Monday, August 31, 2015

Quotable Monday: Finding Beauty

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."
Ralph Waldo Emerson




"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open."
Jawaharlal Nehru

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
Confucius

Monday, August 24, 2015

Quotable Monday: leaders

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

- John Quincy Adams

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Photo Friday: A Kiss




I spent some time at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia. A beautiful time with some gorgeous work. 


Monday, August 17, 2015

Quotable Monday: Shakespeare


"All the world's a stage, and all of the men and women are merely players."
-"As You Like It" Act II, Scene VII

Photo: The Shakespeare Memorial in front of the Free Library in Philadelphia, PA. 

Monday, August 10, 2015

Quoteable Monday: Clearing Space

“A simple life is not seeing how little we can get by with—that’s poverty—but how efficiently we can put first things first. . . . When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar. (148)”
Victoria Moran, Lit From Within: Tending Your Soul For Lifelong Beauty     


“The point is, you need to distinguish between what honestly moves you and what the world is telling you should melt your heart. If something doesn’t reach you on a personal level, let it go. It’s hard enough dealing with everything that does.”
Judi Culbertson, The Clutter Cure: Three Steps to Letting Go of Stuff, Organizing Your Space & Creating the Home of Your Dreams  

“If a gift has come to you wrapped in obligations and tied tightly with a ribbon of guilt, then it's not really a gift at all. It's a manipulation. A gift should be something freely given that enhances your life and reminds you lovingly of the giver. If it's not, you simply should not give it a place in your home.”
Peter Walsh


Monday, July 27, 2015

Quotable Monday: Cosmos

"Asteroids have us in our sight. The dinosaurs didn't have a space program, so they're not here to talk about this problem. We are, and we have the power to do something about it. I don't want to be the embarrassment of the galaxy, to have had the power to deflect an asteroid, and then not, and end up going extinct."



~ Neil deGrasse Tyson


"The partisanship surrounding space exploration and the retrenching of U.S. space policy are part of a more general trend: the decline of science in the United States. As its interest in science wanes, the country loses ground to the rest of the industrialized world in every measure of technological proficiency."

~Neil deGrasse Tyson

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Photo Friday: Tranquil Waters

I have been a little off my game after coming down with a summer cold...
Catching up from missing Friday's post.


Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Quotable Monday: How to live

“As I once said to one of my brothers, ‘This is your life, not a rehearsal.’ Somewhere there’s a score being kept, so you have an obligation to live life as well as you can, be as engaged as you can. The human condition means that we can zone out and forget what the hell we’re doing. So the secret is to have a sense of yourself, your real self, your unique self. And not just once in a while, or once a day, but all through the day, the week and life. You know what they say: ‘Ain’t no try, ain’t nothing to it but to do it.’


- Bill Murray

Monday, June 29, 2015

Quotable Monday: Independence

"I think the girl who is able to earn her own living and pay her own way should be as happy as anybody on earth. The sense of independence and security is very sweet."
- Susan B. Anthony

"The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation are built: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence."
- Eddie Rickenbacker

"The virtues of science are skepticism and independence of thought."
- Walter Gilbert


Monday, June 8, 2015

Quotable Monday: Summertime

"Summer is the annual permission slip to be lazy. To do nothing and have it count for something. To lie in the grass and count the stars. To sit on the branch and study the clouds." 
Regina Brett

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability."
Sam Keen

"I am a summer baby, so I usually have my birthday as a good summer memory."
Sloanw Crosley 

Monday, April 27, 2015

Quotable Monday: Letting Go

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."
 
Thich Nhat Hanh
 
 
"Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress."
Melody Beattie
 

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Quotable Monday: Beauty & Acceptance

“The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman is seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. True beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It's the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows & the beauty of a woman only grows with passing years.”

 ~ Audrey Hepburn


"I hope that I get to see you love what you are. To know yourself as gift and worth and truth. That you see what a huge thing it is to have the courage to break your own heart. That you have chosen wholeness — even when it has shattered you.... And that you will one day see that you can be whole and broken in the exact same spaces, that they nestle side by side — and that this is the way of things. Not your punishment for wrongdoing, or for not trying hard enough — but just the way of things.

