"For the artist, a sketch pad or a notebook is a license to explore - it becomes entirely acceptable to stand there, for minutes on end, staring at a tree stump. Sometimes you need to scan the forest, sometimes you need to touch a single tree- if you can't apprehend both, you'll never entirely comprehend either. To see things is to enhance your sense of wonder both for the singular pattern of your own experience, and for the meta-patterns that shape all experience." -Art and Fear

Kao Tzu said, ‘Human nature is like the ch’i willow. Dutifulness is like cups and bowls. To make morality out of human nature is like making cups and bowls out of the willow.’ ‘Can you,’ said Menicius, ‘make cups and bowls by following the nature of the willow? Or must you mutilate the willow before you can make it into cups and bowls? If you have to mutilate the willow to make it into cups and bowls, must you, then, also mutilate a man to make him moral? Surely it will be these words of yours men in the world will follow in brining disaster upon morality.’ (Mencius 6A:1)

Kung-tu Tzu asked, ‘Though equally human, why are some men greater than others?’ Mencius replied, ‘Those who follow what is great within them become great; those who follow what is small become small.’ Kung-tu Tzu then said, ‘All are equally human. Why is it that some follow what is great and others follow what is small?’ Mencius replied, ‘It is not the function of the ear or the eyes to reflect, and so they can become obsessed with things. Being unreflective, when they come in contact with other things, they are led astray. The function of the mind is to reflect. When it reflects, it gets things right; if it does not reflect, it cannot get things right. These are what Heaven has given us. If one takes one’s stand in the great that is within, the small cannot take it away. This is what makes one great.’ (Mencius 6A:15)

For a man to give full realization to his heart is for him to understand his own nature, and a man who knows his own mature will know Heaven. By restraining his heart and nurturing his nature he is serving Heaven. Whether he is going to die young or to live to a ripe old age makes no difference to his steadfastness of purpose. It is through awaiting whatever is to befall him with a perfected character that he stands firm on his proper destiny. (Mencius 7A:1)

If others do not respond to your love with love, look into your own benevolence; if others fail to respond to your attempt to govern them with order, look into your own wisdom; if others do not return your courtesy, look into your own respect. In other words, look into yourself whenever you fail to achieve your purpose. (Mencius 4A:4)

You can never succeed in winning the allegiance of men by trying to dominate them through goodness. You can only succeed by using this goodness for their welfare. You can never gain the Empire without the heart-felt admiration of the people in it. (Mencius 4B:16)

"The bigness of the world is redemption. Despair compresses you into a small space, and a depression is literally a hollow in the ground. To dig deeper into the self, to go underground, is sometimes necessary., but so is the other route of getting out of yourself, into the larger world, into the openness in which you need not clutch your story and your troubles so tightly to your chest."
- Rebecca Solnit, from THE FARAWAY NEARBY

http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=63454

A guide to understand Introverts.

Amara Louise and Oliver Joseph

When he rang the doorbell, Zia hadn't planned to step inside. He was there to pick up his fiancee who was babysitting, but she couldn't leave (the parents were running late) so Zia agreed to hang out for a bit. His fiancee said, "Let me introduce you to the kids" — the 2-year-old girl, the 7-year-old boy and, most important, squatting, with no shoes on, surrounded by ants on the back patio, the oldest — the 9-year-old — the one he would make world-famous on YouTube.

This is the boy he now calls "The Philosopher."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2013/03/27/175455214/socrates-in-the-form-of-a-9-year-old-shows-up-in-a-suburban-backyard-in-washingt

THE SKY GAVE ME ITS HEART

The sky gave me its heart
because it knew mine was not large enough to care
for the earth the way it did.

Why is it we think of God so much?
Why is there so much talk about love?

When an animal is wounded
no one has to tell it, "You need to heal"; 
so naturally it will nurse itself the best it can.

My eye kept telling me, "Something is missing from
all I see."
So I went in such of the cure.

The cure for it was His Beauty.
The remedy, for me, was to love.

—Rabia of Hasra (translation by Daniel Ladinsky)

Elizabeth Gilbert

QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU HATE YOUR JOB AND YOUR LIFE, AND YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN BY GOD AND BY THE WORLD?

Dear Ones -

A friend of this page sent in this heart-wrenching question yesterday, and I hoped that we all might be able to help her. I have been there, where she is now, and I suspect that some of you have been there, as well.

I'm attaching a link to an Etsy page with a design of one of my favorite guiding Rumi quotes on it (I wanted to support the artist!), which is: "LET THE BEAUTY YOU LOVE BE WHAT YOU DO."

Because that is the first thought that came to my mind, when I read this tormented question: Let the beauty you love be what you do. You MUST find something of beauty in the world and follow it, pursue it, wrap yourself up in it, and even participate in it. The great paradox of life is that recognizing beauty is agonizingly difficult when you are depressed — but at no time is the pursuit of beauty more important than you when you are depressed. Because it will save you.

When I was going through my darkest days (the days where I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning already in tears) I remember stubbornly deciding that I must chase light and beauty as hard as I could, with whatever I had left. I would wake up in a full depression and then — almost like as if using an emotional CATscan — I would survey my entire being to see if there was even ONE MOLECULE of light in my body, soul, heart or mind. Was there ANYTHING, any thought, any memory, any wish, that brought even a molecule of goodness, happiness, interest to my mind? It was like looking for a tumor, but not a bad tumor — a good one. A few cluster-cells of beauty. And then, when I found some cells that felt like they had light (even if it was as simple as remembering a book that I wanted to read, or an old friend that I wanted to call, or a movie that seemed interesting, or a tiny act of kindness that moved me, or a course of study that intrigued me) I would commit to building upon that. Take what is good, and add to it. Stubbornly. Very stubbornly.

Remember...YOU CANNOT CHASE OUT DARKNESS; YOU CAN ONLY BRING IN LIGHT. And once you have found a bit of light inside you, no matter how small, cling to it and find a creative way to expand it — until that light grows, and the darkness fades in direct proportion . The God that you feel has forgotten you is hidden in the middle of that tiny bit of light.

Also, I must say...if this is a real depression, and not just a temporary funk, PLEASE find help. Find a counselor, a minister, a sympathetic neighbor, a therapist, a doctor, a support group, a community — somebody good and kind who will assist you. Don't go through misery alone, trying to tough it out. Solitude will only extend it. 

Most of all, though, trust in beauty. Trust in beauty any form — physical, emotional, spiritual, artistic. Trust in beauty, follow it, collect it. Look deep, to discover what you consider beautiful, and then join it. Make something beautiful. A garden, a gift, a cake, a book, an hour of your time donated to somebody in need, a song, a prayer, a dance, a lesson. This need not have anything to do with your job. Forget about your job. Change your job if able to, but if you can't — never mind. I've had shitty jobs, you've had shitty jobs, everyone has had shitty jobs. Lots of people have shitty jobs right now and find a way live full lives, anyhow. Show up at your shitty job if you need the money, but then commit the remaining hours and days of your life to the relentless hunt for beauty. 

Go find out what is the beauty you love. Then go BE that. God will meet you there, I promise.

(And don't be too proud to ask for help.)

So that's my advice.

Please, everyone — do chime in with your own advice to help a suffering fellow seeker. I know you have all been there...

Safe passage, 
Liz