"Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love."

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

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tulips

“Everything changed the day she figured out there was exactly enough time for the important things in her life.”

- Brian Andreas

the ocean

My soul is full of longing for the secrets of the sea, and the heart of the great ocean sends a thrilling pulse through me.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It is not possible to get all our definitions from outside and maintain a spiritual integrity. We cannot look to others to tell us who we are, give us validity, give us our meaning and still have any idea of who we are. When we look to others for our identity, we spend most of our time and energy trying to be what they want us to be. And we are so fearful of being found out. We truly believe it is possible to make others see what we want them to see, and we exhaust ourselves in the process.

- Anne Wilson Schaef

Mine eyes that are enamored of things fair
And this my soul that for salvation cries
May never heavenward rise
Unless the sight of beauty lifts them there.
Down from the loftiest star
A splendor falls on earth,
And draws desire afar
To that which gave it birth.
So love and heavenly fire and counsel wise
The noble heart finds most in starlike eyes.

- Michelangelo

lazy mornings

“Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.” 


- Brian Andreas

you will always have some excuse
not to live your life.

chuck palahniuk

happy mothers day!

As I read this quote, I couldn't help but think of the all the absolutely inspiring women I've been able to photograph for the infertility and pregnancy loss project. There is a beauty that comes with trials. If you are reading this and suffering in any way, shape or form... take this to heart:

“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern.  Beautiful people do not just happen.”

― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross






Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there, and especially to those who wish you were.

quotes

I've had a little "quote journal" that I've been keeping up since I was in junior high. I've always felt power in words. It is amazing to me that people can arrange these words, these arbitrary things that we've attached meaning to, in ways that can make me stop and think. There are some that help vocalize something I've been feeling or thinking. There are some that help me see something in an entirely new light. Then there are some that fill me with power, ambition and hope.

The beginning of the journal has mostly cheesy quips, sayings that you've heard a thousand times. As the pages get deeper, though, so do the words. There is a poem of Michelangelo's that we sang in choir my senior year. I still remember the vibrations of the music when I read those words. There is that quote my AP English teacher wrote on the white board one spring day that resonated with me. There are quotes that lift me spiritually.

I came across this quote while reading one of my favorite blogs (she is quote-worthy herself) and I loved it. It has stayed with me for a few weeks now. I repeat it to myself when I find myself following the crowd so I won't have to stand out. Standing out, after all, is much scarier. People look at you and I don't like people looking at me.