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)