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Wise, wise words for anyone who's ever experienced (or wondered about, or wanted really badly for it to happen) a piece of a work going viral. I especially appreciate her emphasis on self-trust and the part about how people are more interested in what moves them than what makes them money. Also, attention simply isn't currency. We are human beings, not consumers defined by how much thought we give various products. What we buy doesn't give us value... but maybe what we love can.

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from today's journaling

I want to give myself permission to be where I am. To not know. Even if it's felt like I haven't known for a long time. Maybe we've got our priorities all wrong. Maybe this uncertainty is nothing to rush away from, but the center of our grace, the seed of our wisdom. 

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Yes. Let it be so.

This laboring of ours with all that remains undone, as if still bound to it, is like the lumbering gait of the swan.

And then our dying—releasing ourselves from the very ground on which we stood— is like the way he hesitantly lowers himself

into the water. It gently receives him, and, gladly yielding, flows back beneath him, as wave follows wave, while he, now wholly serene and sure, with regal composure, allows himself to glide.

Hear Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem “The Swan” read by Joanna Macy in "A Wild Love for the World."

(Photo by Slack12/Flickr)

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The word myth has been debased and cheapened in modern usage; it’s often used to refer to something false, a lie. But this use misses the deepest function of myth, which is to lend narrative order to apparently disconnected bits of information, the way constellations group impossibly distance stars into tight, easily recognizable patterns that are simultaneously imaginary and real. Psychologists David Feinstein and Stanley Krippner explain, “Mythology is the loom on which [we] weave the raw materials of daily experience into a coherent story.’ “

Sex at Dawn - Christopher Ryan & Cacilda Jetha (via palimpsestpanther)

My partner has been practically sleeping with this book under her pillow and I can see why!

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Wise and so true. I am working on knowing this with my whole being, not just understanding it intellectually... a painful and beautiful process.

The struggle of life is not between the good and the bad. The struggle is to remain present in the unknowing, unknown, and at once deeply known place. This unknowing place is where we can surrender our illusion of control and embrace our the unconditional love in our hearts.

Art By Will Lull 

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Never thought I'd quote a Pope! But this amazing guy actually "preaches" Truth.

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I know the coolest creative people. It's a pleasure to come across stuff like this that intersects from my personal world out into broader social media and dovetails with my innermost passionate beliefs, too! 

Last night I made these drawings in my sketchbook for a zine I’m making called WARPED. 

It was fun making looser/weirder stuff than I usually do.

©Phoebe Wahl 2014

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This is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen, by my good friend Jess. Even though, on the surface, I don't talk much about my cultural background, there are indeed memories and historical wounds that make up significant threads of my woven being. They are personal, and they are universal. May we honor the distinctive wounds unique to each of our cultures, while working towards the interconnected need for healing on behalf of us all. 

"Ode to My Burning Country" Jess X Chen 2014 | gouache and ink

For the first time I found the time and confidence to make a painting that directly addresses the violence of my cultural history.  I see the Cultural Revolution as a forest fire that spread across China from 1966-1976. It clear-cut millions of family trees through extreme propaganda & violent class struggle instigated by the government. This is the last family dinner. Even sixty years later, my motherland still burns from the phantom pain.  Though I may never understand, I can honor the resilience of my people.

(source: www.jessxchen.com)

Thanks to yukoshimizu & chris buzelli for the direction, and extended time they spent on giving me feedback, and pushing me to do a personal piece. 

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yes yes yes this lovely man knew what was up

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What you can plan is too small for you to live.

David Whyte

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"in a world that is trying it’s hardest; to twist our bones into railing, to carve our flesh into building, to wrap our veins into powerlines, to make our bodies into city, love is: the choice to be ocean. love is; the choice to be wind.”

- Jess X Chen (1000 years)

I love this girl and everything she writes.

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I know for me, restoration did mean halting completely in my "domesticity" in order to chase after my innate aliveness. We are moving so fast as a civilization, and us younger ones were born into this whirlwind, where even possibility is swallowed by frenzy. I see so many of my peers caught up in old ingrained cycles of deadened life, life that doesn't have nearly enough space in it for reflection, much less freedom. Maybe you can't be free all at once. Maybe you can't unravel every listless, restless, unhappy part. But you can start by recognizing your own yearning in this moment. Restore the wild and the warrior. May all beings everywhere be free.

Love love love ‘…remember that you are human, still very much alive, and wickedly, wildly extraordinary.’

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"You either walk inside your story and and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness."

Brene Brown

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Although some theologians argue that humankind lost free will because of Eve’s disobedience, there can’t be free will until a person can consciously choose between what is life affirming and what is harmful. In Eden, Adam and Eve had no choices, so they had no will. In one sense the biblical Paradise was a state of eternal early childhood without knowledge of the opposites that form the world. To their credit, both Adam and Eve chose to enter adulthood and to accept the pain that is attendant to growth. To me, Eve is a metaphor for the highest level of women’s bio-psycho-spiritual development. At the biological level she is a mother capable of bearing new life; at the psychological level she is willing to question authority and risk the unknown, even at the price of her own life, when her innate wisdom (the snake) suggests a way to enrich the world; at the spiritual level she appreciates that all things are related and interconnected, even the apparent opposites of good and evil.

