Hope and Affirmation

"Life seems glorious for a while, then it seems poisonous. But you must never lose faith in it, it is glorious after all. Only you must find the glory for yourself. Do not look for it either, except in yourself; in the secret places of your spirit and in all your hidden senses."

Wallace Stevens
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"It requires internal work that may demand unanticipated heroic efforts. Men and women sometimes go through a painful sorting out of their beliefs and values as they discover a deeper and better world. They have to deal with the people around them who haven't gone through that shift in vision.

"...I'm not talking about something simple and easy. It may be the most challenging thing of all to crawl out of the pleasant unconsciousness that has been your womb for many years and enter life as a grounded, thoughtful individual.

"If you wake up to your soul, you may have to stand apart from the crowd and dare to be unique. The soul is your depth, like the rich earth nourishing a flower. It is always there, and it has always been there. From it your life emanates and blossoms. You glimpse it in your deepest emotions and the very roots of your thinking. It is hidden in your past and not yet fully visible in your actual life. As it shows itself, you realize how much of an individual you are, even eccentric and sometimes mad."

Thomas Moore