mountains
* * *
What my weekend looked like
It was cold.
It was quiet.
It was all very inspiring.
In the mountains this weekend, I learned to be still.
I learned to love snow again.
And most of all I learned how to be entirely silent.
I’m back home in Davidson now for the holidays with a heart that is heavy and thankful.
And now, the mountains are calling
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir
I found this photo the other afternoon.
It was taken at sunrise on a bus en route to Rishikesh this past summer. It’s my idea of beauty.
The semester is officially over for me now and it is time to listen to the call and head to the mountains.
Night notes: Kathmandu
Leaving this gorgeous city for a quieter life in the Terai in just a few hours. Doubt I will sleep at all knowing I have to be awake again in just two small hours.
Two months. The lovely Terai. Dal Bhat daily.
Maybe I’m just far too excited or curious to sleep anyway. . .
Letang here we come!
[Photos: Views near Swayambunath Temple at Sunset//Grace Farson]
Beauty everywhere
“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” – e. e. cummings
Happy Monday.
Find someone to believe in you.
Find something beautiful to celebrate.
These photos are my inspiration//the things that are pulling me through the next few days.
[Photos: Found in Nepal//Grace Farson]
Living in fear
In part, I feel like I’m letting a lot of things slide at the moment. . .
Even though there are days (*like yesterday) when I feel exhausted//overwhelmed, overall, I’m still happy, content, and inspired right now. I’ve just been disappointed in myself for being a bit of a failure of a friend//daughter//sister//kid//student// group leader and co-worker. Okay, failure might be a bit extreme, but I’ve been terribly occupied and I haven’t managed to make a bigger effort in any of these areas. I’m surviving, but making a lot of messes too!
In this crazed state of mind, I’ve been thinking a lot about fear. Fear and I have a strange relationship. I often feel I don’t fear enough, but at the same time, fear is one of my great motivators in life.
Tomorrow is my birthday and I always like to use this time of year to set new intentions. . .
Better understanding my relationship with fear should be one of them. . .
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” – Marianne Williamson
+ My favorite song of the week and a song that sparked some of these thoughts. . .
[Photos: Trekking. The Annapurna Circuit, Nepal//Grace Farson]
GRACE FARSON 