Soaring Peace

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

Margaret Mead

Build You Better

Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent. Most talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by contrast, is not given to us. We have to build it, piece by piece -- by thought, choice, courage, and determination.

H. Jackson Brown

Painted Geode by Mary Abma

#14 by Mark Rothko

Speculate Bliss

Abstract Metal, originally uploaded by QuakajaQ.

I think that only daring speculation can lead us further and not the accumulation of facts alone.

Albert Einstein

Image One: No Man is an Island

Unconscious Reflections

Reflections and Symmetry, originally uploaded by |neurosis|.

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury; and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable; and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony."

William Ellery Channing

Green Droplet

Wide Awake

purple abstract tulip covered in snow, originally uploaded by David Bukach.

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Howard Thurman

Afternoon Purple by P. Moody

Willful Peace

BLUE LINE Abstract Painting by Marinho, originally uploaded by RegiaArt.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

Mahatma Ghandi

No Matter

Calm is an art
best practiced no matter
the circumstance

Strength As Such

Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendor in the grass, of glory in the flower
We will grieve not, but rather find
Strength in what remains behind.

William Wordsworth: Intimations of Immortality


Fields: Marilyn Fenn
Soft and Purple at BigSur: Claire W

And They Flew

“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We're afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.”
And they came. And he pushed them.

And they flew.

Guillaume Apollinaire

BirdSong by Taetzsch
Red Bird by Peter Hiller *highly recommended link

Thought is Action

If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day.

Alex Noble

Images: by Joy of the Mundane

Grateful for You

Perfume fields, originally uploaded by VirtualSanity.

"Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul."

Often we focus our sense of gratitude outward forgetting what's within. Take some time today to acknowledge what about yourself you're grateful for.

Quote: Harriet Beecher Stowe

Image 2: Yellow Poppy

A Dose of Cure

Deep Purple, originally uploaded by nerdvin.

If you do a good job for others, you heal yourself at the same time, because a dose of joy is a spiritual cure.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Virtue is a Practice

To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness.

Cicero

Image: Owl by Caram Batak

Forever is a Small Act of Kindness Today

Hill, originally uploaded by backnext321.

A person has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when they plants shade trees under which they know full well they will never sit.

D. Elton Trueblood
(remixed for gender neutrality)

Monday Kiss

He who binds to himself a joy Does the winged life destroy; But he who kisses the joy as it flies Lives in eternity's sun rise.

William Blake

Edible Mini Cakes
Enjoy by Rachel S.

Fill You With Wonder

korora pebbles, originally uploaded by omnia.

Life is filled with suffering, but it is also filled with many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby. To suffer is not enough. We must also be in touch with the wonders of life. They are within us and all around us, everywhere, any time.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Happy Field

Red Flower Field, originally uploaded by Paul Mayne.

"Happy is an inside Job. Looked inside lately?"

Found Quote
Floridian Church Billboard

Begin Today Each Day

Inner Beauty, originally uploaded by chrissie2003.

This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good.

Unknown

Seek Out Vitality

cunjevoi lily, originally uploaded by omnia.

Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, 'This is the real me,' and when you have found that attitude, follow it.

James Truslow Adams

Painting: Cityscape, Diebenkorn

First, Imagine Joy

"Stone Houses," Andy Goldsworthy, Metropolitan Museum, originally uploaded by thomwatson

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Images: Sculptures by - Andy Goldsworthy

Yes You, Come Blossom

And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

Image: Georgia O'Keefe

Conscious Connections

Art Nouveau Stained Glass Detail, originally uploaded by The urban snapper.

"Did you know...that when you walk past a flower, whether it be in
somebody's garden or on a vacant hillside, the flower will always smile at you. The most polite way to respond, I've been told, is to cheerfully return the smile."

Ron Atchinson

Life Workmanship

It is always possible to make the workmanship of one's life surpass the materials.

Ovid Remix.

Image: Chagall
Stained Glass by Kota

Blissful Faith

Wassily Kandinsky "Gelb-Rot-Blau" - Centre Georges Pompidou - Paris,

Where there is Faith, there is Love; Where there is Love; there is Peace; Where there is Peace; there is God; Where there is God; there is Bliss.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba

Images: Kandinsky

Pear by HojPoj

Taking Good Time

Everyday offers us the chance to spend a bit of time crafting our joyful calm in the world.

Images: Yarn Painting by Jose Benitez Sanchez
Wall Mural - Women's Building San Francisco

Choosing Your Way

vintage children book, originally uploaded by balavenise.

We, who lived in concentration camps, can remember the men who walked through the huts of others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a [person], but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Viktor Frankl

Illustration by K. Ovchinnikov

Tulip Flower: A Dream Path for Anyone by Sampath Madall

Work Your Joy

Rangoli for Festival, originally uploaded by Kamala L.

Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.

James Lang Allen

Butterfly Gentle

butterfly, originally uploaded by -UnSeEn.

Kindness should be the natural rule of life, of living, and being. Often we practice kindness with others, but forget to treat ourselves kindly. Take time to be gently kind to yourself today.

Buddha Remix

Conscious Up

Look Up. Your conscious peace is there.

Look Within. Your conscious peace is there as well.

Image: Skyspace of James Turrell
Mandala by Photocomix