Month: January 2019

Your Pain Is … ~ Poem by Khalil Gibran

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Your pain is the breaking of the shell 
that encloses your understanding. 

Even as the stone of the fruit must break,that its 
heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain. 

And could you keep your heart in wonder 
at the daily miracles of your life, your pain 
would not seem less wondrous than your joy; 

And you would accept the seasons of your 
heart, even as you have always accepted 
the seasons that pass over your fields. 

And you would watch with serenity 
through the winters of your grief. 

Much of your pain is self-chosen. 

It is the bitter potion by which the 
physician within you heals your sick self. 

Therefore trust the physician, and drink 
his remedy in silence and tranquillity: 

For his hand, though heavy and hard, is guided 
by the tender hand of the Unseen, 
And the cup he brings, though it burn your lips, 
has been fashioned of the clay which the Potter 
has moistened with His own sacred tears.

Accomplishments ~ Quote by Althea Gibson

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No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.” – Althea Gibson

Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #2

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If I were asked to name the most important items in a writer’s make-up, the things that shape his material and rush him where he wants to go, I could only warn him to look to his zest, see to his gusto. ~ Ray Bradbury

Suffering Isn’t Easy, But it Happens

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Suffering isn’t easy. Healthy people don’t want it for themselves or for others. Yet, it happens. In Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again, M shared her wisdom with me about suffering. I listened because I knew she suffered a great loss before me. Here is an excerpt from Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again:

“Remember what Saint Teresa of Ávila said: ‘All things are passing; God never changes, patience obtains all things.’ Don’t be afraid of suffering. It’s unavoidable. You can do nothing to make it go away. It has a life of its own. You did not purposely will this suffering upon yourself. It happened. It happened as it will happen to everyone. It is part of the human condition. We can push aside all thoughts of it to some remote canyon in Texas, but it waits patiently, knowing its time will come. Instead of suffering being a curse, think of your unavoidable suffering as a wonderful gift to help you become a more loving and compassionate person. If you’re willing, you will see the lessons it is teaching you”

Excerpt From

Dancing Alone: Learning to Live again by Ray Calabrese

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Silence ~ Poem by Langston Hughes

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I catch the pattern 
Of your silence
Before you speak

I do not need
To hear a word.

In your silence
Every tone I seek
Is heard.

Seeing the Darkness ~ Quote by Carl Jung

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Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. ~ Carl Jung

Trusting My Intuition

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Trusting My Intuition as I Grieved

On one of our visits, M encouraged me to trust my intuition as I grieved. Here is an excerpt from Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again. 

“M stared at me. A slight smile appeared. She slowly shook her head and said, “When you trust your intuition, you’re trusting God. Even if you fail, God will draw good out of your failure. It’s why, in the end, following your instincts will be the right course for you.”

M’s words resonated with me as I replied, “Oftentimes, I don’t see the hand of God until I look back over the distance I’ve traveled. When I look back, I realize how life prepared me for the moment. It is a moment of grace. It is a moment of gratitude. In that moment, I thank God for my teachers on the journey, for the strength and capabilities given to prepare me for the challenge. Most of all, I thank God for always being near me, even when I couldn’t sense He was there.

Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again. Available in paperback and ebook formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

Excerpt From

Dancing Alone: Learning to Live Again

Raymond Calabrese

This material is copyright protected

Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #1

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Ray Bradbury’s Writing Wisdom #1

“And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that is a privilege, not a right. … Secondly, writing is survival … Not to write, for many of us, is to die.”

The Road Not Taken ~ by Robert Frost

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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.

A Clear Midnight ~ Walt Whitman

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A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman

THIS is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou
        lovest best.
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

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