He who seeks truth shall find beauty.
He who seeks beauty shall find vanity.
He who seeks order shall find gratification.
He who seeks gratification shall be disappointed.
He who considers himself the servant of his fellow beings shall find the joy of self-expression.
He who seeks self-expression shall fall into the pit of arrogance.
Arrogance is incompatible with nature.
Through nature, the nature of the universe, and the nature of man, we shall seek truth.
If we seek truth, we shall find beauty.
—Moshie Safdie, TED 2002
Questions: What direction does this offer our efforts toward friendship with ourselves? Will you give us a personal example?
Self-Care Tip – Seek to know your uniqueness
Wow, beautiful blog!! LOVE IT. Definitely my kind of thing 😉 Will definitely keep up with this one! Please check out my page as well, just started here today =))
hello poet. thx for connecting w us. we’ve found that connection is part of what makes us friendlier people so u’ve given quite a bit in these simple lines. keep on.
Hi Sana! *wave*
I like that quote! Very thought provoking! This is going to sound weird, but I look at myself as a house. (see… I told you it may sound weird) My house has different rooms, that must be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis, before I can invite company over.
There’s the spiritual room, the work room, the play room, the sensual room, the family room, the grooming room, the health room, the volunteer room, the learning room, the laughing room (my favorite) and the commitment room. If I keep each one of these rooms dusted and looked after on a regular basis, I am a much better, well rounded friend… to myself and to others.
If I close off any of those rooms and neglect them…. well, you get the idea. When people ask me for relationship advice, I usually suggest they attend to their own happiness first, then see if that person is the type of person they would welcome into all the “rooms” in their “house”.
(This is quite often followed by that blank stare, then an eye roll. …and…”whatever!” )
Weird, maybe, but it works for me. I have to be proactive with my own happiness. If I take care of that, I can handle most things that come my way. Life is good!!!
Beth I’ve never heard your voice but I hear you and it is a delight. your personality can’t stay away and u bring ours out too by influence and knowing we r safe. thank u for your fun, personal and insightful response. the room thing, i’m down w that. luv it in fact and might have even thought of it before u 😉 j/k. u r empowered and accountable to yourself. maybe that’s why u can give so much to others. keep on.
Moshe Safdie is complicated. He makes his architecture sound so simple and so simply made manifest. This is not so.
Also his poem is one of contrast. I don’t think I believe what he says because it is so negative. I think one who seeks truth finds “God”.
Thank you for making us think.
i felt that too clar to a degree. i am not surprised to hear your thoughts. i respect them. keep talking.
I own my illness, it doesn’t own me. I seek to find the truth about my illness, so I can find the beauty of living. Hugs. Marie.
sing to me! thanks for the hugs and the message of hope.
When my kids applied to college, I was gratified when the private schools wanted to know details beyond SAT scores, GPA and class rank. They looked for what made my kids unique. CA public universities, on the other hand wanted just name, class rank and serial number (er, SAT score and GPA).
jacqui, i hope i raise my kids to want this too. i hope i have the wisdom at that fortunate time in life, should i b so blessed, to have this wanting. i find the wanting itself is even part gift, part of the good journey and brings pleasure. keep on.
“Nature” is one of the Eternal Truths. There is never a lie in nature. God created and perfect in every way.
In our humaness:
beauty – vanity
gratification – disappointment
self expression – arrogance
arrogance incompatible with nature
Seek to understand the nature of the universe and the nature of man
There’s the beauty
Who are we in this world and in our imperfect humaness to judge? We do, I do we judge what is beautiful (vanity), we seek gratification and it never meets our expectations (disappointment), we are trying valiantly to be heard and acknowledged and we create an ego (arrogance) and our arrogance keeps us from the pure Nature – God.
I am blessed to live in the mountains and near the ocean and surrounded by amazing forests and animals, rivers and streams and I live in the most livable city in the world. We have architecture, parks, creations of man our will imprinted which can be lovely but for me it will always be Nature. As we look at our selves our fellow humans and seek truth in them and “See” their humaness we can see they are perfect and if we were really honest in our truth we would “See” it in ourselves too. Its easy when seeking truth to see our own “truth” and not the absolute truth of the Universe of God.
Nature is the truth and I can rest in the Truth.
so beautiful colleen. do u have a guest room ;).
i am blessed by your comment. i really like the way u implied that disappointment isn’t unexpected and is part of our humaness. keep on.
I really love all of these comments, and learning. Beauty is on the inside of a person and that I truly believe. Yes, to believe in self is so rewarding then it can be rewarded to others. I also like the saying, “friends are the family you choose for yourself.” Great blog~
thank u Jackie! i luv that.
Absolutely wonderful, Doc. Like drops of the purest underground-filtered spring water. These words have towering integrity. Thank you.
i read your comment over and over just cuz – (all warm inside)
i like what Moshie Safdie says – esp. the part about serving..i think this is really a key in life which sets us free and opens many doors
hello claudia! thanks for commenting. serving is great self-care. keep on.
I went to a kid’s leadership camp tonight where my 12 year old son is in attendance. The kids did an activity (we were told about it but did not see it) where they went up to someone they didn’t know and said, “you ought to get to know me because I think you’re really going to like me.” The kids are really focusing on their own uniqueness and why it’s great. I loved it.
hi tammy! such a treat to connect w u here. your story is inspiring to us other mommy’s w youngin’s. keep talking
I am all new at this.
What is a guest room? And how would I go about having one.
I do love love love your blog emails and often respond. I also have begun to blog, encouraged by a friend and my daughter helped me to get signed up and going. I am finding that the messages God has for me are everywhere!
Thank you for being such a conduit for God and what he has for all of us!
so funny! luv that!
thank u so much for the waves of blessings u send back to me. your feedback is bank. where’s your blog?