The Rapture of Being Alive

People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life.
I don't think that's what we're really seeking.
I think that what we're seeking
is an experience of being alive...
so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.

~ Joseph Campbell

Photo: Sunset over the Pacific Ocean
La Serena, Chile

It's In The Valley I Grow

Broken

Learn the alchemy
true human beings know.
The moment you accept
the troubles you've been given,
the door will open.
~Rumi

At this point over 100 posts have been made to Positively Inspiring. The purpose at the inception of this blog was to keep positivity flowing amongst those I missed most having been geographically separated from my husband, two sons, parents, numerous siblings and many friends to start a new job 1200 miles away. The accumulation of positive expression has been consistent. However, through many dark days, I've needed to search for even a glimmer of positivity. It is the effort applied to create the post that has offered relief - allowing me to feel a little less anxious, even somewhat better, if only for moments. Though these almost-daily entries have been helpful and the collection such that I value their reflection, perhaps it's more inspirational to be more candid, more real. Because, to put it simply, life can be hard. And, over the last year, life has been very hard.

Not all is lost, though. Stuart gave me a wonderful gift for Valentine's Day - a book (surprise, surprise) written by Elizabeth Lesser: Broken Open - How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow. This book is a blessing. Lesser puts into perspective the value of difficult times; the blessings and opportunities they represent if one is willing to engage them; to use the "broken" moments in one's life to transform and evolve from "Once-born innocence to twice-born wisdom". These opportunities should be treasured if one can see through the fog of disappointment, self-doubt and fear. I am getting better at this - far from perfect- but, I am getting better.

Live to Purpose

The great and glorious masterpiece of (wo)man is to know how to live to purpose.

~ Michel de Montaigne

Photo: Traditional Birth Attendants

Phulpadar Village, Orissa, India

Read about the importance of Traditional Birth Attendants here

"I Have A Dream"

We have come a long way...

How far do you go?

Only by going too far can one possibly find out how far one can go.

~ Jon Dyer

Picture: Shayne learning to windsurf
2008

Teen Shields Boy from Bullet

Thanks for the post, Joanna!

Our ideas, like orange-plants,

spread out in proportion

to the size of the box which imprisons the roots.

~ Edward Bulwer Lytton

(The orange tree symbolizes generosity and wisdom.)

Hold your head up high!

If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.
Ann Landers

Consistency and Persistency

As has been indicated, a little more patient, a little more tolerant, a little more humble. But . . .not a tolerance that becomes timid--this would make rebellion in self. Not a patience that is not positive. Not an humbleness that becomes morbid or lacking in beauty. For as orderliness is a part of thy being, so let consistency--as persistency--be a part of thy being.

~ Edgar Cayce

Photo: The Thinker
Rodin Garden, Paris, France

Who was The Thinker?
Auguste Rodin himself wrote about his intention:
The Thinker has a story. In the days long gone by I conceived the idea of the Gates of Hell. Before the door, seated on the rock, Dante thinking of the plan of the poem behind him... all the characters from the Divine Comedy. This project was not realized. Thin ascetic Dante in his straight robe separated from all the rest would have been without meaning. Guided by my first inspiration I conceived another thinker, a naked man, seated on a rock, his fist against his teeth, he dreams. The fertile thought slowly elaborates itself within his brain. He is no longer a dreamer, he is a creator.