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Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life. - J.K. Rowling

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice.
And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice,
there is little we can do to change, until we notice that
failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds. — Ronald Laing

Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive.  — Robert Pirsig 

Meaning is all we need, and relationship is all we have — Paul Wong 

Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help mom do the dishes. —P.J. O'Rourke

Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything. — Gordon Hempton and John Grossman   One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet

We do not see things as they are.
We see them as we are. —Anais Nin

The person is not the problem. The problem is the problem. — The motto of NT (Narrative Therapy)

When you're different, sometimes you don't see the millions of people who accept you for what you are. All you notice is the person who doesn't. ― Jodi Picoult, Change of Heart

It's the rest in a piece of music that gives it resonance and shape. — Pico Iyer

To suffer is to begin to think. — Lynn McFall  

Music is the space between the notes. — Claude Debussy

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ― C.S. Lewis  

The only man I know who behaves sensibly is my tailor; he takes my
measurements anew each time he sees me. The rest go on with their old
measurements and expect me to fit them. —George Bernard Shaw 

Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need. — Richard E. Byrd (after spending over four months alone in a shack in the Antarctic, in temperatures that sank to 70 degrees below zero)

I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
but still I can do something;
and because I cannot
do everything,
I will not refuse to do
something that I can do. — Helen Keller


All the unhappiness of men arises from one simple fact: that they cannot sit quietly in their chamber. — Blaise Pascal

My Chosen Landscape by P. K. Page 

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I am a continent, a violated geography,

Yet still I journey to this naked country,

to seek a form which dances in the sand,

This is my chosen landscape.

-          Finally Left in the Landscape 

Sand dunes, interminable deserts, burning winds

the night temperature bitter, a land of grit;

and floating above me stars as violent

as fire balloons, tactile and brilliant.

The all-enveloping sky, a cloak of soot.

This is my story, my brief biography.

The sum total of my experience. I travel –

a compass useless in my useless hand –

through a sandscape, a singular topography.

I am a continent, a violated geography.

Restless in all this emptiness, I seek

a fellow traveller, search for a sign –

a secret handshake, a phrase, some unusual colour

like periwinkle, for instance, or bright citrine,

but the monotony of sand persists

and nothing improbable finds entry

into the appalling platitudes of speech –

the lingua franca of everyone I meet –

in this land devoid of flags and pageantry.

Yet still I journey to this naked country,

for something in its nakedness has a beauty

so pure it is as if I thrust a knife

into my immaculate flesh and drew it forth

without a drop of blood being spilled.  It is 

abstract and invisible as air

this empty geometry, this ampersand

upon ampersand that leads me on

as if I were zero or minus sign,

through ‘and’ and ‘and’ and ‘and’,

to seek a form which dances in the sand

But nothing formal dances.  Only the wind

blows – unchoreographed – a floating ghost

across the dunes.  The sand molecular,

airborne and free, is faint with the scent

of absolute dryness, a small mineral smell.

And this almost scentlessness, this shape without shape

is a violated country, one in which 

I am both exile and inhabitant

and though I would escape

this is my chosen landscape.

**
Psalm 23 (personalized)

The Lord is my Academic Advisor; I shall not be confused.

He makes me participate in quality workshops: he leads me beside the beautiful library shelves, helping in selecting coursework.

He restores my soul, awakens my brain and refreshes my mind: he guides me through the learning process. He directs me in my choice of subject, shaping, refining and testing my capabilities and skills.

 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of misunderstanding and disorientation, I will fear no failure: For You skilfully mentor and coach me along the way.

You encourage me to grow in knowledge and independence.

You arrange for celebration of my success.

Surely Your supernatural knowledge, everlasting goodness and unconditional love will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the school of the Lord forever.

When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden. 

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. 

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast. 

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart. 

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love. 

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. 

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Kahlil Gibran