But That Was Then

Mary Dipnall

I have some advice for you, courtesy of author Anne Lamott: “You weren’t born a person of cringe and contraction. You were born as energy, as life, made of the same stuff as stars, blossoms, and breezes. You learned contraction to survive, but that was then.” Surrender to the sweetness.

— Jan Darwin Hutchins

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We are aggressive, brutal, competitive, and we build a society which is equally competitive, brutal and violent.

— J. Krishnamurti

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Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over- civilized people are beginning to find that going out to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.

— John Muir

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People often make the mistake of burying their unresolved childhood memories under a bushel of compassion. Even if its true that your parent(s) did their best, it doesn’t mean that there isn’t material to work through. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have a right to your own healing journey. Often people did their best, and still caused suffering. We break the cycle when we also turn our compassionate eye inward, lovingly tending to our own woundedness. Because we were doing our best, too.

— Jeff Brown

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