[ in order to defend ourselves against agitation, we must be detached not only from the immediate results of our work - and this detachment is difficult and rare - but from the whole complex of aims that govern our earthly lives. we have to be detached from health and security, from pleasures and possessions, from people and places and conditions and things. we have to be indifferent to life itself, in the Gospel sense, living like the lilies of the field, seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven and trusting that all our material needs will be taken care of into the bargain. ]

thomas merton.

no man is an island.

a reminder of things.

all excerpts/thoughts/notes from No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton:

[the life of the interior self is so often smothered under the ashes of anxiety and futile concern.

without a life of the spirit, our whole existence becomes unsubstantial and illusory.

anxiety is the mark of spiritual insecurity. a far worse insecurity comes from being afraid to ask the right questions.

the discovery of Christ is never genuine if it is nothing but a flight from ourselves.

to live in hope is to live in poverty, having nothing.

hope deprives us of everything that is not God, in order that all things may serve their true purpose as means to bring us to God.

it is better to find God on the threshold of despair than to risk our lives in a complacency that has never felt the need of forgiveness.

what is most important: to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things, to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God.

the man who can face such dryness and abandonment for a long time, with great patience, and ask nothing more of God but to do His holy will and never offend Him, finally enters into pure prayer.

pure prayer only takes possession of our hearts for good when we no longer desire any special light or grace or consolation for ourselves, and pray without any thought of our own satisfaction.]

to be continued...

dream life.

a photo shoot by the wonderful, tec petaja.

if only those images were my life...

wedding ideas. part 6.

i'm hoping to find a simple dress. and i'd like to make a flower belt like this to go with it.

love this big open feel.

LOVE these shoes. i'm hoping to find a pair of cute yellow flats to wear.

i've seen this idea a lot and i really like it. i'm hoping to pin up a bunch of photos of us, along with our friends and family.

i like using these buckets as centerpieces. and maybe for the flower girl.

just another cute photo with a mason jar.

hoping to find a bunch of these to use for centerpieces and drinking glasses.

[kenda, how crazy is this! i can't believe someone else had those pencils in their wedding.]

also, i'd love to have jugs of sweet tea and lemonade.

two or three things i know for sure.

there are two or three things i know for sure,

and one is that everyone has a story.

a story worth telling.

a story worth listening to.

there are two or three things i know for sure,

and one is that empowerment and affirmation

can only be found within yourself.

your identity is not found in the labels

the world has stitched into your clothes.

and it is not contained to the boxes the world has limited you to.

your identity is your own.

and it runs across borders.

it deconstructs labels and reconstructs truth.

it blurs the lines of boxes.

there are two or three things i know for sure,

and one is that when you withhold love from others,

you are only hurting yourself.

there are two or three things i know for sure,

and one is that life is not about the body.

it is not about the skin we are in.

but, it is about the heart.

the spirit.

the soul.

all of which are always trying to find their way home. to Love.

there are two or three things i know for sure,

and one is that Love wins. always.

even when the dark gets darker.

even when the Light seems to have faded away.

even when you can't even remember what Hope feels like.

what Faith feels like.

even when the world's illusion of power becomes overwhelming.

even when you feel smothered by the lies of society.

Love wins.

always.

for giving.

i've been re-reading "traveling mercies" by anne lamott,

and man is it breaking me. again.

here's some stuff from the chapter "forgiveness."

[if you want to be forgiven, if you want to experience that kind of love,

you have to forgive everyone in your life -- everyone, even the very worst boyfriend you ever had -- even, for God's sake, yourself.

forgiveness means that God is for giving,

and that we are here for giving too,

and that to withhold love or blessings is to be completely delusional.

God loves us exactly the way we are,

and God loves us too much to let us stay like this.

i read once in some magazine that in czechoslovakia, they say an echo in the woods always returns your own call, and so i started speaking sweetly to everyone ... and my sweet voice started getting all over me, like sunlight ... ]

[the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;

He is their stronghold in time of trouble.

the Lord helps them and delivers them;

He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in Him.]

-psalm 37:40