The universe is not a closed system, It is open, participatory – unfolding in real time. It does not speak in words, but in patterns and presence. It reveals itself through relation.* AleXander McManus
One of the simplest ways for us to see more of what we are not seeing is to engage with people who are positioned at other places in the system and are therefore seeing things from different perspectives.** Adam Kahane
Time for exploring awe gardening walking listening being opening conversation play discovery valuing imagining collaboration making more.
(Something strange happened with the post this morning, so I’m reposting.)
It is here where the synergistic interplay of courage, wisdom, and generosity make us most creative.* Erwin McManus
The person who is at ease within finds every other space larger and more enjoyable.** James Clear
May you be your higher self today, At home with your talents, your energies, your values, not having to prove yourself, being selfless rather than taking risks, generous instead of vaunting resources, wise rather than clever.
It’s while it’s being alive that life is immortal, while it’s still alive.* Marguerite Duras
Sufis speak of their nafs, or the false self that takes the place of the soul. Somewhat more complicated than the concept of the ego, the nafs refers to all that in ourselves which has become an object for others or for ourselves. It is our visible self, the tangible, public aspect of a personality.** James Carse
We will not succumb to the Matrix, Life is too precious to live behind some prosopon worn to ourselves and others, nor will be force others to be less than they can be: May each of us be unexpected.
Learn how to write anywhere, any time, in any conditions, Starting from nowhere. All you really need is your head, the one indispensable requirement.* Verlyn Klinkenborg
Why shouldn’t an anonymous career spent quietly helping a few people get to qualify as a meaningful way to spend one’s time? Why shouldn’t an absorbing conversation, an act of kindness, or an exhilarating hike get to count? Why adopt a definition that rules such things out.** Oliver Burkeman.
Because this is not only about writing, I’ll add body to head – all we need to begin something; We learn as we go, we do, we wander in playfulness, Which leads to more doing, more possibility – Whatever piques our interest, Develops our skills, And makes a difference.
Mind-wandering can derail us from urgent work but offers the gift of making prospection possible. When we successfully imagine the future, it can come alive in our sense in the present.^
Life has much uneasiness; that is certain. Always remember that and it will never surprise you.* James Boswell
You really learn only when you’re surprised. If you’re not surprised, then everything is fitting into your existing thought patterns. So to get smarter, you need to get surprised, think in new ways, and deeply understand different perspectives.** Derek Sivers
I try to act as though I’m not surprised, but if I’m prepared to be open and reflect on what has just happened, maybe my knowledge and understanding can grow – though the real measure is what I may do with this … I might even surprise you.
Life is not short but we make it so, nor do we have any lack of it, but we are wasteful of it.* Seneca
Whenever you are stuck searching for the optimal plan, remember: Getting started changes everything.** James Clear
Eternity is presence to those things most meaningful to you, is now, and to find and move “here” sooner rather than later is critical, otherwise life reduces, dissipates – I’ve learned the hard way.
When we arrive on earth, we are provided with no map for our life journey. Only gradually, as our identity forms and we get an inkling of who we are, do possibilities emerge that call us.* John O’Donohue
To be a good human is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond dour own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame. That says something very important about the ethical life: that it is based on a trust in the uncertainty, and on a willingness to be exposed.** Martha Nussbaum
Whilst no one possesses a completely blank piece of paper on which to write their story, It is increasingly possible to select the environments we wish to expose ourselves to; These may be best delineated as certain and uncertain, The former leading to a closedness, the latter to an openness, One leading to a smaller world, the other to a very large world of worlds, One excluding others, the other increasingly including the other.
I will not live an unloved life, I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise …^
*John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us (Dan McAdams – The Stories We Live By – writes similarly: Existential philosophers say that each of us is “thrown” into the world at birth at a particular point in time and space, with certain inborn capabilities and limitations, and our personal challenge is to make something meaningful out of our lives; **Oliver Burkeman’s The Antidote; ^Dawna Markova, from the Northumbria Community‘s Morning Prayer Day 18.
Nothing is lost to us. Everything that happens to us in the world passes into us. It all becomes part of the inner Temple of the soul and it can never be lost.* John O’Donohue
Today’s world is unpredictable, and this is as stable as it will ever be again.** Seth Godin
If we’re waiting for things to get better then we may be here for a while, and that just feels like a waste of time; Perhaps we’re more than enough to keep moving – Even the difficult things we’ve experienced, When given space and kindly valued – rather than fighting against them or trying to ignore them – Somehow bring enablement.
THIN|SILENCE 
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