Food For Thought: The Scars on our Hearts

By: Pamela Leavey On: May 4, 2012 at 10:54 am

“The scars on our hearts do not last forever. They are the temporary signs of a tender soul who has touched the earth and been burned by such a low descent. Once the earth has been redeemed and our relationships are returned to God, the scars within us will be miraculously healed.” ~ Marianne Williamson – A Woman’s Worth

Daily Affirmations: May I Give

By: Pamela Leavey On: April 23, 2012 at 9:29 am

In a world filled with uncertainty we can hope to make a difference. With every step we take towards lending a helping hand we pray that our helping hand is welcomed. We seek not for acknowledgement for we know in our hearts what we do is right and good. That is the blessing we receive, the knowledge in our hearts. May I give to someone who needs my help today. – Pamela J. Leavey

(Photo: Egret at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

Food For Thought: Find Joy

By: Pamela Leavey On: February 28, 2012 at 4:10 pm

A short time after publishing my earlier post today, Live With Sorrow, I looked out of my desk window to check on my little yellow crocus that have been blooming sporadically for over a week now and found they had some companions… Some lovely white crocus had also bloomed.

As I hobbled down my driveway, camera in hand, I was filled with joy knowing that more of the crocus I had planted last fall were poking their pretty little petals out in the sun.

It’s true that the smallest and simplest things can fill our hearts with joy. For me flowers have always been a great source of joy. I spent 20 years working as a floral designer and although the long hours during the holiday seasons were rough, the work itself was always filled with joy. It never ceased to amaze me during those 20 years, that I could look at a bunch of white daises, or red roses, or pink carnations and find that one perfect flower that made me say, “wow.”

Joy is all around us… Even in times of deep sorrow, we must open our eyes to see, open our ears to hear and let it the joy flow into us every day.

(Photo: Crocus On The River ~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)

Reflections: Nothing In The World is Permanent

By: Pamela Leavey On: February 1, 2012 at 5:50 pm

This quote caught my eye earlier today…

Nothing in the world is permanent, and we’re foolish when we ask anything to last, but surely we’re still more foolish not to take delight in it while we have it. If change is of the essence of existence one would have thought it only sensible to make it the premise of our philosophy. ~~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge, 1943

Reflecting on the subject of taking delight in something “while we have it,” I think back to times of great joy. We know instinctively in the midst of sheer joy, that that joy will not last forever, but we still revel in it while it is happening.

And then, is that joy not our solace, when we slip down into a period of the dark nights of soul. It is there, lost in the dark nights of soul, that we reflect deepest sometimes. And that reflection at first can appear messy, like the reflection of the clouds amidst the winter trees in the marshes.

Difficult as the path may seem, it is taking the journey through the dark nights of the soul that clears our hearts and allows us to find strength in the notion that “nothing in the world is permanent.”

(Photo: Reflection In Hellcat Swamp ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2011)

Food For Thought

By: Pamela Leavey On: September 15, 2011 at 7:31 am

“The problems of the world will not be solved by the governments of the world. That’s not to say that governments don’t have a profound role to play, because they do. But government is contrained by the inauthentic level of conversation that prevails within it, therefore it will be changes within people’s hearts that drive the changes in government and society rather than changes in government and society that drive change inside people’s hearts.”  ~~ Marianne Williamson

Food For Thought

By: Pamela Leavey On: August 22, 2011 at 1:05 pm

“The goal is to cultivate in our hearts the concern a dedicated mother feels for her child, and then focus it on more and more people and living beings. This is a heartfelt, powerful love. Such feelings give us a true understanding of human rights, that is not grounded just in legal terms, but rooted deeply in the heart.” ~~ The Dalai Lama