grateful explorations @gratefulexplorations-blog - Tumblr Blog

If we rediscover the beauty of the image in which we were created, then we will find within us what we are seeking.

Gregory of Nyssa

#Gregory of Nyssa #seeker #quote #beauty #christianity

"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you." —Steve Jobs Everything that you encounter on a daily basis was merely made up by good and well–meaning people who were just like you... You don’t need permission to create. You don’t need to be “gifted” or a “genius” or “brilliant” to contribute to the world around you — you just need to choose to build something. The world belongs to the people who choose to make things. They create the environment that the rest of the world lives in. ... You may be wondering, “But what if I fail? What if people judge me? What if I make something that gets rejected?” I hear you. I feel that way all the time. Hell, maybe this article will get rejected and people will hate it. People who are Makers feel these same fears. They worry about rejection and battle uncertainty just like everyone else. The only difference is that Makers don’t let how they feel prevent them from sharing what they know. But even more important to keep in mind is this: if you choose to create something, you’ve already won because you haven’t rejected yourself. ... Yes, if you build something people might judge it or dislike it. But if you don’t create and share the things that you have inside of you, then you’ll commit the far worse crime of rejecting yourself. Too many people die with their best ideas still inside of them. Your legacy is what you share, not what you know or harbor within yourself. Unshared knowledge is like potential energy. It’s great to have, but it will never do anything unless you turn it into something else. Turn your knowledge into a book. Turn your inspiration into art. Turn your words into music. Turn your ideas into a business. Build something. Write something. Create something. ... --by James Clear. Read the full post at http://jamesclear.quora.com/Be-Honest-Are-You-Rejecting-Yourself

#create #creativity #fear of failure #make something #james clear #inspirational #inspiration #risk #share #share your knowledge

I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living.

Robert Henri

#Robert Henri #art #life #quotes about art

People Aren’t Thinking About You : Using the narcissism of others to your advantage

"We all know humans can be quite narcissistic and self-serving. But the narcissism of others gives you license to take great risk and then fail miserably. Because when you fail, there is a high likelihood that most people aren’t even paying attention. Most of us spend tremendous effort trying to avoid even the possibility of failure. I know I do. We are worried about missing the mark because we fear what people will think of us. This forces us to play it safe, limiting ourselves to the things we already do well. ... Once you free yourself from constantly trying to impress others and embrace the possibility of failure - the suffocating walls of self-doubt will erode around you." -- by Justin Zoradi Full post at http://www.justinzoradi.com/people-arent-thinking-about-you.html

#failure #risk #fear of failure #justin zoradi

newstfionline

By Joel Lovell, NY Times, July 31, 2013

It’s long past graduation season, but we recently learned that George Saunders delivered the convocation speech at Syracuse University for the class of 2013, and George was kind enough to send it our way and allow us to reprint it here. The speech is…

#kindness #wisdom #love

wheels-of-faith

wwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question — you have to want to know — in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.

Clayton Christensen (via wwwwwwwwwwwwwww)

#question #answer #quote #creative #innovative #thinking

#creativity

thesharpiemarkerapproach

There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless. These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, ‘Business as usual.’ But if they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story. Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words. The degree of indignation is astonishing. Their resolve is frightening.

Yann Martel, Life of Pi (via thesharpiemarkerapproach)

#christianity #life of pi #God #poverty

likeafieldmouse-deactivated2015

Hense - 700 Delaware (2012) - Mural on abandoned church

lucid222reveries

why do we have to wait till church buildings are abandoned to do this?

#art #create #colorful #church #abstract art #awesome

lucid222reveries

Based upon my experience, I would argue that male sexual sin isn’t generally framed as a purity violation. The loss of male virginity still gets the performance failure metaphor. If a boy losses his virginity it’s a mistake, a stumbling. Consequently, this is something he can easily rehabilitate. He’s not damaged goods. He can simply resolve to do better going forward. How is this so easy for him? Because his sexuality is being regulated by a performance metaphor. By contrast, and this is the heart of of the matter, the loss of female virginity is almost exclusively regulated by the purity metaphor. For females the loss of virginity is a bit more than a performance failure. It’s a loss of purity that, because of the way purity works, is catastrophic and beyond rehabilitation. And because of this she’s got no way to move forward, metaphorically speaking. The game’s over. And thus she reaches the only conclusion the purity metaphor makes available to her: She’s damaged goods. And all the emotions related to that judgment of contamination rush forward as she internalizes all the shame, disgust, revulsion and nausea. This is the psychology that makes the Christian purity culture so toxic.

The Psychology of the Christian Purity Culture (via hislivingpoetry)

#christianity #purity #double standards