The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention.
Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives.
Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it.
In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence.
It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched.
We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly.
We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it.
Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart
27 comments:
Lovely views....
Happy Valentine's Day to you too!
Tessa
Happy Valentines Day to you too!
Beautiful thoughts and lovely photos.
Sussie
Beautiful post, Tammy...as always. If I am ever feeling lonely or a little melancholy, I put on your heart necklace you made me and I feel the love that went into it.....there were times in my life when I felt that the love I gave wasn't enough or wasn't wanted as I'm sure we've all felt at times but love is never wasted...it's a positive energy that envelopes the person and our universe and sometimes I think it is what keeps our world from "the tipping point".....we have to keep sending that love out...regardless. Thank you for yours and I send it back to you triple fold and to your family too. I hope you are all enjoying this day of love.
How appropriate!
Beautiful thoughts and lovely hearts. You are a gift.
Blessings,
Betsy
Beautifully written and photo'd. I love the depth of paying attention to even the smallest detail. Listening to the song of a bird...the rustle of a breeze in the trees...the soft footprints of walking and absorbing. Happy Hearts Dear...
Happy Valentine's Day to you..love seeing all your heart shaped photos, well done! :)
Xo
Dagmar
I hope your day - no, your whole week - is as lovely as your photographs, Tammy!
I love how you found hearts everywhere and left them for others to find.. you're a very sweet person.
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((hugs)), Teresa :-)
This is all so true T! I remember when I first read the book Simple Abundance and realized that I had been going through many of my days with my eyes closed. My life is in full color now and I live fully in every moment. What a gift we give ourselves when we commit to living in this way.
Happy Valentine's Day to you sweetie!
Happy Valentine's Day, Tammy. All the found hearts are lovely.
Dearest Tammy,
One only finds true happiness in the little things around us.
Loved that heart shaped piece of weeds growing on the pavement! Eye for detail...
Your cookies also love yummy and the recipe is a healthy one.
Hope your Valentine's Day was a lovely one and always as it does not end with that one (commercial) day.
Let's heart things and continue with little pleasures.
Hugs,
Mariette
I think it's so neat that you were there looking for hearts in nature and I was doing the same thing very early this morning, while I was out for my run in the cold (I was looking for hearts in the patterns of the snow underfoot). :)
Such wise thoughts. Right now I'm really concentrating on those yummy looking cookies! (((Diane)))
I hope you had a beautiful day Tammy.
Those cookies look delicious,
Meredith
Wonderful words. Happy valentines for yesterday and today! xx
A wonderful way to view the day. Have a lovely week.
How true these words are and beautifully illustrated. Just looking for the details and taking the time to notice and appreciate can make such a difference in our outlooks!
Such thoughtful and wise words Tammy. Love the cookies, they look delicious. I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!
Helen xox
How very true, I believe those words spell out true happiness. Have a lovely week. Hx
What a darling post! Love all the hearts you found and the prose is so true. Living in the present is the only way to experience each day to the fullest. It's the way we're meant to live. Thanks for visiting my blog, Tammy. xo ~ Nancy
Hi Tammy,
Love all the hearts and your lovely words.
Thanks for sharing and hope you are enjoying the week
hugs
Carolyn
Lovely post, Tammy. I hope you had a beautiful Valentine's Day. :)
Thanks for sharing the thoughts!! Those heart cookies look yummy:)
Lovely and inspirational.
Amalia
xo
So many sweet hearts! Lovely and true words. Sometimes we get so distracted we don't see the beauty and love right in front of us. xo Karen
I heart your post! xo
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