words we live by
"A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
wise uber driver in los angeles
"If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear, people who can open to the web of life that called us into being, and who can rest in the vitality of that larger body."
Joanna Macy
"But we shouldn't be concerned about trees purely for material reasons, we should also care about them because of the little puzzles and wonders they present us with. Under the canopy of the trees, daily dramas and moving love stories are played out. Here is the last remaining piece of Nature, right on our doorstep, where adventures are to be experienced and secrets discovered. And who knows, perhaps one day the language of trees will eventually be deciphered, giving us the raw material for further amazing stories. Until then, when you take your next walk in the forest, give free rein to your imagination-in many cases, what you imagine is not so far removed from reality, after all!”
The Hidden Life of Trees | Peter Wohlleben
inward
much of my confusion and sadness came from being disconnected from myself. the greatest journey i have taken so far is the one where i ended the alienation between me and all that i am, the one where i connected my light and my darkness, where i united what i wanted to know with what i did not want to face. only through this union and truthfulness did i begin to feel at home within my own being.
young pueblo
“While we live our bodies are moving particles of the earth, joined inextricably both to the soil and to the bodies of other living creatures. It is hardly surprising, then, that there should be some profound resemblances between our treatment of our bodies and our treatment of the earth.”
The Unsettling of America | Wendell Berry
“Slowing down allows us to practice empathy ... it’s not just about us finding balance with nature, it’s about nature also finding a balance with us."
Jon Ching | quoted on the Mushroom Hour, Episode 137
"A life without love is of no account. don’t ask yourself what kind of love you should seek, spiritual or material, divine or mundane, eastern or western ... divisions only lead to more divisions. love has no labels, no definitions. it is what it is, pure and simple. love is the water of life. And a lover is a soul of fire! the universe turns differently when fire loves water.
40 Rules of Love (A Novel of Rumi)
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping."
Hubert Reeves
“Heal yourself with the light of the sun and the rays of the moon. With the sound of the river and the waterfall. With the swaying of the sea and the fluttering of birds. Heal yourself with mint, neem, and eucalyptus. Sweeten with lavender, rosemary, and chamomile. Hug yourself with the cocoa bean and a hint of cinnamon. Put love in tea instead of sugar and drink it looking at the stars. Heal yourself with the kisses that the wind gives you and the hugs of the rain. Stand strong with your bare feet on the ground and with everything that comes from it. Be smarter every day by listening to your intuition, looking at the world with your forehead. Jump, dance, sing, so that you live happier. Heal yourself, with beautiful love, and always remember ... you are the medicine.”
Maria Sabina
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.
The Journey | Mary Oliver