To know the blessings of the few is simply amazing

It is we who are blessed by those few who come into and grace our lives when they 'hear' and feel the songs of our hearts.    

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 31, 2014
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Let there be peace

As I gaze upon this photograph, my mind re-focuses on the endless wars in the mid-east and elsewhere, the needless deaths and suffering of those who have tried to live their lives in the wake of all the misery they must endure -- for no other reason than those who could and should declare an end to the madness do not.  For those who needlessly suffer, I wish only for them to know the peace and comforting beauty of nature I feel from this photograph.
 

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 30, 2014
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Peace -- let it begin with me

“Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control. We can love and care for others but we cannot possess our children, lovers, family, or friends. We can assist them, pray for them, and wish them well, yet in the end their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, not on our wishes.”    Jack Kornfield

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 27, 2014
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Silence the mind

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 27, 2014
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Illusion

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 27, 2014
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Life's eternal truism

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 27, 2014
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Beauty can lighten the darkest corners

Edward Galagan privately shared " Sunny World " today on Google Plus. 1860x1200. 2003. HQ Wallpaper. Color   

P L E A S E   SEE FULLSIZE & FULLSCREEN !!!

Original Size: 79cm x 51cm
NIKON E990, Exp. 1/1000, f/5.5, Manual, ISO 100
#wallpaper #galagan #sunflower #nikon #sun #sky #bee #field

I saw this sunflower on my Google Plus newsfeed this morning and was captivated by the simply amazing natural wonder of what I was seeing.  As I was also mesmerized by so much of what I was reading about the darker aspects of living in this world of seeming chaos and mayhem, the photograph of the sunflower triggered a more life-sustaining thought.

 

I'm not aware where I first learned this, but there is something especially  wonderful about the sunflower -- not only its beauty and resiliency, but its healing balm for a war-weary world.    

For a more detailed history of this most incredible flower, I've included a link that I encourage you to use.

http://www.sunflowernsa.com/all-about/history/

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 22, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0

 

Only through peace . . . om shanti, shanti, shanti

‎ ريما امين originally shared [on Google Plus] to Beautiful Things (Обсуждение):

Take time to smell the flowers.

 Such a gentle reminder of ALL that is in this chaotic, dark world of war, needless killing and death.  Om shanti, shanti, shanti

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 22, 2014
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A cautionary tale | Narcissus and Echo

The story of Echo and Narcissus is used as a warning to those who love someone that can not love them back and is often used as a basis for understanding the implications of a condition known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). It is also used in reference to Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

Extracts taken from the "The Age of Fable" written by THOMAS BULFINCH were used . . . .

 http://www.echo.me.uk/legend.htm

In this day and age of ill-conceived wars that impose needless suffering and death, I decided to seek an appealing distraction and welcome respite.  I thought of the beautifully fragile narcissus blooms I'd once so loved.  I hadn't stopped to consider the legend of Narcissus and Echo, but a beautiful graphic that was included amidst the images I discovered through a Google search led me on an additional discovery.  

That, in turn, led me to wonder about  the 'legend' of Narcissus and Echo.  What I read, seemed somehow fitting as a basis for reflecting on human frailty and the importance of trying to understand humanity's cruelty.  

As I said, the legend of Narcissus and Echo is sometimes used as a cautionary tale.  I believe the legend deserves to be read, digested and understood . . . in light of the toxicity and inconceivable cruelty too often needlessly inflicted.  

Knowing the genesis of an inability to love helped me to assuage the pain I felt when I personally experienced a failed relationship.  What I ultimately concluded is that someone's inability to feel love toward someone is not due to any lack on the unloved person's part.  Rather, the individual who suffers from an inability to feel is responsible for him/herself, completely separate and apart from another.  Absolutely NOTHING the rejected, wounded individual would ever do would make the one incapable of love feel differently toward the one who has been rejected.

Perhaps, as with one-on-one relationships, we can apply the same dysfunctional toxicity to those who commit atrocities on a much grander scale.  If so, trying to conceive and understand man's inhumanity to one another become reduced to something all but inconceivable in its banality.  This train of illogical, thoughtless, mindlessness -- at least to me -- seems simply amazing in its simplicity.  

For the moment, I have decided to refocus my attention and enjoy the elegant, delicate beauty of the narcissus blossoms.

 

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 21, 2014
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No time for needless ANYTHING

You BETCHA -- otherwise . . . life's just way too short to mess around with needless toxicity

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 20, 2014
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As I slowly nod and share with Him my great joy

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 20, 2014
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The vagaries of life

Ah -- to view the vagaries of life as something as beautiful as a basketful of cherries.

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 20, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/m

All is one or all is nothing

With the same accuracy, one can say that all is divine or that nothing is divine. Everything depends upon the angle from which one looks at the problem.

Likewise, it can be said that the divine is a perpetual becoming and yet also, that it is immutable for all eternity.

To deny or affirm God’s existence is equally true, but each is only partially true. It is by rising above both affirmation and negation that one may draw nearer the truth.

It can further be said that whatever happens in the world is the result of divine will, but also that this will has to be expressed and manifested in a world that contradicts or deforms it; these are two attitudes having, respectively, the practical effect of either submitting with peace and joy to whatever happens or, on the contrary, ceaselessly fighting for the triumph of what should be. To live the truth one must know how to rise above both attitudes and combine

http://heartandsun.org/wisdom-quotes-you-never-heard-before/

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 20, 2014
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It's truly this uncomplicated -- REALLY, SERIOUSLY

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 19, 2014
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Taking a Degas moment or two

Degas was born today in 1834. His friend, the American artist Mary Cassatt, was the model for this slice-of-life painting. 
[Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas. At the Milliner’s. c. 1882.]