That you can stand and look at yourself in a mirror and see your goodness right there, see the worth of what you bring on the surface of your skin, just like I do. That you trust there is brilliance to come. That you own what is yours to own, both the bad and the good. That you do not insist on owning it all. It was never all yours to hold."
~ Jeanette LeBlanc

Monday, April 6, 2015

Quotable Monday: Renewal

Spring and Easter always remind me of the word renewal more than New Year's day does. I feel an energy course through my veins, I search out new hobbies and I look for ways to improve my little corner of the world. This year there is a sense that the improvement will be much on me than a garden or buying something new to finish decorating my house. These days I am looking for things that enrich and renew my soul.

"“I couldn't imagine living in a state that didn't reach the 

ocean. It was a giant reset button. You could go to the edge of 

the land and see infinity and feel renewed.” 

“What is the scent of water?"

"Renewal. The goodness of God coming down like dew.” 

“focus your intention on what your building, not whats 

already fallen away.” 

“Life is like a flowing stream; once the flow stops, our life 

becomes stagnant. When we remove the dams and debris we 

have accumulated and encourage it to flow freely, it becomes

 a source of sustenance and renewal and growth for us and 

for all with whom we share it.” 

Relax, Recharge, Renew, Restored.” 

Monday, March 16, 2015

Quotable Monday: Tis a fine day to be Irish!

Irish sayings:

May you have the hindsight to know where you have been, the foresight to know where you are going and the insight to know when you have gone to far!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Monday, March 9, 2015

Quotable Monday: leadership

 "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."

 "Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front."

-Nelson Mandela


Monday, March 2, 2015

Quotable Monday: Motivation

"Make each day a masterpiece"

- John Wooden


"Out on the roads, there is fitness and self discovery and the person we were destined to be."

- George Sheehan

"Go fast enough to get there but slow enough to see."

- Jimmy Buffet


Monday, February 23, 2015

Quotable Monday: Perfection, Disorganization and Candles

I spent part of the weekend sorting through items. The last boxes of a move or in this case many moves. Those last boxes wound up in storage after each move. I am bound and determined to go through of them and keep what is worth keeping, giving away what can be donated and trashing what needs to be thrown out. It is a very slow but interesting exercise.

“One of the advantages of being disorganized is that one is always having surprising discoveries.”
― A.A. Milne
 
 
"Organization aids peace of mind, creativity and time effectiveness.
Disorganization causes stress, fractured thinking and wasted time.
To stay organized you must develop systems unique to your situation, whether it is handling paperwork, managing email, conducting meetings, using a follow-up file or scheduling in a planner"
 ~ Harold Taylor

Transformation is a slow process... and I need to remind the impatient side of me of the following:
 
“It's not about perfect. It's about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that's where transformation happens. That's how change occurs.”
― Jillian Michaels
 
Oh about those boxes... at least three of them had candles or candle accessories....guess it is time to burn some candles!!!
 
"I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage."
-Erma Bombeck
 

Monday, February 16, 2015

Quotable Monday: Presidential Ponderings


"Some people call me an idealist. Well, that is the way I know am an American. America is the only idealistic nation in the world."

Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933 -1945)



"You can not stop the spread of an idea by passing a law against it." 


Harry S. Truman (1945 - 1953)

"There is nothing wrong with America that the faith, love of freedom, intelligence and energy of her citizens cannot cure."

Dwight David Eisenhower (1953 - 1961)


"You ain't learnin' nothin' when you're talkin'."

Lyndon Baines Johnson (1963 - 1969)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Quotable Monday: Groundhog's Day

"Man in Hallway: Think it'll be an early spring? 
Phil: Winter, slumbering in the open air, wears on its smiling face a dream... of spring. Ciao. 

From the movie "Groundhog's Day" (1993)

Monday, January 26, 2015

Quotable Monday: Winter Doldrums

We are well into winter and with the holidays clearly behind us, I look for things that make the gray days of this season more enjoyable.

"Winter dressing is all about having chic outerwear."
George Kotsiopoulos
 
"In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer."
Albert Camus
 
 
"Even in winter an isolated patch of snow has a special quality."
Andy Goldsworthy
 
"In this part of the world, only Maine gives winter the welcome and the worship it should have."
Tom Allen


 

Monday, January 19, 2015

Quotable Monday: MLK Day

"Only in the darkness can you see the stars."
Martin Luther King, Jr. 

Monday, January 12, 2015

Quotable Monday: Character

"Goodness is about character - integrity, honestly, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is how we treat other people."

Dennis Prager

"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what other think you are."

John Wooden

"Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking."

Jackson  Browne

Monday, January 5, 2015

Quotable Monday: The First Monday of a new year!

“Mondays are the start of the work week which offer new beginnings 52 times a year!”
― David Dweck