Summer

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.”

 -John Lubbock

Appreciate

"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."

-Confucius

Yesterday morning started out bad, but then I walked into my room and found it filled with sunlight, and saw my foster kitten looking out the window at the roses. It was so beautiful and perfect, a reminder to appreciate the things we have, like sunshine, kittens, and roses :) And it turned out that I had a wonderful day, wandering around Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park with my best friends in the world. 

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”

- Frederick Keonig

Change

Changing, Growing, Living...

    “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.”

- Gandhi

It's easy to get overwhelmed by the number of things that are wrong in the world. According to the Humane Society of the United States, 4 million cats and dogs are euthanized every year. I can't save the lives of 4 million animals, but I can save the life of one kitten, and that matters. Every good deed, every step in the right direction is important, no matter how small, or seemingly insignificant. Even the biggest problems must be solved one step at a time, with everyone doing their own small part to make a big difference. The sooner that people realize this, the sooner we can do something about the issues we face.

One Cloud

The weather has ruined my plans for today. It will probably ruin my plans for this weekend, but I have a choice. Will I let it just change my plans or will I let it ruin my day? You only have as much control of your happiness as you give yourself. You can choose to let yourself get sucked into the bad things or you can choose to accept that things are just going to be different than you had planned, and make the most of what you have.

"Don't let one cloud obliterate the whole sky."  ~Anais Nin 

“The sun shines not on us, but in us.”

- John Muir 

Blossom

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”

- Anais Nin

Growing, changing, learning, becoming who I am... learning to blossom

Friendship

"Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things."

- Anonymous

Friendship is so beautiful. The joy of spending time together, the comfort of being who you are, the times when you start laughing for no reason and can't stop, hugs, support, being there for the good and bad, talking about anything and everything... Thank you to all my wonderful friends.

Nature

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” 

- John Muir

Spring

Spring fills our yard with birds, blossoms and new leaves, color, and beauty. The green of the grass and leaves, the scent of blossoms on our fruit trees, the hummingbirds that zip from flower to flower, and the multitude of tiny, lively chickadees flying around and calling to each other.

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”

- Anne Bradstreet

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

Confucius

Color

Spent a fun day with my family in San Francisco, and enjoyed all the different, beautiful colors of the city. Uncle Chris and Aunt Sheryl - missing you already and looking forward to May!

"Colors are the smiles of nature."

- Leigh Hunt

  

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Henry David Thoreau

Lessons from Nature

There are so many beautiful lessons that things in nature can teach us by example. Like this flower, reach for the sky, cherish the warmth and comfort of the sun, grow tall and proud, lift yourself up, sink your roots deep into the nourishing soil, and don't be afraid to open your petals and show your beautiful self...

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better

 to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.” 

― Marilyn Monroe

Art

Art - somewhere I can direct my focus, releasing the jumble of thoughts in my mind through my pencil, forgetting everything else for a while, and bringing peace to my mind, if only temporary. 

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. 

- Thomas Merton 

Dewdrops

Dewdrops - a beauty that so many people miss as they live their lives at their eye level, wrapped up in their technology or their worries, alive but not living. So many people, myself included (though I'm working on it), spend too much time dwelling on all the bad things, all the things wrong with their life. Instead, we all need to take time to notice all the little, beautiful, amazing things - like dewdrops.

"In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous."

- Aristotle

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away."

- Maya Angelou