~ Life is short

Vanessa Cardui - Painted Lady

“She liked being reminded of butterflies. She remembered being six or seven and crying over the fates of the butterflies in her yard after learning that they lived for only a few days. Her mother had comforted her and told her not to be sad for the butterflies, that just because their lives were short did not mean they were tragic. Watching them flying in the warm sun among the daisies in their garden, her mother had said to her, see, they have a beautiful life. Alice liked remembering that.”
~Lisa Genova, Still Alice

Whole of Nature

krohnconservatory 2013 butterflies 107

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”


~ Albert Einstein

~ Envy

krohnconservatory 2013 butterflies 279

“Envying another’s beauty will diminish your own.
But when you praise beauty in others your own beauty deepens.”
~ Daisaku Ikeda

~ Caretake this moment

Butterfly 037 TAKE FOUR

“Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in now.”

~ Epictetus

~ Do not despise your own place and hour.

krohnconservatory 2013 butterflies 286“Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world.”

~ John Burroughs, Studies in Nature and Literature  

 

~ a simple secret…

krohnconservatory 2013 butterflies 137

“The simple secret of happiness.
Whatever you are doing, don’t let the past move your mind; don’t let future disturb you. Because the past is no more, and the future is not yet. To live in the memories, to live in the imagination, is to live in the non-existential. And when you are living in the non-existential, you are missing that which is existential. Naturally you will be miserable, because you will miss your whole life.” 
 ~ Osho

~ Yellow is a favorable vibration…

065 Take Three

“Yellow is a very favorable vibration for mental or intellectual activity, as it promotes a clear state of mind. Yellow heightens your awareness and alleviates depression, sadness, or any kind of despondency. Yellow vibration foods are: pineapples, bananas, grapefruit, lemons and corn.” 
― Tae Yun Kim, The First Element: Secrets to Maximizing Your Energy