“Be a kind voice in this brokenhearted world. Give grace and be ready to receive it. Listen so well that the person you’re with can rest in your loving attention for a moment. Be a light. Be a light. Be a light.” – Nanea Hoffman
Author: heytherefriends
Hey there, friends. Welcome to my blog.
I'm a mother, cookie maker, animal lover, photo hobbiest, kindness advocate, and seeker of beauty and quirkiness in the little things of every day living
Gratitude Scavenger Hunt
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton In recent years I have found that negativity and gratitude cannot co-exist in the same headspace; gratitude is simply too powerful. And it is absolutely our choice to make every single day —…
Second Spring
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus And we are enjoying every bloom.
Love you
This photo from the other evening sums up everything you need to know about my dog. I noticed the “love you” on this bench while I was waiting for Finnegan to make friends with each person he encountered at the park. So I figured I’d take a photo of him with it while he socialized….
Monday Message
Courtesy of our evening walk.
Discovered
“Beauty is a universal language, spoken by the world around us. To see it, you need only open your heart and gaze with curious eyes; it’s everywhere, waiting to be discovered.” – Louie Schwartzberg The loveliest transition is happening right now. It feels like it’s a little slow to get going, but fall colors are…
Glimmer
“Today I learned about a term called a “glimmer.” Which is the opposite of a trigger. Glimmers are those moments in your day that make you feel joy, happiness, peace, or gratitude. Once you train your brain to be on the lookout for glimmers, these tiny moments will appear more and more.” – Unknown Fall…
Think about such things
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will…
I’m proud of you
Just in case no one has told you lately: You are free to create your own moments of celebration.You are free to reflect on all you’ve made it through and say this to yourself:“You know what? I’m proud of you.” You are free to be proud of how far you have come…even when it comes…
Just be here
“Everyday is not an opportunity to improve yourself. Some days are just there for you to accept yourselfand look at the clouds. This too is growth.This too is rising. Just existing is enough on some days. The flowers do it everydayand make the world more beautifuljust by being here. So do you.” – Nikita Gill
Nostalgia
“One is always at home in one’s past.” – Vladimir Nabokov l’d been thinking a lot about nostalgia lately and then this National Geographic article (click here) popped into my email inbox. I was surprised by the timeliness of it – especially in light of an interesting experience I’d had recently that centered around this…
Nearer
“If you want to get warmyou must stand near the fire: ifyou want to be wet you must get into the water.If you want joy,power, peace, eternallife, you must getclose to, or even into,the thing thathas them.”– C.S. Lewis
Indeed
“The vital function that pets fulfill in the world hasn’t been fully recognized. They keep millions of people sane. When you pet a dog or listen to a cat purring, thinking may subside for a moment and a space of stillness arises within you, a doorway into Being. – Ekhart Tolle Just felt like a…
Something silly
Draw a crazy picture, Write a nutty poem, Sing a mumble-gumble song, Whistle through your comb. Do a loony-goony dance ‘Cross the kitchen floor, Put something silly in the world That ain’t been there before. Just some random photos from a little exploration over the past weekend. Sometimes lovely, mostly creative, even a little silly…
Close enough
“The world is absurd but I still cling to its flowers like a bee drunk on spring.” – Luke Levi So I guess technically these bees are drunk on summer. Close enough.
Let July be July
Let July be July, and let August be August. And let yourself just be even in the uncertainty. You don’t have to fix everything. You don’t have to solve everything. And you can still find peace and grow in the wild of changing things.” – Morgan Harper Nichols July. It has been quite a month….
Everyone
“You can’t be best friends with everyone. But you can notice everyone. You can make room for everyone. You can be kind and generous and thoughtful and sympathetic to everyone. You can offer a smile to everyone. You can make eye contact with everyone. You can probably even offer a simple “hello” to everyone. And…
Miracle
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole world would change.” – Buddha I brought this bundle of tulips home recently and I’ve enjoyed watching them from bud to bloom. Each stage has been beautiful – a miracle – in its own way. Even when they were completely faded.
A wish for the week ahead
“May you keep waking up every day, even if you have to snooze the alarm a time or ten. May you continue sharing your triumphs, and sorrows, and jokes, and blurry, off-centered photos that bear witness to a life being lived. May you choose to let the other party in a pointless argument have the…
The list goes on
“The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” – Mary Davis I realized today that it’s been a hot minute since I sat down and made a gratitude list. It’s certainly not for lack of content. But here are just a few things on my mind. There are so many more things to…
That’s all
I thought it might be a good time for a Finnegan Appreciation Post. Seriously. How can anyone possibly be anything other than cheerful looking at that face. He just makes everything better. And oh my goodness, the love-fest between that dog and my kids is off the charts. So there it is. Today’s Finnegan Appreciation…
Too Much is Just Enough
“If you love something, love it completely. Cherish it, say it, but more importantly, show it. Life is finite and fragile, and just because something is there one day, it might not be there the next. Never take that for granted. Say what you need to say, then say a little more. Say too much….
Shades of Spring
Looking over a few photos from walks in the park over the past week, I noticed a lovely color trend that I thought was worth sharing…
hey there, friends 