I am out with lanterns, looking for myself.

–EMILY DICKINSON

letter, January 1856

It is said that before entering the sea

a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled,

from the peaks of the mountains,

the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her,

she sees an ocean so vast,

that to enter

there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.

The river can not go back.

Nobody can go back.

To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk

of entering the ocean

because only then will fear disappear,

because that’s where the river will know

it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,

but of becoming the ocean.

~ Khalil Gibran

 

THE SECRET, ALICE, IS TO
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH
PEOPLE WHO MAKE YOUR
HEART SMILE. IT'S THEN,
ONLY THEN, THAT YOU'LL
FIND WONDERLAND.

                                                    Lewis Carroll

 We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.

–KURT VONNEGUT

If This Isn't Nice, What Is?

 

“In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love.
In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile.
In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm.
I realized, through it all, that…
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.
And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.”
— Albert Camus

 

Do not look back. And do not dream about the future, either...Your duty, your reward—your destiny—are here and now.

–DAG HAMMARSKJOLD

Markings

 

Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: it’s good to be silly at the right moment.

–HORACE

Odes