I am deeply grateful to MOMA for sharing its post on Tumbler.  I tend to get overwhelmed by the happenings of the world [by choice I do admit -- simply because I'd rather know than not -- even when so much is all but inconceivable to me] that I forget to stop and reflect on the beauty that is equally a part of the whole -- especially when captured through the artistry of those who share themselves . . . as Degas has.

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 19, 2014
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Divine Grace

A Thousand Years of Healing

From whence my hope, I cannot say,

except it grows in the cells of my skin,

in my envelope of mysteries it hums.

In this sheath so akin to the surface of the earth

it whispers. Beneath

the wail and dissonance in the world,

hope’s song grows. Until I know

that with this turning

we put a broken age to rest.

We who are alive at such a cusp

now usher in

one thousand years of healing!

Winged ones and four-leggeds,

grasses and mountains and each tree,

all the swimming creatures,

even we, wary two-leggeds

hum, and call, and create

the Changing Song. We remake

all our relations. We convert

our minds to the earth. In this turning time

we finally learn to chime and blend,

attune our voices; sing the vision

of the Great Magic we move within.

We begin

the new habit, getting up glad

for a thousand years of healing.

© - Susa Silvermarie

http://www.joannamacy.net/poemsilove/workshop-poems/124-athousandyearsofhealing.html

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 14, 2014
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DISCOVERY | Simply amazing

 The scent of a single iris

The scent of a single iris

renders me a drunken bee.

Indigo edges

scallop each white dream.

Caterpillar tongues

languid lie

on three spread petals.

Between them,

smaller petals cup and touch,

and lift a purple wonder.

On either side of the blossoming queen,

two yet bound in bud

waft promise.

I cannot bow enough!

© - Susa Silvermarie

http://susasilvermarie.com/

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 14, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/m

Unsullied, unfettered

Graced by divine love within as the essence of each of us, we accept imperfections -- ours, others.  We love without unrealistic expectations,  making no demands . . . love blossoms.

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 13, 2014
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The divine essence of love is simply amazing

For the simple, fundamental truth is that when we do not first learn to love ourself, it is impossible to love another.  In the end, when someone does NOT love you, it has NOTHING to do with you.  Rather, we learn about who they are, as well as who they are not.

And within this basic, fundamental truth, we release ourselves from the silly notion that we are not enough.  We are who we are and always have been.

One day we meet the one who not only loves himself, but knows how to love others as he appreciates the reality of who they are -- and always have been.  The icing on the cake is when the one possesses the confidence to share his love -- freely, openly, respectfully, neither asking or demanding anything more than what he gives of himself . . . being within the loving essence of who HE is and always has been.

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 13, 2014
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Blessed

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  Psalm 1:1

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 13, 2014
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Let freedom ring

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 4, 2014
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Beautiful people do not just happen

The most beautiful people are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.   Elisabeth Kübler-Ross 

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 4, 2014
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Reflections on sharing my 66th birthday with America | Unbecoming to become -- a celebration

My 66th birthday is Friday, July 4th. Although I've always felt 'special,' sharing MY birthday with this country's birthday, I feel the honor and privilege even more so THIS year. As I read and learn more and more about politics and the very fragility of the rights of the citizens of America, I have become inordinately disheartened by the many who've been elected to represent the best interests of ALL America's citizens. As I have faced the reality of politicians who can be 'bought.' I have had to face the troubling reality that many of these politicians could NOT care any less about the public's interests than they do.

I am deeply troubled that Leonard Peltier has not yet been freed; I am deeply troubled by the senseless deaths of far too many who have died as a result of guns being freely available to those who have no respect for the dangers of guns, much less respect for life that should be a critical factor in order to possess a firearm.

I have recently watched a video, Body of War, that shared information about Tomas Young, a vital young man who enlisted to serve his country, following the tragedy of September 11th. He BELIEVED what President Bush and his cohorts had to say about the war and young Tomas enlisted, believing what he had been told. He returned to America, a changed human being. He had been shot, resulting in paraplegia, no longer believing in the insidious lies and mis-truths that had been used to perpetuate the 'myth' about the necessity for the war. I 'met' Cindy Sheehan on Facebook and learned her son Casey had died senselessly/needlessly in the 'rich man's war.' So many people have been caused to suffer for no reason other than the monetary gains of a select few. People have refocused the attention from their grief and despair, as they continue to re-channel their pain, passion and anger into opposing needless violence and the senselessness of ANY war.

As I listen to people who, most assuredly, do NOT have the best interests of the citizens of this country as their political focus and realize that my country has perpetrated some of the most vile actions against humanity, among its citizens, as well as globally, I cringe and ache. It's been challenging to 'give up' my belief that America represents the best of the best. And yet, as I approach my 66th birthday, I feel enormous hope in my heart that America has a golden opportunity to learn from its tragic mistakes. I pray that our leaders do what is necessary to redirect our resources, our passions, our concern for ALL citizens who consider America home [despite its horrific mistakes and missteps of the past].

Although it's impossible to resurrect the dead, or to give back a young soldier's vitality and the full use of his body, perhaps our President has the courage and belief of a nation who so wants to believe, that he can find the courage, compassion and love within his heart to say "I'm truly sorry, Leonard Peltier; you were wrongly accused and convicted. You are now free to rejoin your family and loved ones. You are free to go home." Hopefully, our President does, indeed, possess the audacity of hope to steer our great nation in a new direction and stop the mindlessness of those who do not know what it means to possess the power to 'unbecome' the past so that we, as the great nation we are destined to be, become the land of the free, the home of the brave.

I cannot imagine a more wonderful way to celebrate this coming birthday than realizing -- once again -- the honor and privilege I felt as a young girl, sharing my birthday with this great country's birthday.

Stephanie Doty
Simply Amazing
July 1, 2014
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