End of the Year 2020
“As this year draws to its end,
We give thanks for the gifts it brought
And how they became inlaid within
Where neither time nor tide can touch them.
The days when the veil lifted
And the soul could see delight;
When a quiver caressed the heart
In the sheer exuberance of being here.
Surprises that came awake
In forgotten corners of old fields
Where expectation seemed to have quenched.
The slow, brooding times
When all was awkward
And the wave in the mind
Pierced every sore with salt.
The darkened days that stopped
the confidence of the dawn.
Days when beloved faces shone brighter
With light from beyond themselves;
And from the granite of some secret sorrow
A stream of buried tears loosened.
We bless this year for all we learned,
For all we loved and lost
And for the quiet way it brought us
Nearer to our invisible destination.”
John O’Donohue, from his blessing At the end of the Year, from his book of blessings:
To Bless the Space Between Us.
December 2020
“Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of another person. You can call it compassionate listening.
You listen with only one purpose: to help him or her to empty his heart.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
November 2020
“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it is better to listen to what it has to say.”
Paulo Coehlo, The Alchemist
October 2020
“To love someone is to learn the song in their heart and sing it to them when they have forgotten.”
Arne Garborg
September 2020
“The places we are seen and heard are holy places. They remind us of our value as human beings. They give us the strength to go on.
Eventually they may even help us transform pain into wisdom.”
Rachel Naomi Remen
August 2020
“Remember, you have been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.”
Louise Hay
July 2020
“Our feelings of deficiency are a trance because, while we might realize we judge ourselves too much, we are rarely aware of how thoroughly a felt sense of falling short affixes itself to all our relationships, to work, to many moments of daily life. When in this trance, we are living in an imprisoning perception of who we are. When strong, our beliefs and feelings of deficiency prevent us from being intimate and authentic with anyone; we sense that we are intrinsically flawed and others will find out. Because the fear of failure is constant, it is difficult to lay down our hyper-vigilance and just relax. Instead, we are consumed with hiding our flaws and/or trying to be a better person.”
Tara Brach
June 2020
“It was only when I accepted myself just as I was, that I was free to change.”
Carl Rogers
May 2020
“Go outside and let your breath be stolen away. Find the forests, seek the seas, meditate on the mountains, mist covered from morning. We are nurtured by nature, born for the wild places; we’ve no business in cities, in buildings taller than trees can grow. Go outside, and begin living again.”
Tyler Knott Gregson
April 2020
Feelings are Opportunities
“Feelings like disappointment, embarrassment, irritation, resentment, anger, jealousy, and fear, instead of being bad news, are actually very clear moments that teach us where it is that we’re holding back. They teach us to perk up and lean in when we feel we’d rather collapse and back away. They’re like messengers that show us, with terrifying clarity, exactly where we’re stuck. This very moment is the perfect teacher, and, lucky for us, it’s with us wherever we are.”
Pema Chodron
March 2020
“We work on ourselves, then, in order to help others. And we help others as a vehicle for working on ourselves.”
Ram Dass
February 2020
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.”
Mark Twain
January 2020
“You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.”
Brene Brown