Inner Voice Drawing® BLOG

The Universe Is Smiling: "Rebirth: Becoming Your Future"

2012-03-04T20:09:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: "What is today's wisdom?"

A: "Rebirth: Becoming Your Future."

"Bat...symbolizes the need for a ritualistic death of some way of life that no longer suits your new growth pattern. This can mean a time of letting go of old habits, and of assuming the position in life that prepares you for rebirth, on in some cases initiation... If you resist your destiny, it can be a long, drawn out, or painful death. The universe is always asking you to grow and become your future."

- "Medicine Cards" by Jamie Sams & David Carson

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

The Universe Is Smiling: "Father and Son"

2012-02-26T23:18:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Son, listen, what I wanted to tell you ..."

"When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry."

- William Shakespeare

"Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say 'I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me' free you shall be."

- Ramakrishna

The Universe Is Smiling: "Discernment"

2012-02-20T08:20:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Discernment.

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

The Universe Is Smiling: "Joy Bubbles"

2012-02-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Happy Valentine's Day to you, every day of the week! :)

I asked the question, "what is the message for Valentine?" and the answer that emerged on the paper came out as a bubble bath of joyful colors. My interpretation: Bring joy into your life, love yourself, and make someone else smile. And so it is :)

"Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. And between the two my life flows."

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

"One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others."

- Robert A. Heinlein

The Universe Is Smiling: "Perception"

2012-02-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Between distraction and reflection, open the doors of perception!"

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to men as it is, infinite."

- William Blake

"As social beings we live with our eyes upon our reflection, but have no assurance of the tranquility of the waters in which we see it."

- Charles Horton Cooley

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought."

- Buddha

The Universe Is Smiling: "Joy-Fish"

2012-02-06T23:36:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Be like a fish of joy swimming easily in your element."

"Joy is not in things; it is in us."

- Richard Wagner

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

The Universe Is Smiling: "Calm as a Seahorse"

2012-02-03T00:07:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Roam the sea of your life with calmness"

Symbolic of the Seahorse Written by avenefica on August 21st, 2007

"A relatively calm, and mild-mannered creature, the seahorse is seemingly content to roam the seas. Their bodies are geared for ambling-type motion – not for speed. Thus, they are symbolic of patience and contentment – they are happy with being where they are, and are in no hurry for advancement.

Further testimony to these attributes is the lack of evolution of the seahorse’s body style. They have remained with this body style without change since their inception. Content to be who they are, and not feeling the need to change – these are a few profound lessons the seahorse provides us.

However, along with a resistance to change, and a carefree approach to progress, the seahorse can be a symbol of inflexibility or stubbornness. To wit, the seahorse wraps its tail around the nearest object in order to anchor itself in turbulent waters. This is a lesson to be persistent in our goals, but be mindful that we are not too inflexible or stubborn in our achieving them.

A unique aspect of the seahorse is that the male is impregnated by the female and carries the offspring to term. This is a message of sharing the load in the home, and gaining perspective of both sides (genders) of an argument or situation."

The Universe Is Smiling: "Trust - You are in Charge of the Onion of Your Life"

2012-01-29T23:12:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Trust - You are in Charge of the Onion of Your Life :)
I was intrigued by the discussion on the Inner Voice Village on Facebook to the former drawing "Natural Flow". The word that kept coming up was "Trust". This called for a drawing :) Thus I asked, "what does trust mean to me?" and in good old Inner Voice Drawing fashion I let the drawing appear without interfering. The first reaction was (and often is) an exasperated: what does that mean?! However, if I draw about trust, I have to trust that drawing :) And so I did. Here is my interpretation of the drawing, with a slightly Buddhist bend:

PASSION (the person on the handle), AGGRESSION (the bird with his sharp beak), IGNORANCE (the stuck fish) are in a tight knit relationship and keep this onion shaped life going, creating karma. However, if we trust that we are on the handle of our onion karma, we are also in charge of each onion peel and if we keep peeling away, finally the fish, the bird, and we ourselves will be free from our own self imposed restrictions. YEAH! :)

"Trust your instincts to the end, though you can render no reason."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Universe Is Smiling: "Natural Flow"

2012-01-25T08:39:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Stay in the natural flow!

