Focus

One day passes and another day comes along, and everything happens the same. But basically, we are so afraid of the brilliance coming at us, and the sharp experience of our life, that we can't even focus our eyes."
~ Chogyam Trungpa
Dharma Art

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

. . . may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living . . .
~e. e. cummings

For Mary

Learning to Fly
Written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne

Well I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well the good ol' days may not return
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I've started out for God knows where
I guess I'll know when I get there

I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down

I'm learning to fly
I'm learning to fly

To be a Man

My Father taught me how to be a man – and not by instilling in me a sense of machismo or an agenda of dominance. He taught me that a real man doesn’t take, he gives; he doesn’t use force, he uses logic; doesn’t play the role of trouble-maker, but rather, trouble-shooter; and most importantly, a real man is defined by what’s in his heart, not his pants.
~Kevin Smith,
My Boring Ass Life, 06-01-05
Climb as high as you can dream.

Imagination

The world is but a canvas to the imagination.
~Henry David Thoreau

America

America's greatest strength, and its greatest weakness, is our belief in second chances, our belief that we can always start over, that things can be made better.
~Anthony Walton

Work

The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.
~Carlos Castaneda

Life

Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.
~Calvin and Hobbes

Me

I have come to realize that all my trouble with living has come from fear and smallness within me.
~Angela L. Wozniak

Pure Air

I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.

~John Muir

Reality

The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.
~Garth Brooks, Country Music

Nature

Nature is just enough; but men and women must comprehend and accept her suggestions.
~Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825 - 1921)

I try to laugh

I show up. I listen. I try to laugh.
~Anna Quindlen, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, 2000

Oregon Coast

The real voyage of discovery consists
not in seeking new landscapes
but in having new eyes.
~ Marcel Proust