Any genuine initiation requires a maturation of our being and stepping more fully into our robust identity, rooted in soul. We must become immense, capable of welcoming all that arrives at the gateway to the heart. Francis Weller, psychotherapist, author, and soul activist, from the preface of Choosing Earth “Francis…

Be regular and orderly in your life, like a bourgeois, so that you may be violent and original in your work. Gustav Flaubert (1821-1880) French novelist “This quote inspired me as a writer and to be very disciplined about my writing. I’m more disciplined about my writing than anything else…

He who binds to himself a joy does the winged life destroy. But he who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternities sunrise. William Blake (1757-1827) English poet “I love this poem because, for me, if I hold onto things too long like a job, an idea, or…

Nonsense is neither true nor false but new truths emerge from it. Raymond Moody, M.D. Philosopher, psychologist, and physician. He coined the term near-death experiences in his best-selling book Life After Life (1975).  “Raymond Moody, M.D. is well known for the near death experience but what people don’t know is…

Earth now is your mother, as you were mine, my earth, my sustenance and my strength, and now without you I turn to your mother and seek from her that I may meet you again in rock and stone. Whisper to the stone, I love you. Whisper to the rock,…

Love is the only source of energy that is not zero sum. If I gave you anything else, you will have more and I will have less. This is not so with love, the more love I give you, the more I have myself, the more you will have, and…

People say that walking on water is a miracle. But to me walking peacefully on the earth is the real miracle. The Earth is a miracle. Each step is a miracle. Taking steps in our beautiful planet can bring real happiness. Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022) was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk,…

I don’t know who discovered water but I know it wasn’t a fish. Father John Culkin (1928-1993) of Fordham University and a colleague of Marshall McLuhan “This quote has often been attributed to Marshall McLuhan but the real author was Fr. John Culkin who was a colleague of McLuhan’s and…

Walker, there is no road, the road is made by walking. Antonio Machado (1875-1939) Spanish poet as translated by Willis Barnstone   “This holds an enormous sense of possibility which is a great antidote to despair. The road is made by walking means that at any moment all you have…

Phil Cousineau is a writer and storyteller. Here, in a conversation with Michael Toms, he refers to the irrepressible urge in the human spirit to leave a mark behind. “My metaphor refers to making your mark on the cave wall. My ancestors come from a little village in the south…