The best thing I read today: "Attention is..."

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Simone Weil

The Best Thing I Read Today... "A certain darkness"

The Best Thing I Read Today: "two things define you..."

The Best Thing I Read today... "To hear the music"

The best thing I read today... "What matters"

The Best Thing I Read Today... "Success"

"One of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. A lot of the time our ideas about what it would mean to live successfully are not our own. They’re sucked in from other people. And we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing, etcetera. These are hugely powerful forces that define what we want and how we view ourselves. What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but that we should make sure that they are our own. We should focus in on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we’re truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough not getting what you want, but it’s even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted all along.” Alain de Botton in a TED EX conference

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... "break the pattern"

"It’s curious how good it feels when you take risks and live. Shoot through the cold wet and count the hail by the red marks on your back. You need to break the pattern to feel truly alive. Yell in the street or go somewhere very unfamiliar. Hug a stranger. Be spontaneous. This is your only life, don’t waste your days." Nirrimi.

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... "Seeing the grass green"

There's a girl running with boots on.
Here's a me watching with eyes.

There is a grass green and seen.
Here is me seeing the grass green.

Trees - so treeful.
Me so meful.

What does it mean to be green and a tree?
What does it mean to me to be me?

Paul Matthews

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... "The Story of Emerson College"

'Every person who came to Emerson in some way touched it and changed it. Each year had its own biography. It was never an institution to which people came and passed through without leaving any mark on it.' - Michael Spence 

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... "Giver of gifts"

Giver of gifts,
thank you.

When I was young

and knew nothing,

I asked for the sun.

You gave me a candle

which I put in my pocket,

and now…

a lifetime later,

I found the match.

John Squadra

Inspiration: the best thing I read today...

"You're only here for a short visit. 

Don't hurry, don't worry.
And be sure to smell the flowers along the way" 

Walter Hagen

Inspiration: the best thing I read today...

There will be dozens

Of people

Who will take your 

Breath away

But the one

Who reminds you

To breathe

 Is the one you 

Should keep.

(Author unknown)

Inspiration: the best thing I read today...

“Not to judge. All faults are the same. There is only one fault: incapacity to feed upon light, for where capacity to do this has been lost all faults are possible.”  Simone Weil in "Gravity and Grace"

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... when we walk to the edge

When we walk to the edge
of all the light we have
and take the step into the
darkness of the unknown,
we must believe that
one of two things will happen....
There will be something
solid for us to stand on
or we will be taught to fly.

Patrick Overton

Inspiration: the best thing I read today... Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver, "New and Selected Pomes, Vol 1"

Inspiration: the best thing I read today (in a japanese restaurante, on my way to the ladies room!)

Inspiration: the best thing I read this week... The things I did before I found out what I was meant to do

"The other day I was looking through all the drawers of supplies in my office. There are drawers for jewelry-making tools, screen-printing inks, calligraphy pens, yarns for knitting, fabric and needles for sewing, charcoal for drawing, and a ton more supplies for hobbies I once had at some point in my life. They made me wonder if I've been too fickle. Did I think I was going to become a jewelry designer, a calligrapher, a professional knitter, an artist, or a clothing designer? Maybe. Did I buy a ton of supplies only to never use them again? Yes.

At some point while I took at stab at doing these things and using all these tools, I realized they were fun but not meant for me in the long run. As you try new things, you learn what you like (and also don't like) about every hobby and experience—and all of that leads you closer and closer to the thing (or things) you are ultimately meant to do. In my case, I figured out that I love designing products (but not crafting them by hand), I enjoy interacting with people directly on-line or in small groups (but hate schmoozy and non-personal "networking"), and love being able to get my ideas across in various formats (like blogging, books, and videos).

So, I guess what I'm saying is get out there and learn about stuff (especially for those of you who feel lost in your career or your job path because you haven't found "it" yet). It's better to experience and try new things you might be interested in—even if it's just out of curiosity—then to sit and wonder what might have been. Because in some way, it will all lead you to making your mark in the way that only you can."

Joy Deangdeelert Cho

Read it here

Stars, poems and socks

What better place to take in a beautiful poem, sentence? I collect the ones that stricke me as beauiful or meaningfull on a notebook but today I thought of hanging some of them on the front door (inside) so that they could be read by people walking out the door or arriving to our home. 

And what better way to enjoy a comfortable evening at home than to wear your (first ever) handmade pair of socks?