Heart-Full Moments – March 2019

A monthly feature of “Listening with Heart” blog, sharing wise words, meaningful things read or good things found, to help warm your heart.

These are the most impactful quotes I have read or heard this month that give me pause, or uplift my heart. Wisdom spoken in just a few words. They reflect what I’ve been reading or learning, or values I share, or what’s been going on in our world. 

It’s been another very challenging month, and I know we each need some insight and encouragement to keep carrying on. I am happy to share these quotes – that speak to this is life, sitting together in the dark, keeping your cool, breaking the cycle, acts of kindness. I’ve also included a link to a cool and creative 100-day project you can participate in that would be a great way to try something simple each day in the direction of doing something that’s really important to you. Take a moment to go through them and maybe highlight a few that speak to you. Enjoy…

• Activist Faith Spotted Eagle on the importance of discussing America’s history of colonialism: “For Native people, talking about these things is important to a process of healing. For me, I think it’s not just healing. I would add to that a sense of justice, being heard. And then, on the other hand, for non-Native people, hearing and listening to these narratives, these histories, and engaging in a conversation — it is not about guilt, and it’s not about shame. It is about…freedom from denial. It allows a liberation.” – Layli Long Soldier, Oglala Lakota Poet
• “Life is amazing.
  And then it’s awful.
  And then it’s amazing again.
  And in between the amazing and awful
  It’s ordinary and mundane and routine.
  Breathe in the amazing, hold on through awful, and relax & exhale during the ordinary.
  That’s just living heartbreaking, soul healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life.
  And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.“ – L.R. Knost
• “Wherever human beings are sort of gathered and with great seriousness trying to think through the predicament of being human, wisdom emerges…
  “One thing I know for sure is that we all need a great deal of help.”
  “We live in an age of opinion and people always have an opinion – especially about things they know nothing about…”
  “To be relatively conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage, or confusion, or quiet sorrow, knowing there are so many things we cannot solve…”
  “If everyone is so woke, why are things so terrible? (It’s about everyone knowing the right thing to say so you don’t get attacked)…”
  “There’s an Inuit word ‘cartseluni‘ which means sitting together in the dark waiting for something to happen- I’m happy to have that be my new bio…”
  “I’m attracted in all the arts to those places that show concentration has been established…it’s all about how do you help other people to concentrate in the moment? Pause, Attend, Listen…” – Teju Cole
• “Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure
  you are. Let me learn from you, love you,
  savor you, bless you before you depart.
  Let me not pass you by in quest of some
  rare and perfect tomorrow.” – Mary Jean Irion
• Before the interview even aired, there were photos floating around of you barely flinching while an angry R. Kelly towered over you yelling. The Internet has agreed that they can’t believe how poised you were. What was going through your head?
  “I was not scared. I never thought he was going to hit me. After, Oprah and my kids Kirby and Will called me to ask if I was okay because it looked scary. But I was never worried he was going to hurt me. I was more worried that he was going to get up and leave.
  So what I was really thinking to myself was: I’m not done with this interview, so I’m going to let him have his moment. If I stood up even to comfort him, that could have been his invitation to say ‘This is over.’ So I didn’t interrupt his anger and let him have that.” – Gayle King on remaining calm during interview with R Kelly when he exploded (*example of keeping your cool when others lose their mind!)
• “Life is what you bake it.” – Batch Pastries
• “Rejection is never the end of the story. It is an opportunity to try something new.” – Team Teachable
• “Peace agreements last 35% longer when women are involved in the negotiating process.” – Daily Upworthiest
• “ I come from a long line of generations of women who have been denied the right to their dreams. They have been passed on the baton of poverty, illiteracy, early marriage, lack of education, abuse, etc. There is also wisdom that is passed on from one generation to the next. My grandmother always said, “You have the power to decide whether you keep on running with that baton of poverty, passing it on,  or whether you run with the baton and re-define it and reshape it into the baton of wisdom, so you can be the one to break that cycle.“ – Dr. Tererai Trent
• “Your dreams in this life will have greater meaning when they are tied to your community.” – Dr. Tererai Trent’s mother
• “We can never underestimate this truth:
  No matter who you are, the biggest thing you do in any day is most often going to be a small act of kindness, decency, or love.” – Cory Booker
• “When we can sit in the face of insanity or dislike and be free from the need to make it different, then we are free.” – Nelson Mandela
• “#The100DayProject is a *free*, global art project. The idea is simple: commit to 100 days of making and sharing your progress on Instagram.
  We start April 2nd, 2019. And anyone can participate (that means you!). https://www.the100dayproject.org/

So that’s this month’s short list of Heart-Full Moments that holds some meaning for me. I hope your month has been graced with peace, pause, and creativity.  And that you might take a moment of pause to connect with what consoles you and replenishes your soul.

If you or someone you care about is struggling to find moments of full-heartedness, please contact me for a therapy appointment.

For more ideas on how to bring more calm and less worry into your life, click here for a free email course on Mindfulness.