“It takes a spasm of love to write a poem.” ~ Erica Jong
❤️
Love surrounds me, guides me, picks me up, and sustains me.
❤️
I Can Do This!
Give Us Love and Give Us Peace
Jean Ingelow
One morning, oh! so early, my beloved, my beloved,
All the birds were singing blithely, as if never they would cease;
‘Twas a thrush sang in my garden, “Hear the story, hear the story!”
And the lark sang, “Give us glory!”
And the dove said, “Give us peace!”
Then I listened, oh! so early, my beloved, my beloved,
To that murmur from the woodland of the dove, my dear, the dove;
When the nightingale came after, “Give us fame to sweeten duty!”
When the wren sang, “Give us beauty!”
She made answer, “Give us love!”
Sweet is spring, and sweet the morning, my beloved, my beloved;
Now for us doth spring, doth morning, wait upon the year’s increase,
And my prayer goes up, “Oh, give us, crowned in youth with marriage glory,
Give for all our life’s dear story,
Give us love, and give us peace!”
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.”
~ Walt Whitman
Cheap Cold Protection ~ Hand Washing
Finding Happiness
We can find happiness when we turn not just to nature but to one another: to our friends, our families—children, husbands, and wives—to those mundane and sustaining relationships. And we remember surely, not just to count our blessings but to recall also our griefs: those loved ones we have lost but have continued to cherish. Joy then becomes an act of courage, a leap of faith, and we remember that the world is worth loving, that happiness is there for us to grasp.
First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him. ~ Ray Bradbury
Today I am in a No Whining Zone.
