Our Truest Life Is When We Are In Dreams Awake...

Happy Birthday Henry David Thoreau. 

(7.12)
 

I wrote this years ago, and it holds a special place in my heart. It was my first time getting vulnerable in my writing- to share personal hardships that I had preferred to keep tucked away and controlled. Thank you Henry David Thoreau for having such an impact on so many people through your art.
 

"Thoreau first spoke to me when I was in high school- I loved his aggressive writings about civil disobedience and calling upon freedom where the spirit is enslaved. I had a mild anger in my veins as I began to see that the world of fantasy I grew up reading and residing in begin to contradict itself. I saw my family's boat rock as my Dad struggled with illness of the mind. I began to feel like a mouse on a wheel as I went to school everyday; especially seeing the sadness that existed outside its walls for certain people- in a life that was so precious, so sensitive, why were we spending its hours here? I wanted to embrace everyone and gently shake every illusion off of them that they were anything but powerful and magical.. that they had a gift and the world was begging for it. I picked up Thoreau again and I loved his demands to constantly live in alignment with your dreams. To live the life you have imagined. He speaks of the greatest work happening inside, to take hold of your own perception of life. "To carve and paint the very atmosphere from which we look, to affect the quality of the day. That is the highest of arts." I saw it being possible because I saw the story of my life. I saw the hardships that were given to me and the difficult and absolutely incredible work that comes from replacing them with compassion. Understanding. For Christmas my Dad gave me Walden by Henry David Thoreau, one of his favorite writers as well. I wanted nothing because he couldn't afford a gift- yet there are times where you just accept the deep symbolic nature of something. I am taking some of Thoreau's advice today to speak out and be spartan-like. To inspire others through example. I am realizing that I have a lot to share. If we would only allow ourselves to be vulnerable more, there would be so much love to create. The ups, downs, and details of our experiences are what give us power and connection. Happy Birthday to this writer who has given me so much of it."

Artist: John Lautermilch 

Some of my favorite quotes:

"I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life."


"How vain it is to sit down to write, when you have not stood up to live."
 

"Our truest life is when we are in dreams awake."
 

"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us even in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do. To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts."


"What lies before us and what lies behind us are small matters compared to what lies within us. And when we bring what is within out into the world, miracles happen."