"the secrets of living"

I'm absolutely loving this print by Raw Art Letterpress.  The words are sort of jumbled up, but it's based upon this line by e.e. cummings (my favorite poet): 

"may my heart (all ways) always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living..."

A lovely sentiment for Spring, isn't it?

xo,

50 Ways to Cope With Stress

My sister emailed me this list of 50 Ways to Cope With Stress this morning, and I thought it was pretty amazing.  I found myself nodding in agreement at each sentence.  I think I'm going to print out a copy and tack it to my mirror so that I can remind myself of these ideas every day.  I especially like the suggestion to "schedule play time into every day." It's so true: regularly scheduled play time is so critical to maintaining perspective!

So, tell me...how do you cope with stress?

xo,

A more beautiful question

"nothing proving or sick or partial. Nothing false,nothing difficult or easy or small or colossal. Nothing ordinary orextraordinary,nothing emptied or filled,real or unreal;nothing feeble and known or clumsy and guessed. Everywhere tintschildrening,innocent spontaneaous,true. Nowhere possibly what flesh and impossibly such a garden,but actually flowers whichbreasts are amoung the very mouths of light. Nothing believed or doubted;brain over heart, surface:nowhere hating or tofear;shadow,mind without soul. Only how measureless cool flames of making;only each other building always distinct selves ofmutual entirely opening;only alive. Never the murdered finalities of wherewhen and yesno,impotent nongames of wrongright andrightwrong;never to gain or pause,never the soft adventure of undoom,greedy anguishes and cringing ecstasies ofinexistence;never to rest and never to have;only to grow.

Always the beautiful answer who asks a more beautiful question"

-e.e. cummings, "INTRODUCTION from New Poems"

Illustration by Cecelia Carlstedt via Art Department.

Signs

"I used to wait for a sign, she said, before I did anything. Then one night I had a dream and an angel in black tights came to me and said, you can start any time now, and then I asked is this a sign? And the angel started laughing and I woke up. Now, I think the whole world is filled with signs, but if there's no laughter, I know they're not for me." - Brian Andreas, "Waiting for Signs"

Photo by Alicia Bock via her blog Bloom, Grow, Love.

Life lessons

Check out this awesome list from one of my favorite bloggers, Sweats in the City, of life lessons she has learned thus far, in honor of her approaching 30th birthday.

P.S. It reminded me of City Girl's fantastic Pearls of Wisdom series!