Holidays
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Your harvest, your life
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” ~Oprah Winfrey Late autumn inspires us to take stock of what we’ve planted or accomplished. The season of Thanksgiving — not just the holiday itself — underscores a simple choice we always have: We can celebrate all the good things we’ve reaped and experienced, or dwell on the difficulties we’ve encountered. A positive mindset is the natural outgrowth of appreciation. (Happy people are grateful people.) It’s part of the harvest we reap when we count everything on our gratitude list, large and small. ~CL
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How generosity grows
“A field is empty, but if you put in the effort to grow something then you will have a garden. And that’s life. If you give something, something will come back. Give nothing, nothing will come back. To grow a flower is a miracle: it means you can grow more. Remember that a flower is not just a flower, it is the start of a whole garden.” ~Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth Have you ever noticed that generous people seem to have a surplus of wonderful things in their lives? In today’s quote, Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku reminds us that we reap what we sow in the field of…
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Celebrating freedom
“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt, that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” ~Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own Wishing you a safe and happy Independence Day with time to reflect on all the rights, privileges, and freedoms you cherish and never take for granted. What freedoms do you value most? ~CL
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Spring blooms
“Giving flowers is a disarming way to remember another person, but flowers were first a gift from nature to all of us. They look beautiful, they smell beautiful, and they make us feel beautiful.” Victoria Moran, Younger by the Day This week I spotted a hyacinth and a miniature daffodil starting to bloom in my garden — the first of the spring bulbs to surface this season — so much earlier than usual. Like some of the other bulbs scattered around our yard, the hyacinth was an Easter gift, years ago, and I’m always delighted and amazed to see it reappear every spring. Flowers are living symbols of perseverance and…
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Welcome, April!
“It is the ability to take a joke, not make one, that proves you have a sense of humor.” ~Max Eastman Happy April Fool’s Day! Though I don’t have any pranks or jokes today, my mood always lifts as soon as I flip the wall calendar to April 1st. The sound of the word “April” works like an antidepressant. Mother Nature might have a few tricks up her sleeve, but no matter what the weather brings in the next couple of weeks, my sense of optimism tells me that winter is behind us. I’m thinking about my garden again, making plans, feeling hopeful. Happy weekend to all! ~CL