Joan Borysenko, in her book “A Woman’s Book of Life: The Biology, Psychology, and Spirituality of the Feminine Life Cycle”  (via dreamerawakening)

Lift the veil of exoteric religion and you will find the eyes of the Divine Feminine...

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Worry is a misuse of the imagination.

Audrey Woodhall

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So simple, but surprisingly hard for so many of us. Let's change this culture of self-apology, starting with ourselves.

The first step to loving yourself begins with the words, ‘I matter.’ You deserve to occupy space. You deserve to stand up for yourself and claim your right to happiness. You deserve to be here, just as much as anyone else.

— Tina Tran, Self care

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Inner & Outer Resources for Radical Healing

It’s been about a year since I embarked on a full-scale healing journey of my own, and I feel inspired to share a few resources (some less known than others) for anyone who senses a need to heal on a deeper level or in ways other than what’s conventionally available.

Especially with the fucked up state of what passes for “healthcare” these days. Because let’s be honest - even if you are lucky enough to have health insurance, 9 times out of 10 that system still isn’t serving anyone’s true needs.

The beliefs that this post spring from: You are not a machine. Your body and psyche are not a collection of parts. No matter what the media or some doctor or the pharmaceutical companies try to tell you, healthcare is not about fixing you. It’s about reclaiming the inherent vitality and balance that your being knows is its birthright.

Please keep in mind: I am not a health professional. Take all and any suggestions with a grain of salt at your own discretion. Only you can tell what is best for you. If in doubt or experiencing a crisis, please consult someone who is a professional.

That said, here are some things that have really helped me:

Address vitamin deficiencies. When you’re not getting enough vitamin D or B12 (two of the most common deficiencies), your health can feel dramatically worse than it actually is. A simple lab test can detect Vit D levels, but just because B12 is in your body doesn’t mean it is actually getting absorbed - in fact, even omnivores have a hard time absorbing enough B12 for their nervous systems to work properly! If possible, consult a naturopathic physician. Or try taking it orally in a methylated form along with methylfolate, and seeing if your energy level / mood stability improves.

Find your local community acupuncture clinic. This post is partially inspired by all the Yelp reviews for the clinic I’ve been going to - people raving because the chronic pain that they��ve had for years, that doctors haven’t know what to do with, etc. is gone after seeing an acupuncturist once. For $20. Just because you can’t afford regular acupuncture / your insurance doesn’t cover it doesn’t mean you have to suffer. And it helps with so many other things besides pain - stress, stuff going on with your menstrual cycle, inexplicable symptoms no one else knows what to do with…

Invest in a water bottle you actually like. Mine is a glass Camelbak, and ever since I got it, I’ve stayed so much better hydrated because I actually like using it. Plus, you can keep track of exactly how much H2O you drink every day.

Use natural products as much as possible. Oh, the media brainwashing. Salicylic acid makes your pimples worse / dependent on it while stripping your skin of all its natural oils. Silicone conditioner coats your hair in fake gloss while leaving it brittle. Companies are getting people to spend $20 - $100 for tiny bottles of lotions full of chemicals when a jar of coconut or jojoba oil will last twice as long for a fraction of the price, and is 1000 times more nourishing for your skin. Take a glance at the skincare / beauty section of a natural foods store next time. It might just surprise you.

Touch the Earth. Nature Herself contains healing electromagnetic forces that most people living in a modern society miss out on, because we rarely have bare skin contact with the earth anymore. Something as simple as gardening or standing with your toes in the grass for 20 minutes can cure your headache, jet lag, fatigue, you name it. Find out more at http://www.earthing.com/

Take time every day to get in touch with your Inner Resources. This is the most important piece of advice I can give you, and it’s hands down the thing that has helped me most. It can be simple as just taking a moment before you get out of bed in the morning to notice how you’re feeling that day. Are you worried or upset about something? Does anything hurt or feel uncomfortable? Is your body craving greens, or protein, or maybe just some extra love? We live so out of touch with our inner sensations these days that we miss out on crucial messages our bodies are trying to send us in order to keep us healthy. And of course, this makes us more vulnerable to outside stresses and media influences over our health that I’ve mentioned above.

Really, what it comes down to is a more feminine, grounded approach to healing ourselves. The ultimate answer to what you need to feel awesome is not in a pill bottle, a doctor’s office, or that miracle cure being advertised in a Facebook sidebar. Conventional health solutions can definitely help with all kinds of issues, but too often it is used as a substitute for actually taking care of yourself and listening to your innate wisdom.

Trust yourself. Trust your body. Take care of your beautiful, brilliant self. We all need you to, in order to heal as a whole. You (and we) are worth it.

* Feel free to reblog and add other suggestions that have helped you! *

To your radical healing, Tessa (opentoinvitation)