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No comparison
“When you are content to be yourself and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” ~Lao Tzu Ours is a culture of competition. We have televised sports 24/7 — not to mention countless game shows, dancing and singing competitions, and cooking and baking contests. Whatever you like to do, there’s probably a trophy for it. There’s another team to conquer; another score to beat. To be your best, you gotta top somebody else. It’s all fun and games, of course — unless we take it too seriously. Comparing and competing can be toxic. If we’re constantly trying to outperform someone else, we might lose track of what makes each…
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“Sweet Darkness”
“You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in.” — David Whyte Many of you told me how much you enjoyed the post featuring Mary Oliver’s “Invitation” this week — so I’ll continue our celebration of National Poetry Month with an old favorite. Sometimes the right poem can work its magic immediately. And sometimes it depends on what you’re going through at the time you read it. David Whyte’s “Sweet Darkness” is one such poem for me. Revisiting it today, I am struck this time by the sheer power of its last three lines. This heart-stopping poem reminds us that loneliness could be an invitation to…
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An invitation
“A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” ~Robert Frost April is National Poetry Month — and I can’t let another day pass without celebrating it. While I’ve featured some of my favorite poetry here in the past, today I wanted to share a poem that’s new to me. Sometimes, when I need inspiration, I’ll pull a poetry collection from the shelf and open it randomly to a page. Then I read the poem two or three times to fully experience it. Today, I turned to Mary Oliver’s 456-page Devotions anthology, letting the book fall open where it would. Here’s the beautiful poem I found … Invitation By Mary…
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Everything you love
“I am all the things I have ever loved.” ~Toni Morrison, American author “List Yourself” is one of my favorite writing practices, and it’s even easier than journaling. Pick up a brand-new journal and fill its pages with lists of all kinds — your favorite books and films, your biggest accomplishments, pet peeves, favorite recipes, people who’ve inspired you, places you’d like to visit, and so on. The practice of list-making might seem simplistic, but it can lead to self-awareness and discovery. When you make lists of all the things you love, for instance, you’ll see a unique self-portrait taking shape on the page, just as today’s quote suggests. Furthermore,…
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Speak up, make a difference
“Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.” ~Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays American author Henry David Thoreau wasn’t afraid to speak out. Staying silent in the face of injustice was an act of compliance, he believed. Thoreau campaigned against slavery and also served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, a venture that put him at personal risk. A born naturalist, he paved the way for American environmentalists to protect our natural resources. Thoreau’s courage has motivated me since my college years.…
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