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like."

- Lao Tzu

The Universe Is Smiling: "Riding Your Spiritual Dragon"

2012-01-22T16:52:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Ride the Water-Dragon and have a prosperous year 2012

'The Chinese ancients believed that if you breathe life and energy into your spiritual dragon, or your greater self, you create change that breathes life and energy into all, allowing you to ride the dragon's expansive spirit to a zenith of endless possibilities."

- Source unknown

The Universe Is Smiling: "We are all in it together"

2012-01-19T22:41:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: We are all in it together.

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success."

- Henry Ford

"We could learn a lot from crayons; some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, while others bright, some have weird names, but they all have learned to live together in the same box."

- Author unknown

The Universe Is Smiling: Enthusiasm

2012-01-16T08:50:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Keep your enthusiasm!

"Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine through the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas."

- Henry Ford

The Universe Is Smiling: Circle

2012-01-11T00:14:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "If you love someone, put their name in a circle; because hearts can be broken, but circles never end."

- Author unknown

"Think of the wonderful circles, in which our whole being moves and from which we cannot escape no matter how we try. The circler circles in the circles."

E.T.A. Hoffmann

The Universe Is Smiling: "Breaking out of the Box"

2012-01-03T23:55:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

Q + A: Are you ready to break out of the box?

"Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them... they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight."

- Orison Swett Marden

The Universe Is Smiling: Prosperous, joyous 2012 to all of you!

2012-01-01T17:00:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Let your heart dance!

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to."

- Khalil Gibran

The Universe Is Smiling: "Inner Voice"

2011-12-27T22:24:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Discard the inner critic but listen to your inner voice.

"The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to you, something is out of tune."

- Carl Jung

The Universe Is Smiling: "Companions"

2011-12-20T09:49:00.002-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Come along for the ride!

"The world is a looking-glass, and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face. Frown at it, and it will in turn look sourly upon you; laugh at it and with it, and it is a jolly kind of companion."

- William Makepeace Thackeray

The Universe Is Smiling: "Self-Confidence"

2011-12-14T23:51:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Self-Confidence"

"Self-Confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or that you are a worthless person."

- Author unknown

"Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them."

- André Maurois

"With realization of one's own potential and self-confidence in one's ability one can build a better world."

- Dalai Lama

The Universe Is Smiling: "Heart Energy = Love"

2011-12-08T23:57:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Heart Energy = Love"

"The most important thing is life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in."

- Morrie Schwartz

"If you want to be loved, be lovable."

- Ovid

The Universe Is Smiling: "Meditation"

2011-12-04T11:15:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

I am following Paul's suggestion on the Inner Voice Village facebook site to expand on the theme of "BALANCE", such as the factors that cultivate balance "...integrity, confidence/faith, a mindful/calm mind, well-being, wisdom, insight, and freedom..." as well as the tools that help to achieve balance, such as MEDITATION. I also want to follow Clifford's idea of congruency. The last drawing with that theme didn't quite convince me. The beauty of these inspirational drawings is: YOU CAN DO ANOTHER ONE :)

A: "If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts."

- Alan Cohen

"Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity."

- Swami Sivananda

The Universe Is Smiling: "Congruence"

2011-11-29T23:10:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Leap, and the net will appear."

- John Burroughs

"Rest in reason, move in passion."

- Khalil Gibran
"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."
- Mark Twain

The Universe Is Smiling: "Keeping Your Balance"

2011-11-24T15:15:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you have lost it."

- Anonymous

"A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your steps as you walk the tightrope of life."

- William Arthur Ward

The Universe Is Smiling: Point of View

2011-11-20T17:42:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The world is wrong side up. It needs to be turned upside down in order to be right side up."

- Billy Sunday

"From the perspective of mere representation, the external world always remains only a phenomenon."

- Wilhem Dilthey

New Wall Calendar 2012

2011-11-19T21:45:00.001-05:00

Dear Visitor:
Check out the second version of the 2012 wall calendar: While the first version had two images/month with the supporting quotes, this one has only one image/month with the quotes. The advantage is that the images and quotes are bigger and therefore have more of an inspirational quality than in the first version. Check it out on the calender page.

