to me, one way or another. I will make that goal of remembering who to credit, part of my inaugural plans.

These are all good starters to contemplate when doing your own personal inauguration ceremony. Please share some of your own helpful “starter wisdoms” in my Comments section. Here’s to new beginnings, at every level of the game!!

Are you passing on love, or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love. 

Very Neighborly

I saw that the Mister Rogers (Fred Rogers) documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? will be available on Redbox on September 4th.   I marked it on my calendar.  I’m sorry that I missed seeing it at the theaters, but I’m really looking forward to watching it soon.  Like most adults my age, I grew up watching Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on television regularly.

When I was a kid, I saw Mister Rogers as a nice, kind, gentle man.  I found his show calming and predictable, in a good way.  I had no idea of just how wise a man he was, until I started reading some of his writings.  He was a man who was entirely devoted to what he saw as his purpose in life – the caring for and betterment of children.

One of my favorite quotes from Mister Rogers which has oft been repeated, especially during horrific times in history like 9/11, is this, “Look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.”

That is excellent advice that we often espouse to our children.  I would tell my kids if they ever got lost in a store or at a park, to look for other mommies like me.  Ladies helping children, would be the best people to ask for help.  We think of this as good advice for children, but in reality, isn’t it good advice for everyone? Look for the helpers.

As adults we sometimes get trapped into believing the “I’ve got this,” mentality.  We think we must be stoic, independent and all powerful.  We tell our children to “look for the helpers,” but for some reason we think that once we hit the adulthood button, we don’t need any help.  Ironically, we think it is important to do good, kind deeds for others in our community, but we ourselves don’t need any help.  Extra ironically, it’s typically the people who have been on the receiving end of help that are able to give back and to help others in the best way. These people have empathy to know what it feels like to be helped back on to their own two feet and they want to pass that blessing on.

A few years back a friend of mine was lamenting about feeling like he had lost his idealism.  A young woman who had grown up in the same town as he had grown up in had just died in the Middle East.  She had been there helping survivors of ISIS torture and she was tragically killed for doing the good.  My friend was in awe of her heroism and felt ashamed that he hadn’t done more for society.  Now from an outside view, this man is the epitome of “helper.”  He is an excellent family man, always doing things with and for his wife and his kids; he was always there for friends and neighbors to listen and then to offer heartfelt, thought-out advice and assistance.  He had even “adopted” and helped an elderly couple in his neighborhood as if they were his own parents.

I think sometimes we all get trapped into thinking that we have to do big and dramatic things to make a difference in the world.  We live in awe of the Gandhis and Martin Luther Kings and Mother Teresas and Mister Rogers of the world, and we sometimes feel small and worthless in comparison.  But what if they are just the Big Examples who our Source has put in place to remind the rest of us to be everyday helpers and yet also to accept help when we need it?  What if they are just the Big Reminders to us to be kind and loving in our everyday interactions with each other?  While I admire and respect the big gestures and convictions of others, it is the every day people who have shown me the face of God in a very personal way and I am not sure which is more important, but I know all of it is very important.

I’ll end with this quote from Mister Fred Rogers, “The purpose of life is to listen – to yourself, to your neighbor, to your world and to God and, when the time comes, to respond in as helpful a way as you can find . . . from within and without.”