Live loud enough in your heart

and there is no need to speak.

….Mark Nepo

we taste the green in our hearts when we listen……we absorb the oneness inherent in those green spaces of our stories…..please be relentless in your memories…..hold that greening of spring so close……

May the door of this home be wide enough

to receive all who hunger for love,

all who are lonely for friendship.

May it welcome all who have cares to unburden,

thanks to express, hopes to nurture.

May the door of this house be narrow enough

to shut out pettiness and pride, envy, and enmity.

May its threshold be no stumbling block

to young or strained feet.

May it be too high to admit to complacency,

selfishness, and harshness.

May this home be for all who enter,

the doorway to richness and a more meaningful life.

…The Siddur of Shir Chadash

 a cathedral in chains, in dreams, in hearts….

As we age, if we do not do meaningful work, any one of the following three obstacles identified by Dr. Cohen- fixed psychological patterns, fixed ideas, and unresolved family and social situations- will prevent our full creative expression and mire us in depression. The challenge at the Rustic Gate is to consciously identify and overcome these obstacles. The Rustic Gate requires that we remain connected to our creative fire, the fire that will sustain our health and well-being. This fire has to be rooted in meaning and generativity or it will not be sustainable. To generate is to initiate, to inspire, and to originate something that is meaningful, hopeful, and sustainable for ourselves and others. We give back to our families and communities, sharing our wisdom, experience, and passion, and leaving a legacy. What aspects of our lives are asking us to reconnect to the creative fire? How many projects have we completed in our lives? What have we contributed to our world, our community, and our family that makes a difference? Our work here is to connect with beauty, a major source of creativity and generativity. Beauty feeds the soul, and the soul feeds the creative fire. Medieval religious philosopher Thomas Aquinas suggested that three things are required to create beauty: integritas (wholeness), consonantia (harmony), and claritas (radiance). Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai believed his art, creativity, and happiness improved with age because his love of the beauty and the majesty of Mount Fuji continued to inspire him. Paul Cezanne was inspired in his art by nature’s beauty. In later life, our creativity, generative energy, and meaningful service compel us to make contributions that are sustainable, whole, harmonious, and deeply satisfying to the soul…..Angeles Arrien