she tells the truth.

There have always been women who remember the old ways.
Women who hold within them the memory of time in the very beginning when women were honored. Women who refuse to please others by becoming smaller than they are. Women who take up space with their thoughts and feelings, their needs and desires, their anger and their dreams. Women from every age. Wild women. Spinster women. Wise women. Rebellious women. Women who love. Midwives. Witches. Healers. Activists. Women full of themselves, their ideas, their stories, their anger, their passion.
You who stand apart, come close. You who are out of touch, come near. They do not throw stones, instead they give you flowers and embrace you with joy.
They sing to you.


{i just found this in an old notebook. not sure where it came from.}

Where are we going?

We are going up to the city that glitters
Carrying a pencil, a pillow, a blue tin cup.
And nothing that weighs us down.
And nothing that weighs us down.
A thousand people will pass us by
With their frowns and flickers and fancy shoes.
We'll walk and not walk.
Among the blinking, thinking signs.
Who will notice we've come to town?
Nobody, wonderful nobody.
Everything we thought we knew
is different here, and just as true.
We'll make notes on what we see.
Serving the hot dog with dignity.
Who is the person I'd find again?
Which eyes will I remember?

~Naomi Shihab Nye
{image of nantucket bookworks via bookweb}

start handing out stars.

rivers + tides.

brighter than sunshine.

I have been in Sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands.

{zora neale hurston}

...

Desiderata
by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.