Following your heart

One day you'll discover a passion in you 

that will burn so brightly, 

you won't be able to contain it... 

A soulful connection

The silence connects us to a deep inner place called our “soul.”  

Here, there is a strong sense of belonging that links us 

to the sweet essence of our true nature. 

In the stillness, we are home...

Free-falling

Sometimes we have to lend ourselves to

the mystery, the unknowing, the confusion, 

 to gain faith, strength, wisdom, truth.

With new eyes...

When we cross over the threshold of our past, 

             we say goodbye to all old ideas about life, love...
Without the past blurring our vision, 
it's as if we see the world for first time.
A world that is infinitely kind, loving, beautiful...

Moving on...

When it’s time to move forward, the next door awaiting you, 

will be so anxious for you to enter it, it will fly open to greet you...

From a seed to a flower

When we see someone struggle, we may want to help. 
But perhaps the best gift is to support them while they find their own way... 
Darkness is where new roots take place. 
When a seed is first planted in the earth, there is no light. 
But in it's own time, it will find the sun...

Our gift to the world

There is a lot of fear, confusion, and anger in the world today, but if we don't buy into the fear and we don't offer our opinions or judgement about how things should be, our contribution to the world will be love, tolerance, compassion...

Hidden joy

It's easy to appreciate beauty when we have a visual of something that makes us feel good. But what about all the beauty that is hidden from our view? What would happen if we stopped labeling things, people, and situations as right or wrong, good or bad, worthy or unworthy? What would our view of the world be without judgement or self-interest?

Gratitude

Prosperity is a sense of worthiness, 

along with a grateful heart...

The spiritual path

As long as there is something new to learn, 
the adventure will never be over… 

Taking flight

Leave behind all that weakens 

your wings... 

Self-honesty

The happy learner is someone who knows 
that truth is their friend... 

Humility

We have this idea that we should be perfect, but humility is far more attractive. We are going to feel safer to be ourselves when we are with someone who is being honest about who they are. The most beautiful aspects about someone can be their honesty (you trust their words), their ability to be revealing (even when they feel awkward), their sense of curiosity (they are willing to ask questions rather than pretend to know all the answers), and can admit to their mistakes (with some humor)... 

A forgiving heart

Blame is a sure way to get stuck in guilt. The harder we blame, the more our conscience bothers us. Blame is guaranteed to steal our serenity. Though we may think we are harming the other person by holding a grudge, we are actually harming ourselves far worse. It is through forgiveness, that we are free... 

Humility and grace

When we choose to guard our heart rather than risk it, we may avoid some pain, but the greatest heartache of all is never knowing what it's like to love without walls or conditions. Though it may be hard to understand, the people who break our hearts the most are our greatest teachers. Pain and grief are the catalyst for teaching us empathy and perhaps even self-love. We can use pain to build character. It can make us stronger, more resilient, more compassionate, more loving...

Unconditional love

Some of my plants...  African violet

Rose-scented geraniums

Thyme leaves...

When you have healed so deeply 

that all that remains is love,

your heart is ready to lend itself 

to the world…

Only love is real

The heart is only meant to know love...

Everything that is in our heart that is not of love,

is something false that we have created with our minds...

Beginning again

With every day, comes lessons... Some are new ones...

And some are the old ones we've tried to ignore... 

Seeing stars

I love the story about the two men who shared the same prison cell... How one looked out the window and saw stars, while the other one looked out the same window and only saw bleakness... Happiness doesn't depend on our circumstances, but rather the condition of our insides. When we're at peace with ourselves, wherever we look, we will only see stars...

An open heart

When we have healed judgment about ourselves,

our words and actions will come from a place 

of integrity, genuineness, kindness...

Love and freedom

In one of my groups this morning, I asked the question "what does your soul want?". 
In asking myself the same question, my first response was love. But as I thought about 
it more, my answer changed. What my soul wants most is freedom. Freedom from fear, worry, self-doubt... When we are free, everything becomes an expression of love... 

Being impeccable

Let this moment be the one

you decide to implement truth

into all your words and actions.

Becoming a rose

To blossom into who you are, 
you pry yourself loose of fear

and rid yourself of pretenses...

Connecting to the soul

We fill our lives with falseness because we're afraid of the emptiness. 

Emptiness feels similar to loneliness. Loneliness is a feeling we have spent 

our whole lives trying to avoid, but loneliness and emptiness are not the same. Loneliness is the result of disconnecting from ourselves. Emptiness is where
 our soul merges with God. 

Inner wealth

External happiness is a set-up for dependency.

The source of true joy and peace of mind

comes from a place of love and acceptance 

for ourselves and others...

Things I love

Playing around with decoupage...

Love the process of creating...

I believe in...

hope,

truth,

dreams,

self-love, 

gentleness,

compassion,
second chances,

living in the solution,

changing the things I can,

letting go of the things I can't change,

a God that is non-judging, forgiving, kind...

Lasting peace

I saw these on the outside of an art store... 

I don't know who the artist is, but I admire their work...

In life, there are so many unknowns...

In learning to accept, embrace, and perhaps even

fall in love with the mystery of all things,

we come to know what true peace is...

Codependency

When we don't feel complete, we look for others to complete us. 

When someone doesn't fulfill our unrealistic needs, 

because we feel abandoned, we become angry, hurt, resentful...

Finding peace

When we allow ourselves to judge, blame, practice a belief system that subscribes to guilt and punishment, our hearts are forced to live on a battleground. By taking responsibility for our part in things and no longer seeing ourselves as victims, in forgiving ourselves and others, and by practicing true compassion, our hearts will flourish... and we will have put an end to the idea of war... 

A clear conscience

Judgement, self-hatred, and resentments lay the ground for a battlefield... So does going against our conscience... Deep inside, we always know right from wrong, but we may not listen to our gut. When we go against our conscience, we are forced to use defensiveness and justification as a way to deal with our guilt. In our attempt to rid ourselves of guilt, we may blame others...

Self-acceptance

Many of us hide the parts of ourselves that we think aren’t acceptable. We give up who we are to become someone we’re not. The mask I wore at a young age was Ms. Nice Girl. I hid my feelings so well that I didn't even know what they were. I put a smile on my shame, insecurities, pain, disappointments... I swallowed my feelings so often that in later years, it was no surprise that I ended up in the hospital with gut issues. One of the most beautiful gifts we can give ourselves is self-acceptance. Finding the courage to be who we are is not an easy. It requires commitment, strength, and a bit of hope...