open

mjd - 2015 - open - sterling ring

realizing that the thing to be most feared

is lacking the courage 

to remain open in heart and mind.

practicing non-judgment and big love

only brings light to the world.

why contribute to the darkness?

mjd - 2015 - open - sterling ring

life promises us nothing, 

not the length of our stay

nor the complexity of our path.

life promises us nothing

except 

that there will be opportunity to learn everything we need to know.

tragedy?

count on it.

but count also upon joy.

joy - mjd 2013

and if 

you stay open

and if 

you grow still,

and if you 

can strip away everything you thought was important,

you will be left with the love

you began with.

your open heart was earned with bravery,

and persistence

and tears.

awaken - mjd 2013

now that you walk the world

with an inner smile

you can do what we were meant to do -

share it.


share your story

share your smile

share your love.


there is an unknowable future

that you can touch.

how you touch it 

is up to you. 

open

the challenge of remaining open


is rewarded with that which is attracted or released


when you achieve the state...

the next time

the next time you walk by a petal on the ground,


remember... 


it's only there because the flower opened.


exposing itself not only to weather and wind,


but also to the warm light of the sun.


becoming fragile in its singularity as the bud loosened.


bearing itself not only to the animals who might make a meal of it, 


but also to those who might become awakened to its impermanent beauty.


and all because the flower opened... 

opening

(in progress)

'your task is not to seek for love,

but merely to seek and find

all the barriers within yourself 

that you have built against it.'

- jalal ad-din rumi

perhaps with a touch of this?

feeling open and full at the same time -

know what i mean?

'i would rather have eyes that cannot see;

ears that cannot hear, lips that cannot speak,

than a heart that cannot love.'

- robert tizon

open

'your humble light
the fire of your mind
blinds you:
if you walk
with a lantern in the dark
you won't see the stars.'
~ hans børli

synergy

i struggle and i emerge

the face of the lotus open to the sky...

a friend and i were discussing words... i had mentioned that i was focusing upon 'open'... in a mindful, practicing way... she mentioned 'release'... and the synergy of the two struck me powerfully... in fact, i have been thinking upon it for a couple of days... 

yes, i can work to be open... but if you are able to release as well (i have been doing an internal debate of the 'which came first' sort - but have come to the conclusion that they are intertwined) the experience is exponentially heightened... think of all of the emotional and psychological space you free up for something positive... 

if you can release yourself from fear, from hurt, from anger... release things that you may not even realize reside in your Self, then you can be open to an almost transcendent degree... what if you could imagine each thing, put it in a balloon and let it go? really and truly let it go?

imagine the expansiveness you would experience... 

can you put one thing in a balloon today and let the string go? i know i am going to try... 

and thank you, dear friend, for your sharing of your self... and for helping me to grow...

in pursuit of freedom

(it's mine)

on light and love ~

'only from the heart can you touch the sky.'

~ rumi

these earrings are meant to reflect the vastness and transcendence of an open heart... antiqued sterling edged in enamel... beautifully faceted labradorite which is believed to purge negativity... softly colored fibers by myfanwy... at once ephemeral and timeless - 

'beauty is not in the face;

beauty is a light in the heart.'

~ kahlil gibran

beauty emerges - bronze and layered enamel... as we move through and past the societal demand of physical beauty, we unearth what we had all along... and when we connect with it, it shines like a beacon to others... rubellite used for its ability to allow one to open up... fibers again from sassalynne at etsy... 

'all material in nature,

the mountains and the streams and the air and we,

are made up of Light which has been spent,

and this crumpled mass called material casts a shadow,

and the shadow belongs to Light.'

~ louis kahn