True Blues

“Blue color is everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight.”

-John Ruskin

At a few hundred kilometers altitude, the Earth fills half your sky, and the band of blue that stretches from Mindanao to Bombay, which your eye encompasses in a single glance, can break your heart with its beauty. Home you think. Home. This is my world. This is where I come from. Everyone I know, everyone I ever heard of, grew up down there, under that relentless and exquisite blue.

- Carl Sagan

A majority of introverted personalities favor the color [blue], the color of circumspection, for it is allied with conscious control of emotions. … blue is the color of deliberation and introspection, of conservatism and acceptance of obligations. Those who favor it have reflective minds and honest intentions, but sometimes use reason for selfish and self-justified purposes.

- Faber Birren

Image credit : 1 , 2 , 3 

Puppy’s Love, From Rhapsodysinger

The little puppy licked my face

And wiped away all traces of anger.

Every resentment I had nurtured

Against life, against the world, against destiny,

Disappeared with each loving lick.

It was like the cleaning of a blackboard

That had been dirtied by too many marks.

 

Image : Thanks for the awesome pic!

 

 

 

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.

- Anonymous

( from Lectio Divina, or daily readings )

 

Need a friend? What are you waiting for? Get a puppy and watch your life fill up with love, affection and companionship.

Sunrise in Your Heart

Behold the rising sun

Its red and orange streaks

Gradually spreading over the sky

Like a gigantic catherine’s wheel

Slowly emitting multi-colored lights.

Let your eyes capture the sun

In all its morning grandeur.

Shut them quickly.

Take in the fresh morning air

Let that smile beautify your face even more

Now perceive the sun’s brightness

Radiating from your heart and spread

To all your limbs.

Feel one with Nature

Experience this cosmic grandeur

Can you feel peace imploding within you?

 

Thanks for the beautiful image

 

 

I stood upon the hills, when heaven’s wide arch
Was glorious with the sun’s returning march,
And woods were brightened, and soft gales
Went forth to kiss the sun-clad vales.
The clouds were far beneath me; bathed in light,
They gathered mid-way round the wooded height,
And, in their fading glory, shone
Like hosts in battle overthrown.
As many a pinnacle, with shifting glance.
Through the gray mist thrust up its shattered lance,
And rocking on the cliff was left
The dark pine blasted, bare, and cleft.
The veil of cloud was lifted, and below
Glowed the rich valley, and the river’s flow
Was darkened by the forest’s shade,
Or glistened in the white cascade;
Where upward, in the mellow blush of day,
The noisy bittern wheeled his spiral way.

I heard the distant waters dash,
I saw the current whirl and flash,
And richly, by the blue lake’s silver beach,
The woods were bending with a silent reach.
Then o’er the vale, with gentle swell,
The music of the village bell
Came sweetly to the echo-giving hills;
And the wild horn, whose voice the woodland fills,
Was ringing to the merry shout,
That faint and far the glen sent out,
Where, answering to the sudden shot, thin smoke,
Through thick-leaved branches, from the dingle broke.

If thou art worn and hard beset
With sorrows, that thou wouldst forget,
If thou wouldst read a lesson, that will keep
Thy heart from fainting and thy soul from sleep,
Go to the woods and hills! No tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sunrise on the Hills

A Conversation

I am great, said the leaf to the caterpillar

Really? Said the caterpillar in mock belief

You are just a tiny part of a big tree,

How can you be great? Scorned the caterpillar.

Yes, I am, asserted the leaf again-

Or why would the sunshine come down to kiss me,

Or dewdrops gather at night to caress me

Or the winds move swiftly over me in a prolonged tickle

And the rain showers carry The Almighty’s blessings to me?

 

 

Thanks for the lovely image

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

- Anne Frank

Joy of Being Alive

The tiny gull

With feathers white

And a black heart shaped spot

On its back

Hopped and pranced

On the rooftop.

Its small yellow beak

Was turned up to the sky

While it performed its carefree dance.

Its song made the air gay

And sent out echoes of freedom

The leaves of the surrounding trees

Rustled in encore.

Then it flew away

To spread its joy elsewhere

But left a message for you and me -

Dance tonight, it chirped

For, tomorrow we might not see

But today is enough for thee

To be fully alive,

To feel the throb of beauty

And reciprocate with a beating heart

 

I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick, and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a gray mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call which may not be denied.
And all I ask is a windy day with white clouds flying,
And flung spray and blown spume, and the seagulls crying.
I must down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way, and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife.
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow rover,
And a quite sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

- John Masefield

Sea Fever

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gift Your Laughter

The lone bright star winked at me

Once, twice, oh so many more times.

I laughed with joy at its twinkling eyes

It threw down its starry beam towards me

The thin but bright beam picked up my laughter

To take it to its parent star.

 

In return, I received, the very next eve

A gift so beautiful, so priceless

That it shone from my heart and face

The starry beam returned to me

Just as the moon was rising

And whispered in my ear:

Wink at life,

And be happy always

Shine, even if darkness surrounds you

Love yourself and everyone around you

And life will be as beautiful as your laughter.

 

 

Whatever road I take, the guiding star is within me; the guiding star and the loadstone which point the way. They point in but one direction. They point to me.

– Ayn Rand

Anthem