“When I say to you, ‘You are lovely’,  you do not believe me, because of the blemishes you know so intimately;  but those blemishes are the scars  of your sufferings and they shine out of your soul,  radiating beauty,  the way the daisies do in the long summer grasses. So when I say to you. ‘Even with closed eyes, I still see how beautiful you are’, it is true. Believe it. Believe it.” ~ Rumi

I am a sculptor, a molder of form.

In every moment I shape an idol.

But then, in front of you, I melt them down

I can rouse a hundred forms

and fill them with spirit,

but when I look into your face,

I want to throw them in the fire.

My soul spills into yours and is blended.

Because my soul has absorbed your fragrance,

I cherish it.

Every drop of blood I spill

informs the earth,

I merge with my Beloved

when I participate in love.

In this house of mud and water,

my heart has fallen to ruins.

Enter this house, my Love, or let me leave.

~ Rumi

“Your inner teacher says: ‘Come closer.  Be faithful to the tree that you are.  Like last year’s leaves,  shed the old stories,  the ache of unfulfilment,  the pain of separation  from yourself. Follow the fool’s tracks.   He turns himself inside out   and upside down   and all for smiles,   all for laughter,   that splits paradigms   and shakes you to your roots. Come inside.   Summer is a wild rose,  though only  for a little while,   but your heart is  a rose for all seasons   and wild   for love. Do not be afraid to be  heart to heart  with yourself.”’ ~  Rumi

“The Master sees things as they are, Without trying to control them.  He lets them go their own way,  And resides at the center of the circle. He or She understands that the Universe  is forever out of control,  And that trying to dominate events Goes against the current of the Tao.  Be content with what you have;  Rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking,  The whole world belongs to you.”  ~ Tao Te Ching