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Contemplative Envelope

notes filled with metaphors, internal thoughts, and who-knows-where-that-came-from

View Joanna's Notes

View Theo's Notes

Everyday when I write your note I start with your name "Joanna." Then I think... "What day is it?" and think of yesterday's note and add one more. 3-4-96, 3-5-96, 3-6-96. The days pass, one by one. No matter where we are, or what we d

Take time to relax and think about Life.

I wonder... what Life could be if we thought about things to do that help others and in return help ourselves. I wonder........ Love 'ya.

Oh Theo - is it true? When you wear your new black shoes you can jump as high as you choose? Oh Theo - is it true? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. When you play superhero you can fly back and forth across the sky? Oh Theo - tell me no lie. Oh Theo - is

The world Joanna - you can't imagine how beautiful it really is. Think of the different places - tropical islands, snow-capped mountains, deserts of sand, miles and miles of green fields. It's awesome! Think of the kinds of weather - bitter cold - b

The world is a beautiful place. The world is a confusing place. The world is a happy place. The world is a sad place. The world is so big. The world has so much to do in it. The world is small. The world is boring

In the mornings sometimes I'm struck by the simple beauty that we take for granted every day. If only we would open our eyes, tune our brains to the wondrous beauty channel, and see the amazing things that are right before our eyes. A morning pictur

What could be better than getting up every day - taking a deep breath and swinging your legs onto the floor and standing up? What could be better than just being young and alive? Enjoy it! Live it!

What is happiness after all? Is happiness getting what you want when you want it always? That sounds more like some kind of incredible lucky selfishness to me. Yet getting what you want sometimes could be part of being happy. What does "want" have t

Open your mind Theo. I know that we all see the world with our own eyes. Our own unique eyes. From the time we are born our biggest challenge is to understand ourselves and to understand that other people are different from us - diffe

One of the hardest yet most important things for anyone to do in their life is to see themselves - see and understand. Understanding yourself is a broad phrase and I mean it in a broad sense. Understanding just who you are, what you believe in. Unde

When Michelangelo went to carve his sculpture of David, the marble was a huge, rough block. Michelangeo said he could "see the finished work inside the stone." So he began to carve. He chipped here where the head would be. He chipped there where the

Life can be so beautiful Joanna. Incredibly beautiful! A sunset, a beach, the mountains, the clouds, an "A" on a test, a smile from a boy you like, a hug from your best friend. So beautiful it almost hurts sometimes. Yet life can be full of pain too

Time goes by without stopping - ever! Babies turn into boys who turn into men. Changes happen slowly and seem to sneak up on us. When we realize it and become aware it's like they happened overnight. We are shocked. But we shouldn't be sur

Good morning. It's funny how we act differently around different people. I know that I act different around the director of a museum than I do with my employees or with a stranger. Buddhists believe you treat all living things with the same respect

Walking Sunny this morning through the neighborhood, I could hardly believe we live in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the World. Green grass wet with last night's rain, the sky gray but tinged with pink and blue and the ground around our

A silly cartoon of a very beautiful girl. Your pictures were sitting here when inspiration struck. We are who we are even though we do our best to make ourselves into who we want to be. At 50 I still struggle every day to be a better person - to be

"On your own two feet!" Ever hear of that expression? Ever thought about what it means? I'm thinking about it this morning because we all have to stand on what we have. God gave us two feet to stand on and he gave us those same two feet to take us w

Good morning starshine! Reach with hope for the light. It's there in front of you, play catch with it. Watch it. Study it. Bask in it. Work for it. Try. Try. Try. Grow towards it like a flower towards the sun. It's the salt in your stew. It's the ho

You know, every morning I read stories in the paper that make me cry. Stories of whole countries full of people being murdered or starved or washed away in floods or dying of diseases. So many people suffering in the world today, while we talk about

Good morning! "Sink or swim" I was just thinking about what that phrase means. When you're in the water it's up to you if you stay above water and make it to shore. The water doesn't, can't "care" about you and what you do. It's all up to you. It's

It's all about being quiet and listening. Listening to the quiet voice inside your head. Listening to the sounds of the world around you and hearing yourself in it. Your thoughts... what do they sound like? Do they sound like dreams? Hopes? Wishes?

A quiet morning this morning. We slept in the guest room and I forgot to set my alarm, but fortunately woke up anyway. Quietly. Gray and damp outside as I walked with Sunny. Quietly. A single seagull flew hard and straight towards Coney Island. Quie

What a dumping yesterday hunh? Everything is smoothed and rounded and waist-deep white. Now, in the morning light, the snow is gray blue with a hint of lavender - beautiful. People can dump on people sometimes, rounding out their features, burying t

The world of ideas. That's what we live in. Ideas are everywhere and all around us, coming at us and coming from us. What ideas to listen to, to follow, to choose, to believe in - which ones are "right" - if not objectively "right" at least right fo

To walk, to dream, to wonder about it all. To think big, to think small, to stand down or to stand tall. Who will hear us when we call?  To fly and fly and fly and fly yet be nowhere but high. To laugh and laugh and laugh yet cry. Go all day l

Someone left a fortune cookie fortune on the counter here and it reads "If you wait too long for the perfect moment, the perfect moment will pass you by." Sounds pretty true to me, although it's really hard to know when you're waiting too long or ju

The sun rises up in the eastern sky just like it's done millions and millions of times. Will it continue for millions and millions more days? Creation. The earth. Art. Life. Find the key to unlock your door and follow the path forever more. Experime

There ain't no reason things are this way. It's how they always been and they intend to stay. I can't explain why we live this way. We do it every day.   from Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason There is a reason actually - several of them. Things

Mornings - school mornings - work mornings - sleep in mornings - up early mornings - dark dog walking mornings - swimming mornings - biking mornings - beautiful blue mornings with incredibly bright crescent moons and a scattering of stars - so cryst

Go to the well and draw the bucket up. Drink deep from the icy cool - drink again, as often as you like... It's there for the taking. It's there for those who work to bring it up. You called it. You want it. So drink!

Poetry churns and humms like an engine that only you control. Reading is like turning the key and starting off on a journey. Writing is a gift from me to you and you to me - pass it on. Living is a raft trip down the Colorado river pa

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