Calendar size:
11"x17" (open)
Holidays: US, Canada, Germany
Price: $25.00 + Shipping/Handling
+ $5.00 (shipping US/Canada)
+ $10.00 (shipping international)
If you would like to purchase a calendar, email me: Monika@innervoicedrawing.com

The Universe Is Smiling: Fountain of Youth

2011-11-14T20:28:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:
Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
- Sophia Loren

The Universe Is Smiling: Uncertainty

2011-11-07T22:59:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:
Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Uncertainty is the only certainty there is, and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security."
- John Allen Paulos
"The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers."
- Erich Fromm

The Universe Is Smiling: "Tree Whispers"

2011-10-31T23:48:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Nature always wears the colors of the spirit."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence."
- Hal Borland

"The Universe Is Smiling 2012" - wall calendar

2011-10-30T15:26:00.000-04:00

OUT OF STOCK

Dear Visitor:
24 of the most favored images of this year are assembled in one wall calendar. Each month contains 2 images together with their inspirational quotes. Check out the Calender 2012 page for more details.

Calendar size:
11"x17" (open)
Holidays: US, Canada, U.K., Germany
Price: $25.00 + Shipping/Handling
+ $5.00 (shipping US/Canada)
+ $10.00 (shipping international)
If you would like to purchase a calendar, email me: Monika@innervoicedrawing.com
Please allow up to 10 days for delivery.

The calendars arrived from the publisher yesterday and I sold several of them the first day. However, I also have gotten the request to make a calendar with ONE image/quote only.

What would you like? What speaks to you more? I look forward to your comments.

With a smile, Monika.

The Universe Is Smiling: "You Are Not Alone"

2011-10-25T09:51:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with knowledge that you are never alone."

- Audrey Hepburn

"But I tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you are connected with everything."

- Alan Watts

"Healing yourself is connected with healing others."

- Yoko Ono

The Universe Is Smiling: "Appreciation"

2011-10-20T00:18:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Appreciation is a wonderful thing: it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well."

- Voltaire

"The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness."

- Dalai Lama

The Universe Is Smiling: "Mirror"

2011-10-13T23:27:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul."

- George Bernhard Shaw

"A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world. Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror. But you are eternity and you are the mirror."

- Kahlil Gibran

The Universe Is Smiling: "Skywalker"

2011-10-09T19:58:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The universe is wider than our views of it."

- Henry David Thoreau

"Look at the sky. We are not alone, the whole universe is friendly to us and conspires only to give the best to those who dream and work."

- Abdul Kalam Azad

The Universe Is Smiling: "Fresh Start"

2011-10-01T18:18:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning."

- J.B. Priestley

The Universe Is Smiling: Studio Talk

2011-09-26T00:02:00.001-04:00

Check out the new page "Studio TALK" - a look behind the scenes of the smiling universe :)
http://innervoicedrawingblog.blogspot.com/p/studio-talk.html

The Universe Is Smiling: Puzzle

2011-09-25T11:33:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle."

- Lewis Carrol

"There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle."

- Deepak Chopra

"The art of simplicity is a puzzle of complexity."

- Douglas Horton

The Universe Is Smiling: Dance

2011-09-21T08:31:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "You've got to dance like nobody's watching and love like it's never going to hurt."

- William Purley

The Universe Is Smiling: Leave your doubts behind!

2011-09-15T14:02:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother."

- Khalil Gibran

"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go and get busy."

- Dale Carnegie

Opening Reception Thursday 9/15 - 5:00-7:00 PM

2011-09-13T22:57:00.001-04:00

The Universe Is Smiling: Simple Philosophy

2011-09-09T23:50:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life."

- Buddha

"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what is empty. Empty what's full. Scratch where it itches."

- Alice Longworth Roosevelt

The Universe Is Smiling: Illusion

2011-09-03T00:25:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Illusion is the first of all pleasures."

- Voltaire

"The trick is what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same."

- Carlos Castaneda

The Universe Is Smiling: STOP!

2011-08-30T23:47:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Anger is a great force. If you control it, it can be transmuted into a power which can move the whole world."

- William Shenstone

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the only one that gets burned.

- Buddha

"If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape hundred days of sorrow."

- Chinese Proverb

The Universe Is Smiling: Dreaming

2011-08-26T00:04:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be."

