Inspirational
Easy Mind
Don’t trip
about whether you
have things figured out yet.
It takes the time it takes
to find your flow.
Heart Lines
There are invisible lines
connecting everything together,
and I am particularly fond of
the one that connects me to you.
No Rule
Pick a date and do the thing. There is no rule that says you have to feel ready before you say yes to your dreams.
Nothing More (remix)
If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that.
Real Hero (no gender)
Anyone can slay a dragon, but try waking up every morning & loving the world all over again. That’s what takes a real hero.
Listening Well (for Erik) (fem)
She had the gift of stopping time & listening well so that it was easy to hear who we could become & that was the future she held safe for each of us in her great heart & you may ask, what now? & I hope you understand when we speak softly among ourselves & do not answer just yet for our future is no longer the same without her.
White Birds
I have always thought that stars turn into white birds in the morning light & sleep with their heads under their wings until the dusk begins to walk through the streets.
Wheelbarrow
This is a wheelbarrow I filled with all my dreams & my favorite clothes & now all I need is someone to help me push it.
Weight Training
This is a giant block of whatever is most difficult for you to carry & trust me on this, you’ll carry it more times than you can count until you decide that’s exactly what you want to do most & then it won’t weigh a thing anymore.
Weight
This only weighs a lot if you’ve forgotten to do the stuff you wanted to do all along.
Waiting for Signs
I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream & an angel in black tights came to me & said, you can start any time now, & then I asked is this a sign? & the angel started laughing & I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there’s no laughter, I know they’re not for me.
Unheard Music
Don’t you hear it? she asked & I shook my head no & then she started to dance & suddenly there was music everywhere & it went on for a very long time & when I finally found words all I could say was thank you.
Ulterior Motive
What would it take to fly? he said & I said I wasn’t sure, but I knew he’d have to move faster than he did now & he thought about that for a minute & then he looked at me & said you’re trying to teach me something, aren’t you?
Uncle August
When my great-uncle August was in his twenties, he left Iowa & went to study cake decorating at the National Baking Institute in Chicago. He learned everything from spun sugar decorations to ice sculpture. He went to school for 2 years & when he finished, he went back to Iowa & worked in the family bakery. Except for the odd wedding cake, he never used the fancy stuff he learned. He was in charge of yeast breads & cinnamon rolls. Just after the end of WW II, the Valley Dairy Farmer’s Association had the first of the now famous Milk & Honey Festivals. August made a model of the Statue of Liberty out of 250 pounds of white cheddar cheese, surrounded by American Beauty roses of spun sugar, especially for the occasion. He showed me the page from Life magazine he kept folded up in his wallet, one summer when we visited. On it was a picture of a much younger man, smiling next to a 4 foot tall Liberty. He told me he had 6 proposals of marriage from that photo, one from the East Coast even & he smiled & I saw him grow 30 years younger & I knew in our hearts we never get old.
Tree on Fire
This is a tree on fire with love, but it’s still scary since most people think love only looks like one thing instead of the whole world.
True Things
They came to sit & dangle their feet off the edge of the world & after awhile they forgot everything but the good & true things they would do someday.
Too Much Beauty
I have heard too much beauty to ever go back, he said & in that moment, I knew there was no way the children of our world would fail.
Tightrope
Most people she never tells about the tightrope because she doesn’t want to listen to their helpful comments from the ground.
The Wonder of It All
Sitting there in your pajamas & all the time in the world & if I could keep any moment it would be this: watching you & holding my breath with the wonder of it all.
The World Itself
When she held out her arms, the world itself wrapped around me & held me tight.