Showing posts with label Maya Angelou. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maya Angelou. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

INSPIRING MINDS

Collage-Journaling by Nina Naomi

I don't Google "inspirational quotes."  I want to find them myself.  Or create them.  But most often something inspirational finds me, not the other way around.  We're all inspired by something different, aren't we? When something does reach us, we're likely to share.  Maybe one of these will reach you for you to share. I hope so.  

Quote by R. Arnold

I'm not familiar with Arnold, but I love the surprise of being fluent in silence.  We associate fluency with words, not their absence.  But here it is the silence that is eloquent.  The idea of sharing our fatigue naturally with each other without the need to speak is so appealing these days.  It feels like comfort and intimacy.  What could be more welcome?

Tablescape by Nina Naomi

"This is my life.  It is my one time to be me.  I want to experience every good thing." Maya Angelou.  Of course what is meaningful is that this is Maya Angelou speaking.  She has all our admiration.  I was privileged to see her perform once; she sang, talked, read and enchanted.  What is different about what she says is that she doesn't want to experience everything, but only every good thing.  A goal that takes work.  It may have been a wish she was granted, but not without her share of travail.  This may be true for us too.  


"Hope is the thing with feathers /  That perches in the soul - / And sings the tune without the words - / And never stops - at all - "  Emily Dickinson.  There's more to this poem, two more stanzas.  What is amazing is the absolute truth of her every word.  But then that is Dickinson's hallmark, isn't it?  Living in isolation with her extraordinary mind, she carries every subject, every emotion, on her lanyard. We could spend our life reading Emily Dickinson and feel that we had known the world.    

"Nothing is missing.  You are already whole."  Unattributed.  If we are complete, something at one time needed to be filled-in or added.  Completion is a finishing.  A correction of a lack.  But wholeness is different.  We are born whole.  We have no lack, we need not be made better.  I might say, "God made me whole."  

Then there are the smaller things we tell our own hearts to inspire:  "Try something new, my dear," I might say. "Make a friend, or a friend's day," I remind myself. "Reread your favorite book.  Why not?"  "Dig a hole, plant some seeds, water and wait." "Go outside and be amazed."  And always remember, 


Would you care to add?

 




 


 

Friday, August 23, 2019

26 NEW MANTRAS


Mantras can be statements, phrases or words that we repeat frequently as an incantation or invocation.  They can be helpful, insightful words and statements, phrases or sentences that bring us to ourselves and inspire thought or creativity.  These are helping me as summer moves to fall. I bet you have some favorites too.   Nina Naomi

"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." N.H. Kleinbaum Dead Poets Society (b.1948), American author

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English Romantic poet

Doing something usually brings people together; buying something does not.

"Simplicity is the greatest adornment of art."  Albrecht Durer (1471-1528), German painter and printmaker 

Bloom Where You Are

"Bouquet of Flowers in a Vase," Van Gogh, 1890

"Creativity takes Courage." Henri Matisse (1869-1954), French artist

Infinite wonder is around the corner. 

Love your home inside and out. 

"When you read, don't just consider what the author thinks, consider what you think."  N.H. Kleinbaum Dead Poets Society (b.1948), American author

You are exactly where you need to be. . .

"So if you are too tired to speak, sit next to me, because I, too, am fluent in silence."  unknown

"This is my life.  It is my one time to be me."  Maya Angelou (1928-2014) American poet, memoirist, singer, activist  



"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul." Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet



"Writing is a way of thinking - not just feeling but thinking. . . ." Toni Morrison (1931-2019), American author

"I love getting older. . . . Things simply become more and more fascinating." Victoria Erickson (b.?), American writer and writing teacher

Make your life a little easier, especially in your head.

Accept the challenge. 

Be kind to yourself.

Expect a miracle.


"Remorse is memory awake. . ." Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), American poet

Desiring little brings more riches than acquiring much. 

"To find yourself, think for yourself." Socrates (470-399 BC), Greek philosopher

"Creativity is magic.  Don't examine it too closely."  Edward Albee (1928-2016), American playwright 

Create every day.


The magic is in you.

"What a Wonderful Life I've Had!  I only wish I'd realized it sooner." Colette (1873-1954), French novelist