On retreat, part 2

As stated previously, I took these pictures in a clandestine manner. We weren't allowed our phones during the retreat. I kept mine on "airplane mode," so it was basically just a functioning clock and camera. I can't help but take pictures of beautiful things in nature, things I may never see again. Things perhaps not many people notice, but I do. I love those little things.

I'm not saying I'm extraordinary; nobody is. We're all just here, trying to do the best we can. Prince died. Prince was just a mortal being. We all are.

"Maybe this 'obviously real' self is actually maintained through linking our continual self-referential commentaries and is supported by our pervasive social agreements about the reality and significance of this self. We pay attention to aspects of our experience that seem relevant to our self. We engage the world with all sorts of dramas about our self. We take all this as self-evident proof of having a solid, continuing self" (73). 

Quotations are from a helpful book I read called Already Free by Bruce Tift.

"If we're not paying attention to our sensations, we will probably be captured by our historic dramas. They are fascinating. They're very convincing in their appearance" (174).

"We may discover that the most satisfying life is one that is fully lived rather than one in which we've accumulated the most experiences" (193).

"Coming into relationship with whatever we are actually feeling in the moment--existential aloneness, aging, the truth of limitations, the experience of pain, anxiety/grief/anger, or the experiences of unconditional kindness and of freedom" (305).

"Discard nothing; appreciate everything" (319).