What's Love Got to Do with It?

     "Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough."              George Washington Carver

     "You learn about a thing ... by opening yourself wholeheartedly to it. You learn about a thing by loving it."                                             Barbara McClintock - Nobel prize-winning geneticist

     "The truth is, what one really needs is not Nobel prizes but love. How do you think one gets to be a Nobel laureate? Wanting love, that's how. Wanting it so bad one works all the time and ends up a Nobel laureate. It's a consolation prize.

     What matters is love."                              George Wald - Nobel prize-winning biologist from Harvard

        McClintock quote from: Jauregui A. "Epiphanies. Where Science and Miracles Meet." Atria Books, 2007.
       Wald quote from: Kornfield J. "A Path with Heart. A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life." Bantam Books, 1993.

All in a dream

Neil Young's "It's a dream"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJNB8fXje3I

Nature, Beauty, Gratitude

Thank you again Nancy for bringing attention to this fine TEDxTalk by time-lapse film maker Louie Schwartzberg:

http://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_nature_beauty_gratitude.html

Listening

     "To listen" in Chinese

     "The characters in 'ting' represent the eyes, the ears, the heart, (the total being) and undivided attention. ... Listening requires the whole being to be involved when trying to understand what is being communicated. And the concept of undivided attention is crucial. ... one listens with the whole being."

        Beall ML. Perspectives on intercultural listening. in Wolvin AD ed. Listening and human communication in the 21st century. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2010.

     You may wish to see: http://www.johnlovas.com/2012/01/mystery-essence-of-all-life.html

Post-traumatic growth

     "Of course, not all people grow from crisis. Some refuse to accept the need for redefinition, and orchestrate their own intellectual and emotional shutdown. Those who do grow manage to stay awake to the anguish, confusion, and self-doubt. This requires a high degree of tolerance for discomfort, as well as the ability to see the world as it is, not as they wish it to be. Over time, the people who continue to struggle emerge wiser, kinder and more resilient. After they have broken and rebuilt themselves, they feel less breakable.

      Living is a complicated process, a journey of discovery that never ceases. As I grow older, the basic facts of life seem increasingly simple. The closer we live to our core, the more we realize that we are like other people. My fear and sorrow are yours, as is my harsh self-judgment. My desire to be good and to feel loved is your desire, too. We all seek peace."

       Pipher M. "Seeking peace. Chronicles of the worst Buddhist in the world." Riverhead Books, NY, 2009.

Joy Acharyya  http://photography.nationalgeographic.com

Kindness

"If you always assume the person sitting next to you is the Messiah waiting for some human kindness,

You will soon come to weigh your words and watch your hands.

And if he/she so chooses not to reveal him/herself in your time - It will not matter."                                                                            A Rabbi's Proverb

Naomi Shihab Nye's poem "Before you know what kindness really is":

http://www.ijourney.org/?tid=735

Kindness to strangers

Shakespeare and Company bookshop, Paris