Growing older but not up
Growing older but not up
“Once in a lifetime, perhaps, one escapes the actual confines of the flesh. Once in a lifetime, if one is lucky, one so merges with sunlight and air and running water that whole eons, the eons that mountains and deserts…
“I thank you god for this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue dream of a sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes. (I who have died am alive…
“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson By the next morning, the high pressure system that had been baking the…
“Tree qualities, after long communion, come to reside in man. As stillness enhances silence, so through little things the joy of living expands. One is aware, lying under trees, of the roots and directions of one’s whole being. Perceptions drift…
“Our true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment. To appreciate…
“The most difficult lesson to learn about caring for the soul is that our best and most cherished ambitions are its worst enemies.” — Thomas Moore When the day of departure finally arrived, I couldn’t stand it anymore, and stopped…
“I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that…
“So much of what I’ve learned, so much of what’s good in my life, was learned because something bad happened, or from making the wrong decision. Through bad decisions I learned how to find the ways to make the right…
“The moon is a loyal companion. It never leaves. It’s always there, watching, steadfast, knowing us in our light and dark moments, changing forever just as we do. Every day it’s a different version of itself. Sometimes weak and wan,…
The spirit of the earth is the spirit of life. This life always unfolds itself within the individual, who is a continuation of the earth = he has his roots there, there is where he appears, and there is where…
“In this waking dream the slope is steep, and I must wear my heavy boots. But reality is growing soft and melting – mingling with relevance and merging with reverie as the mountains grow within me, lifting me upward. It…
“The Road goes ever on and onDown from the door where it began.Now far ahead the Road has gone,And I must follow, if I can,Pursuing it with eager feet,Until it joins some larger wayWhere many paths and errands meet.And whither…
“When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t…
“Honor the sacred.Honor the Earth, our Mother. Honor the Elders.Honor all with whom we share the Earth:Four-leggeds, two-leggeds, winged ones,Swimmers, crawlers, plant and rock people.Walk in balance and beauty.” — Native American Saying 2. The Initiation Peerl was terrified, but tried…
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” — Martin Buber Saturday Evening Back at camp, I learned that the Three Amigos had names and lives like I did. John, Doug, and Aaron preferred to talk about…
“Between every two pine trees, there is a door leading to a new way of life.”— John Muir Yes, It’s Still SaturdayThe swarthy lakeside forest opened its arms to welcome me back, the way it always did. For me, walking…