by ingrid on August 20, 2010

This post is inspired by a quotation I clipped from the top of the Vineyard Gazette newspaper, and which I have had pinned to my wall for many years as wonderful words to live by:
To let no bird fly past unnoticed… to have the mind a storehouse of sunsets,
requires a discipline in pleasure and an education in gratitude.
~G.K. Chesterton
Here are a few summer photographs from life here on the Vineyard, mixed with quotations from my One Hundred Fortunes Collection.

We are not separate from Being. We are in it. ~Plotinus

The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread.
D.H. Lawrence

We are shaped and fashioned by what we love. ~Goethe

The question is not what you look at, but what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau

In every human being, there is a special heaven
whole and unbroken.
~Paracelsus

At the center of your being you have the answer.
You know who you are
and you know what you want.
~Lao Tzu

The only wealth is life.
~Henry David Thoreau
by ingrid on April 28, 2010

Soften, Soften. Feel your own perfection.
by ingrid on April 22, 2010

Ask me for a certain amount of dollars if you will.
But do not ask me for my afternoons.
~Henry David Thoreau
by ingrid on April 1, 2010

istock
Within you are gardens, rare flowers, peacocks,
the inner music; Within you a lake of bliss,
on it the white soul-swans take their joy.
~Mirabai
translated by Jane Hirshfield
Women in Praise of the Sacred
by ingrid on April 1, 2010

istock photo, leadinglights
THERE IS A FIELD OF JOY YOU MAY REST IN
There is a field of consciousness deep within you that contains the Universe; a field of love and beauty, truth, harmony and light. Opening to this consciousness brings a luminous feeling of bliss. Dwelling in this field feels like coming home… Seeing it in others, you realize all are One… You may dance in this field, wander in this field, and find guidance in this field. You may rest in this field whenever your mortal mind is weary. Take yourself there and rest. It is the breath within your breath, the space between your thoughts. It is your deep inner stillness, your indwelling peace and joy.
From THE JOY BOOK
by ingrid on March 1, 2010

From within or from behind
a light shines through us upon things,
and makes us aware that we are nothing,
but the light is all.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
by ingrid on February 5, 2010

I rested into the morning, caressed,
deep pleasure, measureless being,
I rested until I heard
the song of the day call me out.
Come. Take joy. Awake.
Come and see my treasures.
Only then did I rise to take
my pleasure into the world.
by ingrid on January 6, 2010
“Wisdom is the art of living
in rhythm with your soul, your life,
and with the Divine….Wisdom is
the way you learn to decipher
the unknown which is our
closest companion.”
~John O’Donohue, in an interview with
Krista Tippet, Speaking of Faith
“After you jump and
before you land
is God.”
~Gabrielle Roth, Maps To Ecstasy
by ingrid on December 4, 2009

“Earthly things must be known to be loved;
Divine things must be loved to be known.”
~Blaise Pascal
by ingrid on October 5, 2009

Beloved is one of my names for the divine spacious presence I carry in my heart and whose eternal and infinite presence holds me also. I’ve glimpsed my Beloved, and often. And forgotten my Beloved as often as not. It is a strange dream, this living. A strange dream and a holy pursuit- full of beauty, love, longing and belonging. What I long for is this: The joy of awakening over and again to find myself in the arms of the day; to awaken and say, “Hello my Beloved. Hello my Beloved which is everywhere.” ~Ingrid, From The Joy Book



