Month: December 2024

We Seek to Know

The heart aches 
for what it desires
while lost
in the shadow
of dissatisfaction.

When we fall
will we rise
with more clarity?

Will our hearts
open to our lives
with honesty?

Will we dare
to change
the trajectory
and risk
a new path?

We face 
the questions
as we seek 
to know
our human
potential—
the hidden gift
of life on earth.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Human potential at its best is to transform a tragedy into a personal triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.”

-Vitor Frankl

“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, ‘I am of no value’, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought — so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can do anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.”

-Dalai Lama

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BE YOUR DREAM

Just as the winter winds come and go,
so too the dreams that seek to be born.
Some come alive in truth
while others fall after deceit is near.
What is the heart’s desire
if not to be alive in love and longing
for the day when all arises
in beauty, and we believe
in all that we are,
beyond this physical form,
beyond these fears,
beyond all being into eternity.

On this solstice,
the energy of light returns
to guide us into what we wish to be:
to see, to taste, and live 
as we set our intentions clearly,
and birth anew into possibility,
with dreams created from the heart.
We are told, you are what you dream.
Be all that is your dream and live into
the wholeness and the wonder of who you are—
light, cosmic love, and truth. 
Within it all, be you.

(image: Winter Winds by Janis Dehler

“This is the solstice, the still point of the sun, its cusp and midnight, the year’s threshold and unlocking, where the past lets go of and becomes the future.” 

-Margaret Atwood

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.”

-Gary Zukav

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

-Pope John XXIII

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NOW AND ALWAYS

In this season:
love abounds,
the full moon rises,
lights shine,
candles are lit,
while we draw near.

We wonder:
How do we enter?
How do we gain?

We remember:
there is no gain,
there is no loss,
in an endless supply 
of love, joy,
and compassion.

Always and ever:
as we need, as we open,
as we allow and release 
that which is not needed,
does not support,
does not bring life.

We open to All:
to life, to love, and rejoice
in the season of light and love, 
which is now and always,
never ending,
in endless supply.

(Image my own)

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are.”

-Eckhart Tolle

“Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.”

-Rumi

“Under the anger, under the fear, under the despair, under the broken heartedness, there is a radiance that has never been harmed, that has never been lost, that is the truth of who one is.”

-Gangaji

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FROM THE BOOK PAGE

Holiday Greetings,

Last year at this time I was anticipating the publishing of ONE WORLD: A Journey of Becoming, on January 10th. It is now coming to the end of the year which held book events, book and art events, my art hanging at Gladje Gallery, offering a workshop on art and spirituality, meeting new people, and enjoying such heart felt responses to my words and images. As an artist and writer, I paint and write because I derive such enjoyment from each, however, selling my works and bringing joy to others lives is frosting on the cake. the cherry on top, the bees knees. And I try to keep it that way. Fun/not work.

I decided to show up today and remind you of a book that could make a lovely gift for you or a loved one. ONE WORLD is available through me, Scout and Morgan Books in Cambridge, and Gladje Gallery in Lindstrom. Also, Amazon in paper or ebook.

I am offering an end of year 20% off discount in my shop now through December 31. Click here http://janisdehler.com/shop/ to order. And check out the greeting cards for sale.

FROM THE STUDIO

My most recent work, Heart Coherence, took a blue ribbon award of excellence at the five county Image Show put on by the East Central Regional Arts Council in central Minnesota. What an honor!

I have not had much time to paint this year due to many many things happening but to get me moving, I took a twelve week abstract art course on line and this inspiration came during the short teaser course before the full course started. I used acrylic, pencil, and ink. After the framing and the show, I am happy to have it at home. I will enjoy it for a while and decide if it is for sale. Some are just hard to let go of. 😊

We The People

We ran in fear.
We towed the line.
As consciousness rises
we stand in truth
of who we are,
no longer choosing
from what is hidden
in shadow,
no longer following
blindly in darkness,
we rise to heart’s bidding—
the All, unfolding before us,
that calls us to live
in simplicity and love,
as we learn to believe,
what is good for all 
is good for me.

(Image: From the One World Series, We All Belong by Janis Dehler)

“The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing – building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help.”

-David M. Kelley

“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”

-Margaret Mead

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

-Voltaire

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A Prayer of Gratitude

I lift my gaze to the sun, the moon,
the stars, to the birds of the air, 
to the universe of mystery, to the
everything and the nothing.

I lower my gaze to the earth, 
to the plants, the animals, 
to the crawling things,
to all that grounds me into Gaia—

the bosom of the mother who
nourishes, protects, challenges,
and grieves, who is alive in
her evolution, who pulses life.

I open my heart to those before me,
to the whispers of love and compassion,
to the cries of war and hate, and on to 
my shadow of fear, pain, and sorrow.

I look to the mountains, the seas,
the vast life before me—the unknown.
For it all, my heart says, yes, 
in gratitude for life, for the journey,

the opportunity to be in body,
in human form, walking each day
with those who seek, who carry light,
who reach to touch the stars to earth—
an angel's kiss. I bow in gratitude.

(Image my own)

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

-Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”

-Henry Van Dyke

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”

-Lionel Hampton

Click for ongoing reading list