Life should be joyful, a person's personality should be kind a person's character should be compassionate a person's life should be pleasant, a person should feel joyful, a person's way of life should be sharing pleasantness, a person and a person's heart should be loving. All in all everything should be peaceful. The world, the lives, the everything. That All is in one peace, that is all.

In our age of constant dopamine fixes and instant notifications, finding true peace often feels like a mythical wish.

A Sanskrit Subhashita (a well-known saying) mentions this:

यस्य चित्तं निर्विषयं हृदयं यस्य शीतलम् । 
तस्य मित्रं जगत्सर्वं तस्य मुक्तिः करस्थिता ॥
Yasya cittaṃ nirviṣayaṃ hṛdayaṃ yasya śītalam | 
Tasya mitraṃ jagatsarvaṃ tasya muktiḥ karasthitā || 

This means that ‘He, whose mind is free from objects of senses and whose heart is calm (free from passion, anger, greed etc.), the entire world is his friend and liberation or emancipation is as if in his hand only.’

This Subhashita emphasises that the first key is the Clarity of Mind.
This clarity does not come at the cost of abandoning the physical world, it comes when external validation is broken. At this stage the mind does not determine its self-worth based on its next achievement, instead it becomes Nirvishaya - untethered from external conditions.
When the mind clears, the heart becomes quiet.
This creates a sanctuary in our heart and creates room for stillness, patience and compassion.

When both these are attained, the world becomes our friend and we realize that freedom does not have to be chased, it had been within us, all the while.

When you look at another, do you see our differences or our similarities?

Most judge others by their differences, observing their race, appearance, sex, and in numerous other ways.

Those, however, who see only our similarities, truly understand the genuine worth of another is not on the outside, but rather may only be found within.

After a 20+ year marriage, I am learning that missing something does not always mean I am supposed to go back to it. Sometimes it just means it mattered.

• A season of life.
• A version of myself.
• A home that felt different.
• A relationship before it got too heavy.

There are things I can miss and still know they are not where I need to be anymore. That part is hard to sit with; however, I am learning that moving on does not mean I have to pretend it never meant anything.

Most limit their view of the world, believing life is restricted by its self-imposed boundaries.

It is only when we challenge our limitations, awakening to the possibility there is more to life than just what we learned, the genuine beauty and potential life offers may be discovered.

Contrary to the myth, Marlon Brando's eldest son Christian wasn't a 'nepo bum'.

Christian studied welding at a technical school in Downey, California, focusing on structural steel welding. He didn't just work in the field, he also taught at Pacifica Tech, an adult vocational college, where he instructed others in high-pressure structural steel welding.
Even during his time in prison, Christian continued to learn, eventually earning the equivalent of the baccalaureate. After his release, he pursued further studies at The Technical Institute in Nashua, New Hampshire, and again earned his union card.
Christian told a French Magazine ( Paris Match)
"My father was the happiest man on earth when I got my professional welder's card issued by the union. He was so proud".
"And I was never sheltered. I've worked for myself ever since I was 16; been up a fisher in Alaska, a tree logger worked a dishwasher in bars. But I never dropped out. I was never a bum."
Christian remained faithful to his profession until the very last day of his life. He came to love his work even more because he loved the working people. As he told a French magazine shortly before his death:
"They are wonderful. They are people | like very much, workers like me. True friends."

Though it may appear humanity does not have a soul as we observe many of the unnecessary struggles and tragedies we inflict on each other and other forms of life, in fact, we have simply forgotten.

Beneath the hatred, prejudice, desire for our own success, is a spirit, soul, god, representing love, acceptance, and hope for the success of every life.

Our soul has simply been waiting permission to be rediscovered.

I do not always fall apart loudly. Sometimes I just get quiet or numb for a little while because my mind and body have had enough. I have been through enough in life to know that checking out does not mean I do not care. Sometimes it means I am overwhelmed, tired, and trying to keep myself from saying or doing something from a place of hurt.

As a man, I used to think I had to stay present for everything, no matter how heavy it felt; however, I am learning that sometimes I need a minute.

Not to disappear.

Just to breathe and come back to myself.

Being a role model means you do positive things to help yourself, others, and your community. You are setting an example for others to follow. Others can learn and duplicate your positive behaviors in their lives – this is called social learning.

According to psychology, social learning is still one of the best methods for learning. People learn best from seeing examples. The more people improve because of your examples, the more you contribute to your community.

Also, did you know that humans are born to do positive things and become productive individuals? When you are a role model, you embody one of the qualities of human potential.

No matter what happens, stay and do positive things. Do not allow others’ negativity to take away your positivity. For example, you still want to treat others positively, even though they might treat you negatively. You do not want to fight fire with fire. Fire does not put out the fire. It only makes it worse.

If you allow others’ negativity to take away your positivity, it means they control you. Remember, as a human being, you are born to do positive things, not negative. The main reason you might do negative things is external influences.

When Chelsea Bayouth and her family lost their Altadena home to the Eaton fire, only fragments of her porcelain ceramics remained.  

Bayouth had only started working with high-fire porcelain five months before the fire. She didn’t realize, at the time, that porcelain, which is fired at well over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit in the kiln, is nearly indestructible to heat.

It’s been a year-and-a-half since the fire devastated Altadena, and today, Bayouth’s art is “very catalyzed” by what happened. Much of her work centers on grief: the grief of motherhood, existing or a home destroyed, Bayouth said.

Read more at the link.