- Joy Page

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

- Dr. Seuss

The Universe Is Smiling: Our Beloved Nature

2011-08-21T18:59:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "By nature we have no defect that could not become a strength, no strength that could not become a defect."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe."

- John Muir

The Universe Is Smiling: Astonishment

2011-08-16T10:11:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Explanation separates us from astonishment, which is the only gateway to the incomprehensible."

- Eugene Ionesco

"Astonishment is the root of philosophy."

- Paul Tillich

The Universe Is Smiling: Age Lessons

2011-08-12T09:30:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Age considers; youth ventures."

-Rabindranath Tagore

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."

- Robert Frost

The Universe Is Smiling: Simple and Clear

2011-08-07T23:33:00.002-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

- Leonardo DaVinci

"Purity and simplicity are the two wings with which man soars above the earth and all temporary nature."

- Thomas Kempis

The Universe Is Smiling: Let's Expand Our Horizons!

2011-08-02T22:34:00.002-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon."

- Konrad Adenauer

"The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change."

- Maya Angelou

The Universe Is Smiling: Personality

2011-07-28T15:34:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality."

- Erich Fromm

"Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."

- Bruce Lee

The Universe Is Smiling: Exploration

2011-07-23T17:33:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "You can explore the universe looking for somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere."

- Buddhist Saying

"We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

- T.S. Eliot

The Universe Is Smiling: Protection

2011-07-19T13:43:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

I was listening online to a live stream of HH Karmapa's teaching, given at the Buddhist monastery in Woodstock today. The Karmapa is one of the most highly revered reincarnations in Tibetan Buddhism. When he talked about refuge to the Buddha and his teachings of compassion, I kept drawing in good old Inner Voice Drawing fashion of "not-knowing-what-to-expect" and - voila this rather funny bird appeared :) Even though the drawing may look a bit bewildering, it evolved during the teaching session, and may therefore carry some blessing right to you.

A: "The power of intuitive understanding will protect you from harm until the end of your day."

- Lao Tzu

"I wish I'd seen you as a little girl, without your armor to fend off the world... I would have kept you underneath my wing... I would protect you from everything."

- Source unknown

The Universe Is Smiling: Taking a Stand

2011-07-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "We acquire the strength we have overcome."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Knowing others is intelligence;

Knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;

Mastering yourself is true power.

If you realize that you have enough,

you are truly rich."

- Tao Te Ching

The Universe Is Smiling: Mystery

2011-07-09T11:07:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow."

- A. C. Benson

The Universe Is Smiling: Reflection

2011-07-06T18:53:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "As social beings we live with our eyes upon our reflection, but have no assurance of the tranquility of the waters in which we see it."

- Charles Horton Cooley

The Universe Is Smiling: Take a Step!

2011-07-03T14:02:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that is difficult."

- Madame Marie du Deffaud

"Creativity comes from looking for the unexpected and stepping outside your own experience."

- Masaru Ibuka

The Universe Is Smiling: Fly a Kite!

2011-06-27T23:17:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Man is most nearly himself when he achieves the seriousness of a child at play.

- Heraclitus

"Don't be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against, not with the wind."

- Hamilton Wright Mable

The Universe Is Smiling: Happiness

2011-06-22T00:24:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Happiness always looks small while you hold it in your hands, but let it go, and you learn at once how big and precious it is."

- Maxim Gorky

"Nothing can bring you happiness but yourself."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Universe Is Smiling: Art Reflections

2011-06-19T23:33:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Asking my usual question, "what is today's wisdom?' I was surprised to see this rather strange creature evolve, cradling his art installation. This must be the effect of going to two art events in New Jersey over the weekend. Time to reflect about art .... with a smile, of course :)

"You can have the idea in one 'room' of your mind, and you can watch the figure develop in the 'room' between your hands."

- James Kay

"Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression."

- Isaac Bashevis Singer

The Universe Is Smiling: Bizarre!

2011-06-16T09:27:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them."
- Jean Cocteau

The Universe Is Smiling: Keep it light and have fun!

2011-06-11T00:17:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light."

- Earl Nightingale

The Universe Is Smiling: Color Your Life!

