When an artist....

....puts their very first brushstroke on a blank canvas, nobody else can tell what they are intending to paint. It is even possible that the person with the paint brush in their hand may not know. Creative impulses are powerful forces and many of the world's most inventive individuals soon learn that there is more to be gained from taking the odd giant leap of faith than from making a long list of complicated plans. 

The question we must always ask is not, 'where am I?' But, 'where, if I try, can I get to from here?'

Love is a better teacher than duty.    (Albert Einstein)

What's the point....

....in going all the way to one place, just to turn around and go all the way to somewhere else? Unless, that is, you are making deliveries. Or, perhaps, collecting things. We must be very careful before we ever allow ourselves to conclude that a venture or an expedition has been 'a waste of time'. 

If we have acquired but one small piece of information, it may all have been worthwhile. Don't focus too hard on the destination. Try to enjoy the journey. 

Liberation is not deliverance   (Victor Hugo)

When trees....

....shed their leaves in autumn, do we bemoan and fear the loss? We know that, soon enough, things will get back round to how they were before. We ought to be comforted. We should see nature as the generous provider of signs that point to our own capacity for renewal and revival. Yet, because the cyclical nature of our own existence follows a more complex set of rules and rhythms than those simple seasons, we doubt if this will apply to us. 

What's changing in your life, will yet change again.

To oppose something is to maintain it.  (Ursula K Le Guin)

What is worthwhile?....

....There are some people who, when asked such a question, might well start to think, immediately, about which activities are most profitable. Our mercenary society seemingly rewards those who can train their brain to think in terms of pure financial strategy. But how can an existence which has such a base base, be considered worthwhile? 

It takes courage to assess a situation using values that are more spiritual and less material. But such a process may yet prove rewarding in every sense.

Better a tooth out than always aching  (Thomas Paine)

When is a gain....

....really just a loss in disguise? When we think that we are going to benefit from a development, when in fact it is going to cost us so much to take advantage of an apparent opportunity that we might be better off allowing it to pass us by. And when is a loss actually a gain? When we cannot yet see the hidden benefits to letting go of something that we see as an asset but which is actually the cause of many problems.

There are often times when we need to look more closely at whatever it is we think we don't like the look of.

Failure is success if we learn from it.    (Malcolm Forbes)

The past is....

....a cancelled cheque.  The future, a promissory note. The present is the only hard cash that we have, so we should spend it wisely. That's what the wise people say. Of course, we should make the most of the moment. It can't be good to dwell too long on dreams or memories. But that does not mean that if we perceive potential in a proposition or a plan, we cannot invest energy into it.

Faith is a kind of energy. It helps make tomorrow sweeter and it makes today more palatable too. Invest some.

Love is a better teacher than duty.   (Albert Einstein)

Who needs money....

.....when you've got love?  Often, some of us are not so sure we've got either; when we've most likely got both. Maybe not in the kind of quantity that we'd like to have but then, quantity is not the issue. It's quality.

And yes, money is something that can be measured in quality as well as quantity. For where it comes from, how it is acquired, and what it is used for matters far more than just how much of it you have.

It always seems impossible until it's done.  (Nelson Mandela)

Dou you like acting?....

....Actors know how to put on a mask and keep wearing it, day after day, week after week. Good actors can provide an impressive impersonation of any character they care to emulate. That's an option open for any of us, if we really want to put up a pretence. But why should you want to do that? Does it really matter what others think of you? Are issues of superficial status really so important?

You don't have to be anyone today, other than yourself. And that's the you that you are now, not the you that you used to be.

If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it, write it in the sand near the water's edge. 

(Napoleon Hill)

One of the things....

....I can remember hearing a lot of when I was a child was that playground taunt - 'Simple things please simple minds.' Come to think of it, I've heard it quite a few times since.  But a simple mind is not something to be ashamed of; it is something to aspire to. People wrongly confuse simplicity with lack of intelligence.

True depth, wisdom and insight stems from the ability to appreciate that which is subtle and straightforward.

Live each day like it was your last. The past is gone and tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

Let bygones be bygones....

.....Life's too short for rancour and recrimination. Build bridges, don't burn them. Reach out the hand of reconciliation. Let loose the white dove of peace and tolerance. Be big-hearted and generous. And look a little more forgivingly at that person in the mirror, after all, there but for the grace of God goes you! 

Things happen from time to time, we have to learn from them and move on.

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain; but it takes character and self control 
to be understanding and forgiving  (Dale Carnegie)

You need to imagine....

....that you are standing in someone else's shoes. It's easy to find fault with another person's actions, but there may be good reasons why they feel what they feel and want what they want. Arguing against this won't help you make your case. If you hope to communicate an alternative idea, you should consider which words and suggestions would be most persuasive.

You can't make false promises nor can you say something that isn't true. But sweetness and sensitivity will take you a long way in the right direction.

True strength is delicate.   (Louise Berliawsky Nevelson)

Look at a flower....

......Look at a tree. Look at a bird. Look at a mountain. Look at any example you choose to, but look please at nature. How beautiful it is, how magical, how breathtakingly intricate and how awe-inspiringly graceful. Now, look at yourself. Who are you? What are you? You are a part of nature.

You are every bit as magnificent and majestic as that flower, tree, bird or mountain.

Too clever is dumb.   (Ogden Nash)

People see....

.....what they want to see.  How, then, are they ever persuaded of anything? Well, when you need to make someone see things from your point of view, you first need to find out what their point of view is. Then you have to convince them that, in supporting your idea, they are actually confirming their own. 

Now where, you may wonder, does argument enter into any of this? It doesn't! Argument is only for people who actively want to grow further apart.

The pen is the tongue of the mind.   (Horace)

Are you losing...

....your enthusiasm?  Do you feel that you can see through the emperor's new clothes? And would you really, rather be spared this less than edifying view? You can't pull the wool back over your eyes, once it has been raised! You can't narrow your mind, once it has been broadened. You can, though, regain your optimism and your faith, no matter how many times it has been beaten out of you by the relentless march of mediocrity and indifference. 

We seemingly live in a world full of people who aren't just happy to settle for second best, but are thoroughly delighted to embrace it as if it were the finest that life has to offer. We all deserve to be pickier than that.

Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.    (Ray Bradbury)