fire of the soul

gosh. it feels like its been a while since i've done a post that wasn't a J.A.M.
...probably because it has been.


so i've been meaning to do this for a while.
these are all the quotes in our workbook for the peace ambassador training we got at the international youth conference a few weeks ago.
and the quotes in our workbook at the last youth rally we had at the end of june. plus pictures (that i did not take) of things at that rally that pertain to me.

so without further adieu,
(i really hope i spelled that right; i'm not a french student)
quotes! with a side of photos!



"Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict - alternatives to passive or agressive responses, alternatives to violence." -Dorothy Thompson


"Before directing the lightning in the sky, we must first harness the storms in our own hearts." -Roberto Brenes Mensen


"If there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world." -Lao Tse


"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." -Ralph Waldo Emerson




"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." -Mother Theresa


"First keep peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others." -Thomas a Kempis


"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding." -Albert Einstein


"While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart." -St. Francis of Assisi


"The dove of peace has first to find a resting place for its feet in our hearts, before it can make its home in our surroundings, establish itself in the environment of our being." -N. Ram




"There can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which... is within the souls of men." -Jack Kornfield


"One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal." -Martin Luther King


"Because we are called to reveal our deepest feelings and needs, we may sometimes find it challenging to express ourselves in NVC [Non-Violent Communication]. Self-expression becomes easier, however, after we empathize with others because we will have touched their humanness and realized the common qualities we share." -Marshall B. Rosenberg, Ph.D., Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life


"I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm and spring forth with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done by me." -Charles Fillmore



"To be authentic is literally to be your own author...to discover your own native energies and desires, and then to find your own way of acting on them." -Warren G. Bennis


"As the present is heir to the past, so will the future be the child of the present. We can either fear the future and hope for a stroke of luck, or we can make a conscious effort to build our future, which means that we work today with a positive attitude and shape the future as we want it to be when we face it. Our future is assured if we work diligently and sincerely today, but it remains uncertain if we live aimlessly." -Rebecca Clark


"Whenever you are tempted to undertake a useless journey that would lead away from the light, remember what you really want." -Unknown




"For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin ~ real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way ~ something to be got through first, some unfinished business, time to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. This perspecive helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way." -Father Alfred D'Souza


"It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into the doing. And it is not how much we give, but how much love we put into the giving. To God, there is nothing small." -Mother Theresa


"Honor your spirit by being willing and giving thanks." -Maria Nemeth




"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero's path, and where we had thought to find an abomination we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to have traveled outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence. And where we ahd thought to be along, we shall be with all the world." -Joseph Campbell


"The fire of God (Holy Spirit) is the word of God in action." -Charles Fillmore


so, i suppose you'd like an explanation of the photos.
the first and last are my chapter doing the YMCA at spirit sharing (like a talent show but with no winner).
the second is the mandala my family group did (an arrangement of flowers in a pan of water)
the third is some of the rocks decorated by people at the event for our giant "fire circle". there wasn't a picture taken of mine, but the one in the center is my mom's :D
the fourth is a piece of wood for our "fire circle" on which we wrote things we were passionate about. i wrote graphic design and life! (can you spot them?)


currently listening to: my playlist made up of slower songs to ease myself into sleep. at this exact second, the beginning of "You and Me" by Lifehouse is playing.