Quote of the day: “You don’t need another person, place, or thing to make you whole. God already did that. Your job is to know it.” — Maya Angelou

Sunset Yoga by the Lake

I decided to try something different today—sharing some of my favorite inspirational quotes with photos from a sunset walk at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis yesterday. Enjoy!

May you walk in beauty.

Ducks snoozing at the edge of the lake

Words of Wisdom and Joy

“Joy is everywhere; it is in the earth’s green covering of grass; in the blue serenity of the sky; in the reckless exuberance of spring; in the severe abstinence of grey winter; in the living flesh that animates our bodily frame; in the perfect poise of the human figure, noble and upright; in living; in the exercise of all our powers; in the acquisition of knowledge; in fighting evils; in dying for gains we never can share. Joy is there everywhere.”— Rabindranath Tagore

The Joy of Movement

“only seek to be more of yourself” — Danielle LaPorte

Sailing on Lake Calhoun

“External circumstances do not create feeling states. Feeling states create external circumstances.” — Martha Beck

Loons on Lake Calhoun

Loons on Lake Calhoun Lyrics

words and music: Ann Reed

I’m riding on my bike
Gliding along
The light is early morning
It’s pretty and half-awake
This city that has
The lakes as its reward

I stop all my inner debating
And waiting a minute, it hovers and fades

Ducks talking, coots check in
Chalking up routes
They’ve been on their migration
Then floating up above
The soloist does her stuff
With carbonation

It’s a melody picked out
To tell how a tickle would sound if given the room
There’s loons on Lake Calhoun

They’ve dropped in to see a show
Stopped to see grebes they know
From a long, late winter
The people lift eyes from the ground
Seeming surprised at the sound
Of grace, delivered

I never expected a miracle
Here I’ll admit: Oh, I rarely — do you?
There’s loons on Lake Calhoun

And they’ve made it from far, far away
Before takin’ it northward, but before they do
There’s loons on Lake Calhoun

© 2009 Turtlecub Publishing

Hear Ann Reed sing this song HERE

Skyline View across Lake Calhoun

“Step forward out of your own lingering residual sense of smallness, take up every inch of life that is your blessed inheritance, and DO YOUR THING.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

Flower doing it’s thing

“Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.” — Steven Pressfield

Busy shoreline of Lake Calhoun

“Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.” — Barbara Kingsolver

Hikers and Bikers on Path by the Lake

“If you follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say follow your bliss and don’t be afraid and the doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.” — Joseph Campbell

Follow Your Bliss

 live with intention.
walk to the edge.
listen hard. practice wellness.
play with abandon. laugh.
choose with no regret.
continue to learn.
appreciate your friends.
do what you love.
live as if this is all there is.

  — mary anne radmacher