Inspirational Materials
Self-care goes beyond sustaining physical health and reducing stress. It includes your internal experience and your needs for inspiration, spiritual or soulful connection, intellectual stimulation, and emotional resonance as well. Only you can identify what is essential to nourish your spiritual, emotional, and intellectual well-being.
What we discover can touch us deeply, open our minds to new possibilities, encourage us, and affirm our connection to others. In this section we have included some resources that we hope will provide some measure of inspiration for your inner life.
Inspirational Imagery
Visual images can transcend our usual ways of thinking about and experiencing the world. They can capture moments of beauty and meaning. In this section we have begun a collection of photographs that we hope may provide some inspiration in the absence of words.
We are grateful to Prof. Denise Krause for letting us display her beautiful photography.
Poems
“A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” -Robert Frost
Poetry can provide inspiration for your day or for your way of seeing the world.
- Miracles by Walt Whitman
- The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
- Work is Love Made Visible by Kahlil Gibran
- Mending Wall by Robert Frost
- Don’t Quit by Edgar Albert Guest
Quotations
Quotations can move us and even guide our thinking and actions on a daily basis. Below are a few quotes pertaining to certain domains.
- Out of clutter, find simplicity. From disorder, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein. More quotes on achieving a balanced life.
- Life is only available in the here & now. The past is already gone, and the future is yet to come…there is only one moment for me to live…The present moment. - Thich Nhat Hanh. More quotes on living in the moment.
- Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness. - Seneca. More quotes on being kind to yourself and others.
- The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi. More quotes on forgiveness and letting go.
Find the quotations that fit your current needs and simply feel right to you – the ones that make you sigh, or think, or smile. Return to these pages for further inspiration as your life circumstances change.
Other Wise and Inspiring Observations
Thankfully our fellow humans have supplied us with a virtually limitless collection of wise observations to help us see life’s challenges in new, fresh ways and increase our feeling of connectedness to others. We have included a sample of these here, including sage words from fellow social workers.
If you come across inspiring material, please contact us and let us know so we can share it with others.