Every now and again, I read words that speak to my heart and inspire my way of living. Emerson’s conviction that, “the more experiments you make the better” guided my college years (& inspired many adventures), Thoreau’s mandate that we “simplify, simplify, simplify” saw me through graduate school, and the wisdom of Goerthe colored my post-grad years, “Never let the things that matter most be at the mercy of the things that matter least.”
Recently, I’ve been living by my own motto to embrace the future and remember how much time I still have: enough time to try new things, meet new people, discover new places, and become the person I’ve always wanted to be.
I’ve always looked forward to the future, but it seems even more important to ‘dream forward‘ as I grow older. The past is important, yes, but it doesn’t need to determine what comes next. I remind myself that ambitious projects might take a while, but the time will pass anyway – might as well pursue things I’m passionate about.
I’ve gone and done it again — shared many more thoughts than necessary to simply tell you that a Rainbow Rowell quote inspired me so much that I made a graphic and corresponding PDF (download here :goodthingsgrow). The other thing I meant to tell you about? The urban flower garden that recently popped up in St. Paul.
The garden uses painted rocks instead of flowers, and a two-story mural provides a fun backdrop for the space. We had fun exploring the area, and there just so happened to be *free* BBQ during our visit. Fast fact: BBQ is my favorite food.
Do you have any guiding philosophies? Favorite food? Have you ever been to an urban flower farm? Check out The Ink Nest for drawings like the flowers in my graphic.
I love this so much. Life is a beautiful thing, and we must live it well!
Love it. Such a great graphic. I’m such a goal-oriented person…dreaming about the future and making plans upon plans for the future. But I’ve been trying to do a lot more of “living in the now” too! Which makes me sound like a yolo-loving high schooler, but hey! The things we do today help make all of those dreams a reality! I’m sure somebody famous said something like that at one point…ha. 😉 P.S. LOVE me some BBQ.
I have a bookmark that I see every time I crack open a book to read (which is quite often). It has a quote on in from English novelist George Eliot. She says, “It is never too late to be who you might have been.”
There is so many sentiments wrapped into these words: hope, courage, faith, perseverance. It is one of my favorite quotes of all time (and that’s saying something with my love of inspiring quotes) 😉
Oh, and BBQ totally rocks 🙂
What a neat garden area!! I love that!! You have the most fun life – seriously!! All your pictures are all so adorable!
This is a fabulous quote and a great way to live! Where is that urban garden, it’s so cool, I’d love to visit!
that garden is so cute! i love the brightly colored chairs. i am pinning this quote now – i sometimes get ahead of myself when it comes to life and need to slow down.
Love the photo of you walking on the log! And your pup is soooo cute. That face, that smile!! Great job on the graphic too!
I love the print you made of the quote! It’s absolutely perfect! 🙂
This is also how I feel about health, too. Thinking about perfecting my health is overwhelming, so I just make one little thing more healthy at a time – better food choices, longer walk/runs, lengthier yoga sessions. It takes the pressure off! 🙂
Your thoughts are definitely inspirational–the things we’re most passionate about are not usually the easiest or the quickest endeavors in life–but in a way, that makes them all the more worth doing!
I’m totally going to make Alex take me here when we visit Minnesota next month!!!
The urban flower garden is so adorable! I love the big circles they added as a backdrop… very cute 🙂
I couldn’t agree more with you about dreaming forward + about the future. Whether we’re 19, 29, or 59… we should always be dreaming towards the future + being appreciative of the journey we’re on in the present. Thanks for the beautiful inspiration!
Good things grow. Awesome life lesson… one that I definitely want to remember and remind myself of often!
Your words are what I like to read to inspire my way of living! I love your perspective on everything! And I love BBQ too, so there’s that! 🙂