How to Not Be a Perfectionist
People are vivid
and small
and don’t live
very long—
Molly Brodak
I say this with incredulity: happy 8th birthday to La Pêche Fraîche.
Loveliest of Trees
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands above the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
A.E. Housman
On the banks of the Tokyo Bay moat in the Hamarikyu Gardens.
The Heian-jingu torii on the banks of the Lake Biwa canal, Kyoto.
Along the Kamo River, Kyoto.
Early morning stillness at Fushimi Inari. Kyoto.
The absolutely sublime Takase-gawa, Kyoto.
The courtyard of the silent patisserie, Zen Kashoin. Kyoto.
The light forest in Teamlab: Borderless. Tokyo.
An intricate pavilion in Biwon (Secret Garden) within Changdeokgung Palace. Seoul.
Flashing lights and late-night shoppers of Myeongdong, Seoul.
Moo
Oh, the wonderful sounds
Mr. Brown can do!
He can sound like a cow.
He can go MOO MOO
—Dr. Seuss
Happy Pi Day. 3.14!
I hope you are all safe and well today.
Always Be Here
You are loved just for being who you are, just for existing.
You don’t have to do anything to earn it.
Your shortcomings, your lack of self-esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success—none of that matters.
No one can take this love away from you, and it will always be here.
Ram Dass
Some Times
You won’t always,
don’t always
get what you need –
And try as you will,
you won’t always succeed –
And sometimes you’ll struggle,
And sometimes you’ll doubt –
And sometimes you’ll work,
But it just won’t work out.
It’s toil and it’s trouble,
This troubling life –
It’s juggling stress,
And it’s struggle and strife –
It’s bearing the bad times,
And riding the rough –
It’s knowing you tried,
But it wasn’t enough.
But try all the same,
With a hope in your heart –
Be sad but be strong,
And be ready to start –
The bad times will hurt,
And the dreadful times too –
You have to survive them.
It’s all you can do.
—Sam Garland
You Were Together
“Home wasn’t a set house, or a single town on a map.
It was wherever the people who loved you were, whenever you were together.
Not a place, but a moment, and then another, building on each other like bricks to create a solid shelter that you take with you for your entire life, wherever you may go.”
― Sarah Dessen, What Happened to Goodbye
Santa’s Workshop
“This place reminds me of Santa’s Workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms and everyone looks like they want to hurt me.”
—Buddy the Elf
Carry Down A Present
Then their father Israel said unto them,
“If it must be so, do this: take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present—some balm and some honey, gum, laudanum, pistachio nuts, and almonds…”
Gen. 43
Kathmandu Cosmos
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”
Carl Sagan, Cosmos
Mad with Wrath
“Some tiny creature, mad with wrath, is coming nearer on the path.”
—Edward Gorey
