“You were aimed from birth:
you will never be alone.
RainĀ will come, a gutter filled, an Amazon,
long aisles — you never heard so deep a sound,
moss on rock, and years. You turn your head —
that’s what the silence meant: you’re not alone.
The whole wide world pours down.”
William Stafford
“The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery,
and the only thing you need to recover
from is a fractured sense of self.”
Marianne Williamson
Cairn
Today, cairns are built for many purposes. The most common use in North America and Northern Europe is to mark mountain bike and hiking trails and other cross-country trail blazing, especially in mountain regions at or above the tree line… Placed at regular intervals, a series of cairns can be used to indicate a path across stony or barren terrain, even across glaciers. Such cairns are often placed at junctions or in places where the trail direction is not obvious, and may also be used to indicate an obscured danger, such as a sudden drop, or a noteworthy point such as the summit of a mountain.
Although the practice is not common in English, cairns are sometimes referred to by their anthropomorphic qualities. In German and Dutch, a cairn is known as steinmann and steenman respectively, meaning literally “stone man”. A form of the Inuit inuksuk is also meant to represent a human figure, and is called an inunguak (“imitation of a person”). In Italy, especially the Italian Alps, a cairn is an ometto, or a “small man”. Wikipedia
“Each of us is carving a stone,
erecting a column, or cutting a piece of
stained glass in the construction of
something much bigger than ourselves.”
Adrienne Clarkson
“When the stormy winds do blow;
When the battle rages loud and long,
And the stormy winds do blow.”
Thomas Campbell
“Pursue some path,
however narrow and crooked,
in which you can walk with love and reverence.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Whenever someone awakens fully,
it effects human consciousness at a collective level.
It is like dropping a stone into a dark murky pond.
Ripples of light!
Not one word need be spoken.”
Leonard Jacobsen
“May the raindrops fall lightly on your brow.
May the soft winds freshen your spirit.
May the sunshine brighten your heart.
May the burdens of the day rest lightly upon you,
and may God enfold you in the mantle of His love.”
Irish Blessings
“Art will liberate itself from
the needs and desires of men.
No longer will we paint a forest
or a horse as we like
or as they appear to us,
but as they really are.”
Franz Marc
“When you remove the risk,
you remove the challenge.
When you remove the challenge,
you wither on the vine.”
Alex Low
“The Earth laughs in flowers.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
