Shutter Sisters

what’s your mantra?

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I was in line at the grocery store, fresh flowers in hand, when I looked down to see this. A simple statement in type. I looked closer and smiled to myself. It had jumped off the display onto the groceries I was buying. I didn’t need it, but I brought it home anyway because it obviously needed to be seen by me.

The Universe and I have a deal. It shows me signs and I ask no questions.

Since that day at the checkout, this three word statement has become a mantra of mine. Life Is Weird. It’s a plain and simple truth for me these days, one I am embracing fully. I surround myself with words in my daily life. They lift me up and guide me. They reflect, teach, and heal me. And right now I am craving them, so share with us your thoughts, your words… what’s your mantra?

Comments

  3. trust life.

    these two words are so much my mantra that i’m dreaming of getting them tattooed on me somewhere on my 40th birthday.

  7. I was listening to the new Iron & Wine yesterday, and these words jumped out at me:

    Incredible things are happening in the world
    Magical things are happening in this world

    Yes. I believe that. I need to remember that.

  10. My blog title . . . "From Chaos comes Happiness." (http://fromchaoscomeshappiness.blogspot.com/)
    It’s SO me . . . in SO many ways. Very chaotic, but very happy. That sums it all up. I totally get what you say about the Universe giving you signs, and you taking them with no questions asked. I kind of have the same deal going, too. Thanks for sharing yours.

  12. i have that magnet on my fridge. and right below it, i have a card with a great sepia photo of a boy jumping off of a pier into the water–legs and arms stretched out. it’s a very playful shot, and over the top of the photo are bold letters that say "we are always getting ready to live, but never living." it’s a quote by emerson. i love this quote, and it is why i put it on the side bar of my other blog.

    but my favorite "mantra" over this past year and a half since i started blogging and creative doors started to open is "dwell in possibility" by emily dickinson.

    anyway, your post today inspired mine…
    http://jorjah-b.blogspot.com/2009/10/jorjah-dwell.html
    so, thanks!
    🙂

  17. At the moment, I would say the one that pops into my head most often is "Just keep swimming" – thanks Nemo.
    But I have to say I agree with you so much Alyssa. Compassion. =)

  18. This summer, I almost lost both of my parents to illness. My mantra before that was "Work. Live. Play. And Give Back." Today, I am grateful for what I have. "Life and loved ones are precious gifts." So I try to never take that for granted.

  22. the other day, sitting at a stoplight, the woman in the car next to me was smoking and wearing a patch on her eye. when she turned her head toward me, there was a big eye painted on the patch, wide open and looking at me.

    so yeah, it is weird. and sometimes it makes me step on the gas and laugh. mostly, it makes me smile.

    my mantra today: do something, anything, as long as it’s on the list.

  23. I know this is going to sound odd, but the closest thing to a mantra that I find myself saying with some regularity is:

    Life is too short to eat rotten lettuce.

  24. "create joy" (or your own fun) has been mine for a couple of years now. joy isn’t something handed to you on a silver platter…it’s something we create, it’s something we have to become aware of and embrace………..we have to create our own magic when at times life may seem like it’s lacking.

  25. My 3 faves:
    Keep calm & carry on.

    I am fairly certain that given a cape & a tiara, I could save the world.

    Tired of being an oyster, she decided to try to live life as a PEARL for a while!

  29. Breathe
    Trust

    I am going to get these as a tatto for my birthday in December. just to remind myself over and over again that if I do these two things that I will be okay….

  31. This is not mine but the other day I was on facebook and someone made the comment, "Time goes by so fast how the heck can you ever find time to stop and smell the roses." Then someone else posted, "Smelling the roses stops time"

    So for right now mine is, smelling roses stops time.

    P.S. I love seeing Meredith over here and I hope to see more of her…her musings always brighten my day!

  35. "Life is weird" is translated down here in the Big Easy as "Only in New Orleans."

    If I had to give a phrase as a mantra, it would be "Thank you." Thank you to God for blessings, thank you to kind people who brighten my day, thank you for loving friends and family, thank you for health, thank you for nature…. Cultivating thankfulness is my way of keeping things in perspective!

  36. oh sisters.. i can’t express how much joy i’ve gotten from reading all your words! thank you all for sharing with me today.

    and jenny, your comment made me smile 🙂 i find most of my treasures at the thrift store. this is a thrifted old navy shirt!

  37. "Just throw a little more love at it."

    (lots of things need a little more love, don’t ya think?)

  38. I have loved reading these.

    My parents had many pithy, go-to sayings, all of which used to make me cringe, but, now mostly make me smile.

    A number of them stuck, but one stands out from all the others.

    "This above all to thine own self be true" I think it’s tattooed on my brain.

  42. My mantra is from Ecclesiates…. Hebel (pronounced HeVel) Life is Hebel, everything in life is Hebel. (or the closest English Translation would be Life is ridiculously unreasonable…)

    Not that I’m not an optimist…. But this mantra helps when things just don’t make sense, and I’m forced to question my faith.

  43. "mean people suck" so I try not to be one.
    and when times get tough "don’t lose sight of your goals" which my son often hears when he struggles in school.
    but I like yours, is it ok if I borrow it?

  44. I love these magnets. The one I have says "What is the meaning of life? Whatever you want it to be".

    Thanks for the inspirational post. I would also like to know where you got your shirt…love it!

  49. There is a postcard on my fridge of a baby duckling at the end of a small plank of wood, staring off the edge of the plank into a bowl of water. It’s the perfect way to illustrate: "When you step off the cliff, you can be certain that a net will appear, or you will know how to fly."

    On a more recent mission to help myself and others, I ran a half-marathon with this pinned to my race belt:
    "I am choosing and affirming life today."
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/tippingpointphoto/3939029341/in/set-72157622296720663/
    And yes, that’s exactly what I did that day! Yippee!!!
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/tippingpointphoto/3939021079/in/set-72157622296720663/

    I am getting better at living out the first mantra daily. The second one still needs some work, but it’s a start. :o)

  55. The soul should always stand a jar,
    That if heaven should inquire
    He should not be obliged to wait
    Or shy of troubling her.
    -Emily Dickinson

    But especially the first part, "The soul should always stand a jar…"