2011-06-08T23:53:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."

- Rabindranath Tagore

"The cut of a garment speaks of intellect and talent and the color of temperament and heart."

- Thomas Carlyle

The Universe Is Smiling: Relationship

2011-06-06T00:10:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."

- Author unknown

"Remember, we all stumble, every one of us. That's why it's a comfort to go hand in hand."

- Emily Kimbrough

The Universe Is Smiling: Moon Child

2011-05-31T10:44:00.007-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Moonrise

by Margaret P. Gallagher

Under the white moon rising

Night sings a magic song

Beauty this one brief night time

Beauty the whole night long

Follow the silver shadows

Under a silver sky

Capture the night bird's singing

Enchanted time passing by

Over the changing landscape

Watch as the slow white

moon

Gathers the night past magic

Sinks in a soundless tune.

The Universe Is Smiling: What's up?

2011-05-28T09:32:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month's study of books."

- Chinese Proverb

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."

- Dorothy Nevill

The Universe Is Smiling: Don't drop the ball, dear!

2011-05-25T08:18:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Take care of the earth and she will take care of you".
- Author unknown
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."
- Khalil Gibran

The Universe Is Smiling: Surfing through Life with Kindness

2011-05-19T23:50:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Never look down on anybody unless you are helping him up."

- Jesse Jackson

"Kindness is in our power, even when fondness is not."

- Samuel Johnson

The Universe Is Smiling: Keep it Simple!

2011-05-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."

- Confucius

"The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."

- Aesop

Be extra-ordinary :)

2011-05-15T22:56:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Think off-center."

- George Carlin

"Still round the corner there may wait a new road or sacred gate."

- J.R.R. Tolkien

The Universe Is Smiling: Find your own immortal voice!

2011-05-08T22:58:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "I believe that men will not merely endure. He will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance."

- William Faulkner

The Universe Is Smiling: Express Yourself!

2011-05-05T20:54:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."

- e.e. cummings

"Wherever you go, go with all your heart."

- Confucius

The Universe Is Smiling: Unwinding

2011-05-02T08:44:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "It's the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, 'till we find our place, on the path unwinding."

- Elton John

The Universe Is Smiling: Together - Each friend represents a world in us

2011-04-29T08:13:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."

- Anais Nin

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world."

- Buddha

The Universe Is Smiling: World of Exploration

2011-04-26T10:13:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Treading the soil of the moon, palpitating its pebbles, tasting the panic and splendor of the event, feeling in the pit of one's stomach the separation from terra - these form the most romantic sensation an explorer has ever known."

- Vladimir Nabokov

The Universe Is Smiling: Enjoy Being You!

2011-04-21T23:29:00.001-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

- Dr. Seuss

"You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection."

- Buddha

The Universe Is Smiling: Circumstances

2011-04-17T22:56:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."

- George Bernhard Shaw

"Cats are connoisseurs of comfort."

- James Herriot

The Universe Is Smiling: Enter the Spaceship of Imagination!

2011-04-12T09:35:00.002-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Even the wildest dreams have to start somewhere. Allow yourself the time and space to let your mind wander and your imagination fly.

- Oprah Winfrey

The Universe Is Smiling: Smile

2011-04-07T22:43:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

The Universe Is Smiling: Your Inner Divinity

2011-04-03T22:46:00.002-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment."

- Morihei Ueshiba
"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence."
- Henry David Thoreau

The Universe Is Smiling: Pillow Talk

2011-03-30T23:37:00.002-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "When I lay my head on the pillow at night I can say I was a decent person today. That's when I feel beautiful."

- Drew Barrymore

The Universe Is Smiling: Happy Balance

2011-03-27T20:10:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony."

- Thomas Merton

"The world cannot be governed without juggling."

- John Selden

The Universe Is Smiling: Enthusiasm

2011-03-24T10:08:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "It's faith in something and enthusiasm for something that makes a life worth living."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity."

- Bo Bennett

The Universe Is Smiling: Reach out!

2011-03-17T22:17:00.000-04:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Remember that you don't choose love; love chooses you. All you really can do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing then reach out and give it away."

- Kent Nerburn

"Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light."

- Norman Rice

The Universe Is Smiling: Today I embrace life!

