The Only Cure

I believe I know the only cure, which is to
make one's center of life inside of one's self,
not selfishly or excludingly, but with a kind
of unassailable serenity - to decorate one's
inner house so richly that one is content there,
glad to welcome anyone who wants to come
and stay, but happy all the same when one is
inevitably alone.

Edith Wharton

Terrifying State of Being

To take advantage of the opportunities
afforded by solitude, a person must be
able to turn a basically terrifying state
of being into a productive one.

Reed W. Larson

Thriving Alone

The common cure for loneliness
is more connections, yet exercising
our solitude is another option.
Time alone is inevitable - but
can we thrive when it occurs?

Michael Harris

Awakening

Pausing is
the doorway
to awakening.

Patricia Donegan

Well-adjusted

We all want our children
to be well-adjusted;
unfortunately, there's
nothing to be well-adjusted to.

Terence McKenna

Lost Touch

I have already lost touch
with a couple of people
I used to be.

Joan Didion

You Have Played Enough

Half of life is lost in charming others.
The other half is lost in going through
anxieties caused by others. Leave this
play, you have played enough.

Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi

By Your Example

The world is changed
by your example,
not by your opinion.

Paulo Coelho

Born Ready

We are born ready to do things on our own
as well as connect to others.
Both needs - to be alone and to connect -
are essential.

Ester Buchholz

Howl

She who can howl
will find her pack.

Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Real Solitude

The capacity to be alone, properly alone,
is one of life's subtlest skills. Real solitude
is a powerful resource we can call upon -
a crucial ingredient for a rich interior life.
It inspires reflection, allows creativity to
flourish, and improves our relationships
with ourselves and, unexpectedly, with others.

Nicholas Carr

That's Fine

When a bird sings, it doesn't sing
for the advancement of music.
But if somebody stops to listen
and is delighted, that's fine.

Alan Watts

Not Ready

The matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around. What do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it.

Morpheus, "The Matrix"

How Do You Know

I think in relationships, you create an
environment with your own work on
yourself, which you offer to another
human being to use to grow in the way
they need to grow. You keep working -
you become the soil - moist and soft
and receptive so the person can grow
the way they need to grow, because
how do you know how they should grow?

Ram Dass

You Become It

The first kind of love we are familiar with
is the biochemical love, the "lets' make love."
The second kind is romantic love,
"Mary loves John and John loves Mary."
The third quality of love is conscious love,
where you have found that place in yourself
and you become it.

Ram Dass

Learned to Rise

There is no greater threat
to the critics and cynics
than those of us who are willing
to fall because we have learned
to rise.

Brene Brown

Death Poem

Every moment of life is the last,
every poem is a death poem.

Matsuo Basho

Seek What They Sought

Don't follow in the footsteps of
the old poets, seek what they sought.

Matsuo Basho

We Are Surrounded

Physically we are alone, physically.
But in the imagination, we are surrounded
by distant friends and their whisperings are
our science, our mathematics, our religions,
our culture.

Terence McKenna

The Journey is Home

Every day is a journey
and the journey itself
is home.

Matsuo Basho

Just a Witness

A lot of people pass through the thinking I'm a guru
and take enough trips to understand that no,
I was just a witness. I was just a witness.

Terence McKenna

Being Centered

When you meet a being who is centered, you always know it, you can always feel a kind of calm emanation, it always touches you in the place where you feel calm, but: you can't hustle it, you can't make-believe you're calm when you're not. It never works, everybody knows, you know, it's horrible. You must center, find that place inside yourself, and: whatever your dance is, you're doing from that place, always right in there, right in your hridayum.

Ram Dass

Side Effect of Change

We have a hard time committing to a change in behavior because we're wired to against the feeling of discomfort, which is a normal side effect of change. However, if we can work with the discomfort for short period of time, then our comfort zones will expand and we'll feel normal again after our growth

Emily Maroutian

Find Each Other

Dios los crea, y
ellos se juntan.

(God creates them, and
they find each other.)

Spanish Saying