"Worry is a misuse of imagination." Dan Zadra

"Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

"In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art." Rumi

"Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free." Rumi

 

“Be humble, for the worst thing in the world is of the same stuff as you; be confident, for the stars are of the same stuff as you.” Nicholai Velimirovic

The Invitation - By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
"Yes."

It doesn't interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the center of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

"He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either." Nietzsche

THE ART OF LISTENING, by Lee Mun Wah 

"to die, but not to perish, is to be eternally present." Buddhist Proverb

1. LISTEN to what is being said and what is not

2. OBSERVE the language of the body

3. Notice how something is being expressed and what words are used

4. What you feel is as important as what you hear and see

5. Be willing to adapt and to adjust to the moment

6. Notice how your body and words express your projections

7. Notice when you are asleep and why

8. Keep breathing. Allow space for humor, warmth, and grief

9. Compassion is one of the highest forms of being present

10. Acknowledge and utilize the wisdom that is in each person

11. Accept and Validate the truthfulness of each person's perception

12. Notice where someone begins and ends

13. Notice what is in the middle of the room

14. Model acceptance and openness to conflict, anger, and pain

15. Acknowledge the courage and intimacy of being vulnerable

16. Be kind to yourself and others