I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful.
If not, it can't be helped.
-Fritz Perls
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.
-Leonard Cohen
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
-Albert Camus
The Guest House by Jellaludin Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
“The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.
"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"
"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
-Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king.
-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
I wish upon you peace. I wish upon you grace. I wish for you less of what you want and more of what you need. I wish upon you an old life with a heart that stays young. But most of all I wish upon you love.
I wish upon you truth when all you feel is doubt. I hope you know that an open mind still knows what to shut things out. I wish upon you a brave heart that will always rise above. But most of all I wish upon you love.
As the sun sets the moon begins to rise. So even in the darkness you'll find the light. You'll find the light. You'll find the light.
I wish upon you an easy life. I wish upon you hard times. I hope you know that both joy and pain each need their moment to shine. I wish you ears that are quick to listen, that you're slow to use that tongue. But most of all I wish upon you love.
As the sun sets the moon begins to rise. So even in the darkness you'll find the light. You'll find the light. You'll find the light. You'll find the light. Yes, even in the darkness you'll find the light.
-David Ramirez, Find the Light
I hope to walk with you in the darkness and perhaps have the honor of helping you find the light.
May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul. May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe. May you have respect for your individuality and difference. May you realize you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful and eternal happening. May you learn to see your self with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees you in every moment. Amen.
-John O'Donohue, Blessing for Solitude
