We’re here for a reason. I believe a bit of the reason is to throw little torches out to lead people through the dark.  ~ Whoopi Goldberg

Image © Sandy Hibbard Lensqueen.com

Photo by Sandy Hibbard

You know, I sometimes think, how is anyone ever gonna come up with a book, or a painting, or a symphony, or a sculpture that can compete with a great city. You can’t. Because you look around and every street, every boulevard, is its own special art form and when you think that in the cold, violent, meaningless universe that Paris exists, these lights. I mean come on, there’s nothing happening on Jupiter or Neptune, but from way out in space you can see these lights, the cafés, people drinking and singing. For all we know, Paris is the hottest spot in the universe.

~ Owen Wilson 

Image by #SandyHibbard from her forthcoming book, “Paris is in the Details” – see more images on Instagram @J’aime_Paris

“Sometimes I hate you,

sometimes I hate myself,

but always I miss you”

~ David Henry Hwang, M. Butterfly

Photo from The Girl from Nagasaki – a film by Michel Comte.

The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love.
~ Buddha

“Each man should frame life so that at some future hour fact and his dreaming meet.” ~ Victor Hugo

   “Let’s not be concerned with whether but when. It’s a time for bold moves along this journey and I believe we will meet at our destiny.”

Be Confident – Too many days are wasted comparing ourselves to others and wishing to be something we aren’t. Everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses, and it is only when you accept everything you are – and aren’t – that you will truly succeed.
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”  ~ Nora Ephron
“Play Music, Cook, Write, FOCUS.”  ~ Erica Barry in Something’s Got to Give
“Do not fear mistakes.  There are none.” ~ Miles Davis
I declare that God is bringing about new seasons of growth.  I will not get stagnant and hold on to the old.  I will be open to change  knowing that God has something better in front of me. New Doors of opportunity, new relationships, and new levels of favor are in my future.  This is my declaration.
One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go.  Whether it’s guilt, anger, love, loss or betrayal, change is never easy.  We fight to hold on and we fight to let go.
“Dear Human: You’ve got it all wrong. You didn’t come here to master unconditional love. That is where you came from and where you’ll return. You came here to learn personal love. Universal love. Messy love. Sweaty love. Crazy love. Broken love. Whole love. Infused with divinity. Lived through the grace of stumbling. Demonstrated through the beauty of . . . messing up. Often. You didn’t come here to be perfect. You already are. You came here to be gorgeously human. Flawed and fabulous. And then to rise again into remembering. But unconditional love? Stop telling that story. Love, in truth, doesn’t need any other adjectives. It doesn’t require modifiers. It doesn’t require the condition of perfection. It only asks that you show up. And do your best. That you stay present and feel fully. That you shine and fly and laugh and cry and hurt and heal and fall and get back up and play and work and live and die as YOU. It’s enough. It’s plenty.” ~ Courtney A. Walsh
“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”  ~ Lao Tau

29 quotes to inspire and keep you rolling through the year

1. STAY HUNGRY. STAY FOOLISH  ~ Steve Jobs
2. The road has two rules only:  Begin and Continue
3. Live our truth, share our joy, expand our awareness.  ~ Sandy Hibbard
4. Do not fear mistakes.  There are none.  ~ Miles Davis
5. If enlightenment is not where you are standing, where will you look?  ~ Zen saying
6. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.  ~ My dad, from the scriptures
7. Nothing is left to you at this moment but to have a good laugh!  ~ Zen saying
8. Let me respectfully remind you, life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken.  AWAKEN! Take heed, do NOT squander your life.  ~ The Evening Gatha
9. The First Agreement:  My Impeccable Word.  ~ Miguel Ruiz
10. All you need to survive this life is a grateful heart and a strong will.  ~ Dr. K
11. Just keep a clear mind, go straight ahead, try, try, try, for ten thousand years.  ~ Soen Sa Nim
12. Love is a present that can be given every single day you live.  ~ fortune cookie 
13. I didn’t always know what I wanted to do, but I knew the kind of woman I wanted to be.  ~ Diane von Furstenberg
14. One morning Suzuki Roshi gave a brief talk to the people sitting in zazen:  “Each of you is perfect the way you are…and you can use a little improvement.”  ~ Suzuki Zen
15. Death is not the greatest loss in life.  The greatest loss is what dies within us while we’re alive.  ~ Norman Cousins
16. Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s being, and it points the way from bonding to freedom.  ~D.T. Suzuki
17. People will forget what you said, will forget what you did, but will never forget how you made them feel.  ~ Maya Angelou
18. Just point your feet in the right direction and move forward!
19. Nothing works, unless you do.  ~ Maya Angelou
20. Pray to God, but hammer away.  ~ Spanish Proverb
21. Explore, discover, broaden and enrich my life and the lives of others.  To offer my talent and resources to help others be successful.  ~ my personal mission statement
22. The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed at all.
23. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.  ~ Albert Einstein
24. My income is constantly increasing
25. Each age has its own special joys and experiences.  I am always the perfect age for where I am in life.
26. God builds his temple in the heart on the ruins of churches and religions.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
27. I know it to be true that neither life or death, good or bad, the present or the future, or any powers, circumstances or anything else in all creation will be able to separate me from the love of God.  ~ the scriptures
28. Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.  ~ Sandy Hibbard
29. I was once afraid of people saying, “Who does she think she is?” No I have the courage to stand and say, “This is who I am.”  ~ Oprah Winfrey