When moved by the wonders of others, the soul in our bodies is awakened, and acts of reverence often quickly follow.*
Dacher Keltner

Allow yourself to be wonderful
so that we may all benefit – you
awaken our souls.

Reverence is our best response –
Deep respect and gratitude for who you are and for
what you bring.

This is where I begin my day, with some or other
variant of this theme –
If this is stuck then I am very glad.

*Dacher Keltner’s Awe.

That urge is love. Love for the material, love for the work, love for our brothers and sisters to whom we will offer our work as a gift.*
Steven Pressfield

*Steven Pressfield’s Do the Work.

Despite the revelation of the remnant, those in the larger group almost always blame the ones they consider “less than” for whatever they are lacking, a tragic tendency we now call “blaming the victim.” Failure in almost any form is considered “your own fault” in many upwardly mobile or fully capitalistic society.*
Richard Rohr

There are two ways to be wealthy – to get everything you want or to want everything you have.**
Ryan Holiday

The leftovers are those who are not valued
or deemed to have nothing of value to bring or offer,
The tragedy being that those so labeled or marked
tend to agree by believing they have nothing others may want,
But everyone has something of value to contribute.

The wisdom of creation is directly accessible to us in our everyday experience – the universe dwells inside us.^

Everyone contains some valuable element or aspect
of the universe within them;
This is our wildness, our truest self, larger and more valuable than
our educational, employment, or political selves,
Forgotten and unknown to us.

If we establish a regular practice of intentional solitude, we invite a conversation between ourselves and the wild soul that comes near to our shore. We do this not only to “be near” the wild soulful nature, but as in the mystical tradition since time out of mind, the purpose of this union is for us us to ask questions, and for the soul to advise.^^

More than ever we struggle to be alone
in our quietness, listening for the
questions of the soul, questions that echo the universe’s
What we will do with your life? – but here is an experiment:
To find our secluded place to be quiet awhile and listen.*^

In fact … wealth undermines everyday awe and our capacity to see the moral beauty of others, the wonders of nature, and the sublime in music or art.^*

*Richard Rohr’s The Tears of Things;
**Ryan Holiday’s The Daily Stoic;
^Jean Houston’s The Wizard of Us;
^^Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run With the Wolves;
*^Perhaps beginning with ten minutes of seclusion to try Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ challenge for noticing the questions
^*Dacher Keltner’s Awe.

The universe, began 13.7 billion years ago with a great flaring forth of light. That is when I began and that is when you began.*
Philip Newell

Character isn’t fate or destiny. Character isn’t DNA, decided before birth. Character is the result of your little choices and little actions.**
Derek Sivers

A lot of work has gone into
making you you, though there are
some finishing touches required
which only you can make –
No matter what you think is happening
around you and upon you
through all those events and people,
It’s all about you making your choices,
And here’s another day to make a few more.

*Philip Newell’s The Great Search;
**Derek Sivers’ Hell Yeah or No.

Living a good story is … more like writing a good story. And writing a good story happens when a writer has created the disciplined habit of sitting down.*
Donald Miller

The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.**
Jessica Hische

Maybe that thing you find yourself pondering or playing with
when the “main thing” stalls or finds itself in the doldrums
needs to be given some serious time:
You may have found your other story, the really
good one.

*Donald Miller’s Hero On a Mission;
**Austin Kleon’s blog: Productive procrastination.

“Connais-toi pour t’améliorer” (“Know yourself to improve yourself”).*
Alain de Botton

Old opinions shouldn’t define who you are in the future … But if you avoid pain, you avoid improvement. Avoid embarrassment, and you avoid success. Avoid risk, and you avoid reward … Remember the classic story arc of the hero’s journey. The crisis – the most painful moment – defines the hero … If you avoid pain, you avoid what you really want.**
Derek Sivers

You create your room
of requirement when you identify where you are
and where you could be – both are necessary,
The latter being identified when you take stock of your talents and
energies and values;^
The fun stuff doesn’t begin when we get to perfect, rather it opens up
When we embrace our imperfection but also discover
there’s far more to us than we thought (and, there’s far more to others, too) –
And then we have to move to action this,
For hero think: person willing to
step into uncomfortable one step at a time.

*Alain de Botton’s Religion For Atheists;
**Derek Sivers’ Hell Yeah and No, and How To Live;
^I can help with this – geoffreybaines@gmail.com;
^^I’m pregnable, I’m pervious, Imperfect?.

The truth about vulnerability or dependency is that’s who we are. And so I try to rally the lovesick and the brokenhearted.*
Adam Kahane

Blessed are the vulnerable
for they shall experience the fullness of life,
Blessed are the dependent
for they shall create communitas,**
Blessed are the lovesick
for they shall become a movement of love,
Blessed are the brokenhearted
for they shall become our healers.

When we seek to be impervious to these,
We deny ourselves – denying or avoiding pain leads to
the evasion of joy, yet embracing these in ourselves
and in others, opens us to as much
devotion and bliss and beauty and awe as
we can humanly cope with –
And we can cope with a lot.

And if stand or sit or be
with the vulnerable and
dependent and
brokenhearted and
lovesick, then …

*Adam Kahane’s Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems;
**Communitas here refers to a group of people who find their bonding and togetherness around a common purpose.

But you’re not under the circumstances. You are the circumstances.*
Seth Godin

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.**
Walt Whitman

May you understand that
you are more-than-enough circumstances to
be who you are and to
do what you must do, that
the only difference you need is how
you see yourself –
This is the gift of humility:
not having to high nor
too low an opinion of yourself, but
a true opinion;
So Walt Whitman is not only “upping” himself as he dares to
celebrate and sing himself,
He is celebrating and singing everyone –
Indeed, only as he does so can he fully
be himself … and I can be myself and
you can be yourself.

God, as I have come to understand God through Jesus, is happy to remain anonymous or to be named in a wide variety of ways or even to go incognito.^

*Seth Godin’s The Song of Significance;
**Dacher Keltner’s Awe;
^Brian McLaren’s Faith After Doubt.

Trying to flee from insecurity to security, from uncertainty to certainty, is an attempt to find an exit from the very system that makes us who we are in the first place.*
Oliver Burkeman

The difficulty is a sign that you’re on an important part of the journey.**
Gabe Anderson

The universe may resist,
But it also helps us;
I desire security and certainty as much as anyone,
But I sometimes wonder what I might be missing when I’m not prepared to play
with the unstable and unknown,
Perhaps that blur is life
passing me by.
.

*Oliver Burkeman’s The Antidote;
**Gabe Anderson’s blog: Freddie and You.