“A stumbling block to the pessimist
June 11, 2015
is a stepping stone to the optimist.” — Eleanor Roosevelt Stones photo by Mary O’Connor © 2015
Category: Mary O’Connor
“The unreal is more powerful than the real,
June 8, 2015
because nothing is as perfect as you can imagine it, because it’s only intangible ideas, concepts, beliefs, fantasies that last. Stone crumbles, wood rots. People, well, they die. But things as fragile as a thought, a dream, a legend, they can go on and on.” — Chuck Palahniuk * * * Funky artificial flowers, photo … More “The unreal is more powerful than the real,
“I like to encourage people to paddle
June 4, 2015
because it gives them a different way to experience the river, the landscape and…life.” — David Finch. (Kayak on Beach, acrylics painting by Mary O’Connor © 2015) “It is such a great way to take in a wide range of experiences. When we paddle, the experience of place moves from the brain to the heart, making it … More “I like to encourage people to paddle
“Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard.
June 1, 2015
Do not let pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness.” — Kurt Vonnegut “When tough times come, it is particularly important to offset them with much gentle softness. Be a pillow.” — Vera Nazarian * * * Pillows of Softness – Photos by Mary O’Connor © 2015
“Childhood means simplicity.
May 28, 2015
Look at the world with the child’s eye – it is very beautiful.” — Kailash Satyarth “Childhood is a short season.” — Helen Hayes “Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children, play is serious learning. Play is … More “Childhood means simplicity.
“We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers,
May 25, 2015
but to praise them.” — Francis A. Walker * * * Photo by Mary O’Connor © 2015
“Walking in the forest for me is like going to church.
May 21, 2015
It is my cathedral, and I haven’t been doing that enough lately…I need to connect again. Walking the forest floor is one of the most spiritual things I can imagine. Just thinking about it now makes me wonder why I haven’t been there in a couple years.” — Neil Young * * * Forest floor in … More “Walking in the forest for me is like going to church.
“Rare is the union of beauty and purity.”
May 18, 2015
“That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful.” — Edgar Alan Poe “A pure heart is superlatively rare and even more attractive.” — Unknown * * * Magnolia blossom photos by Mary O’Connor © 2015
“The many great gardens of the world,
May 14, 2015
of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden. If you don’t want paradise, you are not human; and if you are not human, you don’t have a soul.” — Thomas More * * … More “The many great gardens of the world,
“Love begins in a moment,
May 11, 2015
grows over time, and lasts an eternity.” — Unknown “Learning is like building a sandcastle. Once you have the right tools, you can build anything. You can be anything you want to be.” — Unknown “Don’t grow up too quickly, lest you forget how much you love the beach.” — Michelle Held * * * Photos … More “Love begins in a moment,
Life Is Full of Sweet Spots 