“Little by little, I learned to love my life.” – Mary Oliver, poet

How do we love our lives despite everything that life throws at us? How do we find joy in the world beyond the narrow confines of our offices and our homes? How do we live with child-like wonder as if age does not count? I am no philosopher, but a practitioner of living who happens to be highly curious about the mysteries of the world, an inveterate searcher of wonder, from the ordinary and everyday to the endless beauty played out by nature in the small and in the large. In this, I am not alone. Scores of luminaries, both past and present, including writers, poets, artists, philosophers, musicians and filmmakers – have left a legacy of words that illumined them and if we take their advice to heart, will illumine us.

“And I suggest them to you also,
that your spirit grow in curiosity,
that your life be richer than it is,
that you bowl to the earth as
you feel how it actually is, that we –
so clever, and ambitious, and selfish
and unrestrained – are only one design
of the moving, vivacious many.

~ Mary Oliver, from A Thousand Morning.

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“We are born for seeing
I am employed to watch
I am bound by oath
to this tower,
and I love the world.”

~ Goethe, philosopher

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“I believe there is nothing more needed
by humanity today than the recovery of
a sense of “beyond-ness” in the whole of life
to revive the springs of wonder
and adoration.”

~ John V. Taylor, bishop and theologian

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“Slow down and enjoy life.
It’s not only the scenery you miss
by going too fast – you
also miss the sense of
where you are going
and why.”

~ Eddie Cantor, actor

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“We are not poor;
We are just without riches.
It’s incredible how many die
before they attain,
not knowing how to express
what is always
and everywhere.”

~ After Rainer Maria Rilke and Czeslaw Milosz

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“Little by little, wean yourself
from the lotteries of this world.
Little by little, be a searcher
of wisdom, a hunter
of more invisible game.”

~ After Rumi, Persian poet and mystic

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“The greatest tragedy
is that in so many lives
so much time is wasted
between the brief
moments of joy”

~ Unknown

***

Do not ask what the
meaning of life is,
then sit back and wait
for it to drop by like
an uninvited guest.
Find the things that make
your heart swell with
thankfulness.
Do them religiously
like your life depends on it;
your life depends on it.

~ Wallace Fong

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“There are always flowers
for those who want
to see them.”

~ Henri Matisse, artist

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“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.”

~ Arthur Rubinstein, pianist