“I’m even a proponent of listening when you’re in prayer. Effective prayer is when you pray, you say what you want to say to God, then you sit in silence and wait for God to answer. If you allow your mind to be quiet enough, and you’re in a place that’s quiet and peaceful enough, you will hear God’s reply.”
Source: Let's Talk: ...About Making Your Life Exciting, Easier, And Exceptional
“One of the things that I believe defines kindness is making others feel important. And one of my big pet peeves in life is speaking badly of other people. I’m a big proponent of—“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” If you want to start showing kindness, simply do not say anything negative about anyone.”
Source: Let's Talk: ...About Making Your Life Exciting, Easier, And Exceptional
“I regarded home as a place I left behind in order to come back to it afterward.”
“It’s a luxury to be alone. It’s a time of zero judgment from anyone, including yourself.”
Source: Let's Talk: ...About Making Your Life Exciting, Easier, And Exceptional
“Does anyone ever
want to leave their home?
The fresh fruit that drops from their backyard?
The neighbors who wiped their snot?
Does anyone ever
want to believe they won't come back?
To the dog that sniffs their heel,
to the bed that holds the echo of their body?
Is there relief in pretending it is temporary,
that one day it will be safe? That I will once again
wave to the kind school bus driver;
that I'll hold Carline's baby before he grows,
having never known me? They have no palm
trees in New York City, no leaves to shade me,
to brush against my cheeks like my mother's hands.
There is no one over there, alive or buried,
who held me as a child, who cradled me close,
who fed me from their table, who wiped my knees when
I fell & scraped them. Here, despite the bad & ugly,
is my home. & now I wish that I could stay. Does anyone ever
want to leave the place they love?”
Source: Clap When You Land
“It's not an unkind thing to make a new home. And it will be one where all whom you love are welcomed.”
Source: The Gilda Stories
“Bridges are thresholds to other realities, archetypal, primal symbols of shifting consciousness. They are passageways, conduits, and connectors that connote transitioning, crossing borders, and changing perspectives. Bridges span liminal spaces between worlds, spaces I call nepantla, a Nahuatl word meaning tierra entre medio.”
Source: Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
“There are days when I feel like I’ve seen enough, done enough, felt enough. When I call my wandering days over and slowly accept the quiet life from here on. When the dreams of making waves are a vague memory and the songs I meant to sing feel more like a finished painting, something to just observe and hang on the wall from now on, to those who wish to observe it. But then the night falls and the morning rise and horizons are calling once again and I’m on my way. Forests fresh and pastures new. And most of the time I’m fine with this.
I’m learning to be fine with this.
So maybe that’s what settling into this world means. To simply, and as hard as it is, just settle into your own way of living—your own pace, your own rhythm—and not think too much about it. Just wake up and let your legs wander where they need to wander no matter where that may lead and just simply trust your path. There is a difference between what you want and what you wish to want. What you’d like to do and what you wish you’d like to do. I’m learning to not wish, but just do.”
Source: Another Vagabond Lost To Love: Berlin Stories on Leaving & Arriving
“Some hearts weren't meant to grow wings and fly to another to find nest. Some hearts are made to be kept within the ribbed cage it came, glowing as a bright candle in the curve, radiantly wholesome of oneself.”
“How can someone look back at a prison and call it home?”
Source: Ouch! A memoir with a twist…