“The human spirit is in prison. Prison is what I call this world, the given world of necessity.” — Nicolas Berdyaev The brilliant but sadly little-known Russian philosopher, Nicolas Berdyaev, wrote a profound book in 1916 titled — “The Meaning of the Creative Act.” In this philosophical work, Berdyaev explores…

I don’t like to start my day off with the dreadful news. I feel fresh and enlivened in the mornings and refuse to taint this short-lived joy with the hideous happenings “out there.” Instead, I turn to the artists, poets, and philosophers — the true awakeners of the human spirit. …

“Idle youth, enslaved to everything; by being too sensitive I have wasted my life.” ―Arthur Rimbaud The great prodigy poet, Arthur Rimbaud, was born on this day in 1854. …

“Deep down, below the surface of the average man’s conscience, he hears a voice whispering, ‘There is something not right,’ no matter how much his rightness is supported by public opinion or by the moral code. Our heart glows, and secret unrest gnaws at the root of our being.” —…

“Whoever uses the spirit that is in him creatively is an artist. To make living itself an art, that is the goal.” ― Henry Miller “The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself; indeed, we should be fully born when we die…

Life is too tragic for sadness: Let us rejoice. — Edward Abbey The American writer Edward Abbey was an anarchist, an environmentalist, a desert wanderer, and an absolute joy to read. He was known by his friends as “Cactus Ed.” …

“I am losing precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money. I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.” ~ John Muir Hello everyone. Over the summer I spent a whole…

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise; seek what they sought. — Matsuo Basho I awake to the ethereal wind singing in the trees. The morning sky, the color of ashe overhead as I roll my aching body out of the tent. The grass is damp on my bare…

To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from. — Terry Tempest Williams I’ve always harbored the silly illusion that I was born on the wrong side of the cosmic tracks a…