"We die containing a richness of lovers and tribes, tastes we have swallowed, bodies we have plunged into and swum up as if rivers of wisdom, characters we have climbed into as if trees, fears we have hidden in as if caves. I wish for all this to be marked on by body when I am dead. I believe in such cartography - to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books. We are not owned or monogamous in our taste or experience." — Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient)"

"Let the beauty of what you love be what you do."
-Rumi

I think these difficult times have helped me to understand better than before how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way and that so many things that one goes around worrying about are of no importance whatsoever. 

-Isak Dinesen

".....the magic of life exists in the small details, the everyday blessings waiting to be cherished. "
-Kelly Rae Roberts

‎"She said she usually cried at least once each day not because she was sad, but because the world was so beautiful & life was so short." -Story People

"When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms." 
-Mary Oliver 

"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, 

all you have is all you need."

-Sarah Ban Breathnach

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.
- Eleonora Duse

 "Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."  - Mary Jean Iron

May I never not be frisky,
May I never not be risque.

May my ashes, when you have them, friend,
and give them to the ocean,

leap in the froth of the waves,
still loving movement,

still ready, beyond all else,
to dance for the world.

-Mary Oliver, Prayer.

“Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever”.  -Isak Dinesen

May you live every day of your life.
- Jonathan Swift

Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.-
Ruth Ann Schabacker

"Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams." -Ashley Smith

Live with intention. Walk to the edge.
Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon.
Laugh. Choose with no regret. Appreciate your friends.
Continue to learn. Do what you love. 
Live as if this is all there is.
-
Mary Anne Radmacher

"Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are." ~Marianne Williamson 

The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. -Henry Miller

May brooks and trees and singing hills

Join in the chorus too,

And every gentle wind that blows

Send happiness to you.

~Irish Blessing

"I am beginning to learn that it is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all." -Laura Ingalls Wilder

"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." -Henry David Thoreau