Author: valeriecameronmerritt

Persist

“Be kind to your heart. You may believe it to be weary… yet still it beats. Still it persists, with unquestioning allegiance to life. What a grand heart it is, this sacred heart of yours. How can it be worthy of anything other than tenderness, gratitude, acknowledgement, and appreciation?”
– Alana Fairchild

Cherish

“A friend is one who overlooks your broken fence and admires the flowers in your garden.” – Unknown

You may never know what it means to another person when you take a moment to highlight something about them you appreciate or if you bestow an act of kindness on them. You may or may not see what another perceives as a difficulty, but even so you can be a bearer of kindness.

How can the connections you cherish be lifted by spotting the flowers?

Pen & Paper

“Write your purpose in pen, your path in pencil.” – Gabriela Cardoza

When you give yourself focus and flexibility, you may find that leaving a little room for the unexpected, allows miraculous happenings. You can stay steady in aim and open to edits and rewrites…

Attention

“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Energy follows intention and attention. People see what they place their attention on and whatever that focus is, is what grows. The moment you are in now has the potential to be filled with joy and happiness if that is what you seek.

What happens if you allow just a few moments to notice the joys in both your external and internal world?

Let simplicity hold your experience as expectation falls away.

Connection

What connects you to another, to all — across space, time, and divided minds?

At the source of every interaction, you can choose what leads you and how that aids you in deciphering meaning in your experience.

What gifts are buried in angles, layers, and movement according to perspective? If there are no gifts to be seen, are you willing to move a little more for sake of connection?

Clever

“Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment! Cleverness is opinion; bewilderment is vision.” – RUMI

How can embracing what baffles you bring you into sharper focus and possibly lead you to receiving beyond what you thought possible?

What flows to a receptive mind that may otherwise go unnoticed by one that’s busy being clever?

Spring of Love

The spring of love arrives
to transform the dust into a garden.

The call is heard from the heavens
to bid the wings of soul to fly.

The sea becomes filled with pearls.
The dry land receives the water of life.
The stone becomes a ruby,
and the body becomes all soul.

-RUMI

What is wishing to be transformed in your life? How can love lift the dust and guide you to the areas that are ready to be tended for growth and blossoming?

Nature

““Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.” – Hermann Hesse

How can deep, intentional listening in nature or another quiet space open up a greater sense of contentment and self acceptance?

Exist

“One of the basic rules of the universe is that nothing is perfect. Perfection simply doesn’t exist… Without imperfection, neither you nor I would exist.” – Stephen Hawking

How can imperfection be embraced in your life so that you can live with a little more comfort, a little more grace, and maybe a little more love?

What may happen if you perceive imperfections as confirmation of existing in harmony with the cosmos?