#the art of living

[vintage-tigre]

[archivesoflife]

What self discovery feels like

[wordedarchive]

[eyeoftheheart]

“Be positive. Your mind has the power to decide whether or not you are happy. You're here to live out each precious day.”

― Shunmyō Masuno, Zen: The Art of Simple Living

(Photo: Lotus in the Forest of Mizu, Kansai, Japan)

[wehavewords]

What do you consider to be more or less basic factors making for happiness in the human mind?

1. Good physical and mental health.

2. Good personal and intimate relations, such as those of marriage, the family, and friendships.

3. The faculty for perceiving beauty in art and nature.

4. Reasonable standards of living and satisfactory work.

5. A philosophic or religious point of view capable of coping successfully with the vicissitudes of life.

Carl Jung, The Art of Living

[btsbabe7]

Naturally, this is my safe space, so I have to post this here.

I went out for coffee with a guy at my job that I’ve just been vibing with lately. I don’t know what we have in common, but we just connect. We have fun at work, our conversations are always engaging, and he hypes me up when I need it the most and don’t even realize. We have a good give and take relationship going on.

When he asked me to hangout, I was nervous about going out due to a previous situation with the last male coworker I went out with. Overall, it didn’t turn out well, yet I decided to give this thing another try.

The coffee hangout went so well! I spent so much time trying not to be vulnerable in front of another man; however, I ended up crying (lol). Yet, he still made me feel so SEEN and validated my feelings. He didn’t say I was too intense or sensitive; he didn’t complain that I was venting and I gave him space to vent too.

Everything just felt so genuine and natural, like we could pause in those moments where we didn’t know what to say, ramble on when we had so much more to express, or apologize when we got so excited about something we both experienced and wanted to share, but ended up speaking over each other. It was such an amazing experience and just proves that sometimes you want someone to be your person and they might not be, and that there are also people that will accept you for who you are, but you just have to wait for them!

We decided on making coffee our thing whenever we need it and I’m actually looking forward to it this time.

[cobotis]

I want to let you in on a little secret. There are no problems...There are no problems. There never were any problems, there are no problems today, and there will never be any problems. Problems just mean that the world isn't turning the way you want it to. But in truth, there are no problems. Everything is unfolding as it should. Everything is right. You have to forget about yourself and expand your consciousness until you become the whole universe. The reality in back of the universe is pure awareness. It has no problems. And you are that...

~ Robert Adams

[geritsel]

Saul Steinberg

[antiexist]

[lumioluna]

life is so rich, so abundant, so inevitable. not an hour goes by that I don't want to take it all in with both hands, truly dive into it, then come up for air only to find myself with dirt under my nails, between my eyelashes, in the crease between my neck and ear, covered in bruises and bite marks. and yet still and always ravenous.

on my worst days i'm afraid that it'll keep me under, that i'll drown in it, that i'll never be able to take it all, never the right way, never whole. then in the panic a flash of clarity and i remember. that it's always been about that; to delve into it, to be full, stay whole. to take all i can, lose myself completely and find myself in everything.

to live a life it takes hunger and it takes courage and it takes all you ever got and all you'll ever have. and it takes the stubborn belief that it will be worth it. and then it will be.

[tboeteotas]

People don’t have the power to hurt you. Even if someone shouts abuse at you or strikes you, If you are insulted, it is always your choice to view what is happening as insulting or not. If someone irritates you, it is only your own response that is irritating you. Therefore, when anyone seems to be provoking you, remember that it is only your judgment of the incident that provokes you. Don’t let your emotions get ignited by mere appearances.

— Epictetus, The Art of Living: The Classical Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness

[lightthewaybackhome]

This is why we are domestic artists!

[whose-her]

You can only be one person—either a good person or a bad person. You have two essential choices. Either you can set yourself to developing your reason, cleaving to truth, or you can hanker after externals. The choice is yours and yours alone. You can either put your skills toward internal work or lose yourself to externals, which is to say, be a person of wisdom or follow the common ways of the mediocre.

[eyeoftheheart]

What Reality Are You Creating For Yourself?

“Now, fear is self-realizing. When you face the greatest need to look outside yourself and think critically, fear beats a retreat deep inside your mind, shrinking and distorting your view, drowning your capacity for critical thought with a flood of disruptive emotions. When you face a compelling opportunity to take action, fear lulls you into inaction, enticing you to passively watch its prophecies fulfill themselves.

How do you live your life eyes wide open? It is a learned discipline. It can be taught. It can be practiced. I will summarize very briefly.

Hold yourself accountable for every moment, every thought, every detail. See beyond your fears.

Recognize your assumptions. Harness your internal strength. Silence your internal critic. Correct your misconceptions about luck and about success. Accept your strengths and your weaknesses, and understand the difference. Open your hearts to your bountiful blessings.

Your fears, your critics, your heroes, your villains -- they are your excuses, rationalizations, shortcuts, justifications, your surrender. They are fictions you perceive as reality. Choose to see through them. Choose to let them go. You are the creator of your reality. With that empowerment comes complete responsibility.

I chose to step out of fear's tunnel into terrain uncharted and undefined. I chose to build there a blessed life.”

(Isaac Lidsky’s talk titled “What reality are you creating for yourself?” at TED Conference.)

[symphonyoflovenet]

If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice and not a hope.

Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Living