2011-03-12T17:12:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom in the face of earthquakes, tsunamis, and other man made disasters?

A: "We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."

- Kenji Miyazawa

"Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain... To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices - today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but to embrace it."

- Kevyn Aucoin

The Universe Is Smiling: Hoofbeats of creative exploration

2011-03-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Hoof beats of creative exploration ....

"What is Art? It is the response of man's creative soul to the call of the Real."
- Rabindranath Tagore

The Universe Is Smiling: Embracing all creatures

2011-03-01T09:25:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Our task must be to free ourselves...by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty."

- Albert Einstein

"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way."

- John Muir

The Universe Is Smiling: Music gives soul to the universe

2011-02-24T23:43:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."

- Plato

"One ought, every day at least,
to bear a little song,
read a good poem,
see a fine picture,
and, if possible,
speak a few reasonable words."
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Universe Is Smiling: Conscience is the inner voice

2011-02-20T15:16:00.000-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking."

- Henry Louis Mencken

The Universe Is Smiling: Follow Your Own Path

2011-02-15T23:39:00.003-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence."

- Henry David Thoreau

The Universe Is Smiling: Live Your Passion!

2011-02-10T23:08:00.003-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."

- Oprah Winfrey

"The energy of the mind is the essence of life."

- Aristotle

The Universe Is Smiling: High-Wire Flirtation

2011-02-06T22:10:00.005-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "You can fall from the sky
You can fall from a tree
But the best way to fall
Is in love with me."

- Anonymous
"I think I have discovered the secret of life - you just hang around until you get used to it."

- Charles Schulz

"Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies."

- Erich Fromm

The Universe Is Smiling: Open the windows of your mind

2011-02-02T23:27:00.004-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: Dare to break through old habits and be enchanted by new possibilities!

"What you really want for yourself is always trying to break through, just as a cooling breeze flows through an open window on a hot day. Your part is to open the windows of your mind."

- Vernon Howard

The Universe Is Smiling: Wings of Trust

2011-01-30T17:10:00.003-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Be like the bird that, passing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings."

- Victor Hugo

The Universe Is Smiling: Realization

2011-01-25T23:38:00.003-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

This morning I was on the phone with a friend of mine, who is on a semi-retreat in Bodhgaya where the Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment. While my friend described the quietude and meditative energy around him, I started this drawing, opening myself to the flow of positive energy and asking the question:

Q: What is the message from Bodhgaya?

A:"When at last, in a single flash, you attain full realization, you will only be realizing the Buddha-nature which has been with you all the time."
- Huang-Po
"You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection."

- Buddha

The Universe Is Smiling: Dream of A Quiet Life

2011-01-20T22:15:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "The quieter you become, the more you can hear."

- Ram Dass

"The poor long for riches, the rich long for heaven, but the wise long for a state of tranquility."

- Swami Rama

The Universe Is Smiling: Let's go!

2011-01-15T23:33:00.002-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Life loves to be taken by the lapel and be told: 'I am with you kid. Let's go.'"

- Maya Angelou

The Universe Is Smiling: Welcome!

2011-01-12T00:36:00.003-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "A smile is the universal welcome."

- Max Eastman

"If I could choose but one friend, it would be you."

- Anonymous"

The Universe Is Smiling: Where you go, There you are

2011-01-06T23:23:00.002-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony."

- Thomas Merton

"And remember, no matter where you go, there you are."

- Confucius

The Universe Is Smiling: We Are Dancers

2011-01-03T23:26:00.004-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "We dance for laughter,

We dance for tears,

We dance for madness,

We dance for fears,

We dance for hopes,

We dance for screams,

We are dancers,

We create the dreams."

- Albert Einstein

The Universe Is Smiling: Concentrate the Mind on the Present Moment

2011-01-01T16:56:00.002-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Do not dwell in the past,

Do not dream of the future,

Concentrate the mind on the present moment."

- The Buddha

The Universe Is Smiling: Share Your Courage

2010-12-26T13:32:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage."

- Robert Louis Stevenson

The Universe Is Smiling: Looking beyond imperfections

2010-12-20T00:05:00.001-05:00

Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:

Q: What is today's wisdom?

A: "Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."

- unknown author