A better life has been achieved when we are no longer trying to achieve a better life. It means that we are content, as we should be, with ourselves and what we have. To be anxious for more or to envy someone else's life or possessions is self-defeating. We are then in a constant state of frustration, always hoping and waiting for more happiness.
So what is important? Enough, not more.
"Think of what you have rather than of what you lack. Of the things you have, select the best and then reflect how eagerly you would have sought them if you did not have them." - Marcus Aurelius
susannah tucker photo
There is, here and now, much to appreciate. There is life itself with friends, family, and everything that is naturally before us. We just have to look around and take it in. Perhaps it is time to make a list of all the good things we have to grateful for.
Are there people in our life that we would miss dearly if they were not here? When we go for a walk don't we see, hear, and smell, many things to appreciate and feel nice about? Like the flowers, trees, birds, and the clouds in the sky. A caterpillar crossing the sidewalk .......a child enthusiastically enjoying that moment in life.
"Whether in favor or in humiliation, be not dismayed. Let your eyes leisurely look at the flowers blooming and falling in your courtyard. Whether you leave or retain your position, take no care. Let your mind wander with the clouds folding and unfolding beyond the horizon." - Hung Tzu-ch'eng (1593-1665)
It just makes good sense to be satisfied and at peace with yourself and others, and to enjoy life now.
...I haven't been much of a presence lately...and I miss writing, I miss sharing with you all.
But Spring is here now and I hope it would cast a soft warm light on me too.... spring is all about change and that's what is happening in my life as we speak...I have made a lot of changes and I decided to put myself first for once
I realized we have to change inside out, or it won't work
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers. (Scott Peck)
....
“After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul. And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning and company doesn’t mean security. And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts and presents aren’t promises. You begin to accept your defeats.
With your head up and your eyes open. With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child. And you learn to build all your roads on today because tomorrow is too uncertain for plans. And futures have a way of falling down in midflight. And after a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.
So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure . . . that you really are strong. That you really do have worth . . . and you learn . . . and you learn . . .”
With the help of knives, tweezers and surgical tools, Brian Dettmer produces some of the finest book sculptures I have ever seen . Dettmer is originally from Chicago, where he studied at Columbia College.
Brian Dettmeruses outdated books, dictionaries and encyclopedias and carves them into incredible sculpture artworks.
With books this beautiful, how can we ever say goodbye to print? Maria Fischer’s Traumgedanken (Thoughts on Dreams) is an intricately designed book of dream theories connected by delicately stitched threads. Maria describes the tapestry of words and illustration as an ‘analogue to a dream, where pieces of reality are assembled to build a story’.
The origin of this extraordinary place is not known, except from tales carried from generation to generation. In any case, the underground settlements remained hidden in very hostile area for centuries, and no one had any knowledge of their existence until 1967. You may have seen some of these houses featured in Star wars :)
"All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried to tell me what it was. I accepted their answers too, though they were often in contradiction and even self-contradictory.
I was naïve. I was looking for myself and asking everyone except myself questions which I, and only I, could answer.
It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: that I am nobody but myself. "