Love our earth ...

 

“When we love the earth, 

we are able to love ourselves more fully.”

 Bell Hooks, Belonging: A Culture of Place

'Tis the month to LOVE!!!

 

“We love because it's the only true adventure.”

Nikki Giovanni

T'is the month for self-love!!

 

for your personal use - peace

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”

 Jean Shinoda Bolen

I felt that this was a good quote for this month of love, as we must remember to be kind to ourselves, and shower ourselves with love as we would a valentine !! Self-love and self compassion are so important as only when we love ourselves, truly love ourselves, can we really love another.  

and remember that YOU are ENOUGH! 

as is! full stop!! 

sending love, Virginia

virginiacreates' october calendar ...

 

for your personal use - peace

This month, let us never cease from thinking ...

 

...Let us never cease from thinking--

Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas

Thank you Virginia Woolf, for this most appropriate quote for this month of learning, 

September when many are heading back to school and work.  

To me thinking and questioning and exploring is so important for us all ~ 

I believe that we are students all our lives.  

Happy Learning & peace, Virginia

i have no words, but can share the words and wisdom of others ...

a beautiful illustration by artist/illustrator: Nelleke Verhoeff
of Red Cheeks Factory

prayer from the author, Paul Boynton, from Begin with Yes

"There are times when there is so much darkness, so much hate and anger and so much hopelessness that we can barely breath much less make sense of it. It is as if darkest of all clouds has finally prevailed and we feel helpless and afraid. During these times we must open our hearts and our arms and remind ourselves and each other that there are more candles than guns, more love than hate and much more light, stronger, brighter and more powerful than any evil that may swirl around us. And at the darkness moments, we must, through our thoughts, prayers and actions remind each other of the ultimate truth that light, hope and most of all love always wins. Forever and ever. Amen." 

beautiful and poignant graphic created by Jean Jullien and which is becoming
the symbol of hope and support for the recent nightmare in Paris

  here is a wonderfully written post by Sarah Hill which I want to share here: "Paris is Burning; Paris is the City of Love.
I have 567 friends on Facebook. I don't think a single one of you is a hater. Maybe you have a hater among your friends, though. If you do, think about what to say to haters, today, and every day. Here are my thoughts for today:
There will be fear-mongering. There will be hate-mongering. It’s already started.
But before falling into the trap of religious hatred (in other words, today, deciding to hate Islam because it appears to lie behind yesterday’s hateful acts), let’s remember that religion is a tool of hate, not the other way around. Religion gets mongered up by hate. Hate is what lies behind these acts; not religion.
Love is what all religious arguments should be spreading. Love, however does not arm its arguments. Love does not use violence or force. And it never will. Anyone who arms for religion is arming for hate, not love.
Both love and hate are inherent to us; they are written in our DNA. The first time I was boiling mad at my own child, I recognized, in ways that had never been so clear to me before, that hate is not just taught, it needs to be untaught.
Don’t confuse ISIS for Islam. Don’t confuse Westboro for Christianity. They are hate, masquerading as religion, which is to say that they are hate masquerading as love.
In the Christian duality there is God, which is Love, and Satan who is Hate. I don’t believe in Satan and I don’t really believe in God. But I do believe in love and I know that hate is real. If you believe in God, and spew hate, remember that in so doing, you stop doing God’s work and start doing what you of what you believe is God’s antithesis.
To date, I have lost no one in hateful acts. I cannot speak from personal experience. But I know that at some point in my life I may be challenged to not hate because of a love stolen from me by a hateful act. Or maybe a random, accidental occurrence. Whatever the source of that loss of love – which we all face – I hope I have practiced enough love to overcome the hate that, like the everyday rising of the sun, will well up in me." heart emoticon

Powerful insight regarding the Paris attacks from George Takei.

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.” ― Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Love is the spirit of this church, 

and service is its law;

 this is our great covenant: 

to dwell together in peace, 

to seek the truth in love, 

and to help one another.    

James Vila Blake, 1894

https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/08/21/leo-tolstoy-gandhi-letter-to-a-hindu/

#prayforparis

#prayforpeace

#peaceplease

#fromthelandofdragons: seeds

'burdened ...' 2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

I love Fall!! 

I always have!

It makes me feel alive!!

the colors, the sounds, the smells, the coolness on my skin,

the sightings of Jack Frost, the need for a favorite sweater.

2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

And as I have been documenting my 'land of dragons'

'burdened ...' 2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

I have come to love Fall even more (if that is possible) 

I have had the opportunity to witness the cycle of life, 

'sweet potential...' 2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

and I am thoroughly in awe of the creation of seeds!!

my harvest of seeds from my nasturtium plant!!
I gathered these yesterday nov5th ... note the barefeet!!

'chinese lanterns ...' 2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

The magic of mother nature is that the flower is created for reproduction.

The petals attract the pollinators who come ladened 

with pollen to start the whole process ... so

LET'S PROTECT THE BEES!!!!

bees are our friends!!!
we need bees!!!

'two in a bush ...' 2015 ©virginiafitzgerald

& be sure to check out my other blog:

"love, virginia" which used to be 'dailydress inspirations' 

for a freebie, a 'just for instance' present

peace, va

The power of mothers: LOVE

I have always loved mother's day

(when you remove the commercial and hallmark elements!!)

what's not to to love??? Celebrating moms and love!!

a day of family, togetherness and love?? 

 

And now that I am a mom, it is usually a day I can choose what to do and that usually involves ART :)

But in the past years I have learned more about Mother's Day that I feel is paramount to share.

The history of how this day started in 1870 with a Proclamation for peace by Julia Ward Howe.  

Last year my Mother's Day post quoted her Mother’s Day Proclamation, and other interesting facts.

Yesterday Upworthy posted an article called The Radical History Of Mothers Day, reviewing the true origin of Mother's Day and how Mother's Day honors a

progressive feminist, inclusive, non-violent vision for world community. Amen!!!

generations: my mom and my girls 

Also via social media I stumbled upon this video by Maria Shriver that I also feel is important to share.  Besides the empowering messages from Eunice Shriver, my favorite: "you can, you must, you will", this video also speaks to the importance of mothering.  In this economy and culture, the stay at home mom is still viewed as a second class citizen, in our society much of one's self worth is based on one's salary.   But what is more important than nurturing and supporting the next generation?!?!

The video speaks to the importance of acknowledging mothers ~ 

so I wish to acknowledge my mother, 

Patricia O'Riley Fitzgerald, 

for her loving support of me and my girls!! 

Happy Mother's Day Mom!! I love YOU!! 

peace

Maria and Eunice Shriver: The Gift My Mother Gave Me

http://youtu.be/YjYuj4BvIsc