Saturday, January 10, 2009

AS A WOMAN THINKETH

Whilst visiting 'Nature Diary' the journal of my friend Colonel Brandon last evening I came across a thoughtful comment made by one of his many followers, the author Jan Lundy, her blog being 'Awake is Good' . I was fascinated by the comment she made and decided to visit her blog and see what else she had to say. I am so pleased that I did for it is uplifting for the soul and there is a wealth of knowledge for women to ponder regarding self awareness, spirituality, empowerment and the pursuit of personal growth and happiness. In her post Ms.Lundy shared some quotes from the book 'As a Woman Thinketh', written by author Dorothy J Hulst; I decided to do some more research and found more notable quotes which I would like to share with you now. I will have to read this book as I think it will be beneficial on my own journey of self discovery and personal growth.

"A woman's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild..."

"Just as a gardener cultivates her plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits she requires, so may a woman tend the garden of her mind..."

"A woman only begins to be a woman when she ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates her life. And as she adapts her mind to that regulating factor, she ceases to accuse others as the cause of her condition, and builds herself up in strong and noble thoughts."

"Woman is made or unmade by herself; in the armory of her thoughts, she destroys herself; she also fashions the tools with which she builds for herself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace."

THE APHORISM, "As a woman thinketh in her heart so is she," not only embraces the whole of a woman's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of her life. A woman is literally' what she thinks', her character being the complete sum of all her thoughts.
As the plant springs forth from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a woman springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies egually to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a woman garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of her own husbandry.

Painting 'Women in the Garden', Claude Monet, 1866

28 comments:

darkfoam said...

lordy ..
that's explains a lot about me ..
i might start a garden but then let it fend for itself ..
it either runs wild and survives or dies ..
my mind is cluttered with weeds and wilderness..
but some of them i do rather like .. much hardier then the cultivated stuff i try to annually plant..

but, anyway .. isn't man also "made or unmade by himself?" a man is also "literally what he thinks" .. i think, anyway ..?

but speaking of well tended gardens .. i've always truly enjoyed those that were cultivated and maintained by others it seems. i'm coming to the sad conclusion that i'm really not much of a gardener ..

i'm more this kind of person ..

This darksome burn, horseback brown,
His rollrock highroad roaring down,
In coop and in comb the fleece of his foam
Flutes and low to the lake falls home.

A windpuff-bonnet of fawn-froth
Turns and twindles over the broth
Of a pool so pitchblack, fell-frowning,
It rounds and rounds Despair to drowning.

Degged with dew, dappled with dew,
Are the groins of the braes that the brook treads through,
Wiry heathpacks, flitches of fern,
And the beadbonny ash that sits over the burn.

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

darkfoam said...

oh, yeah .. that poem is by gerald manley hopkins, of course

Anonymous said...

dianne,

the book
for women
sounds good

as does foam's poem by hopkins

¤ ¤ ¤

/t.

dianne said...

A beautiful poem dearest Foamie , yes I like the wildness in my mind and my garden.
My garden rambles and so do my thoughts,I dont think I will ever be tamed; there is nothing so beautiful as a wilderness of natures creation.
The only way my garden would ever be cultivated and formalised would be if someone else did all of the work. I used to to a lot of work outside, dig out rocks, roll them to where I wanted them, paved, dug garden beds but I dont seem to have the energy or strength now.
I love annuals but they never seem to survive, well not for me anyway. And yes man is "made or unmade by himself" and is literally what he thinks. I just found some of the quotes inspiring. ♥

dianne said...

Yes dearest /t. , I think I should like to read this book, it surely cant do me any harm.

Yes and Hopkins poem 'Inversnaid' is very good; when you think about it there are so many beautiful poems that have been written. ♥

A number of words arranged into many poems on many subjects.
A number of musical notes transformed into so many beautiful songs.
And a number of colours, mixed to make so many beautiful paintings.
Amazing... ♥

darkfoam said...

hey dianne ..
you wanna go for a walk with me? that's what i'm getting ready to do. step out in the nice sunny crisp cold winter morning, walk through my neighborhood, cross the street, walk through the park with the babbling brook, approach main street, stop by the post office and mail a letter and walk back home through town ..

Anonymous said...

foam,

bring your camera

¤ ¤ ¤

/t.

puerileuwaite said...

These quotes are way more lovely and poignant than what I came up with. All I could think of were the lyrics from "Beer Barrel Polka" (most notably crooned by Bobby Vinton).


***

There's a garden, what a garden
Only happy faces bloom there
And there's never any room there
For a worry or a gloom there

Oh there's music and there's dancing
And a lot of sweet romancing
When they play the polka
They all get in the swing

Every time they hear that com-pa-pa
Everybody feels so tra-la-la
They want to throw their cares away
They all go lah-de-ah-de-ay

Then they hear a rumble on the floor
It's the big surprise they're waiting for
And all the couples form a ring
For miles around you'll hear them sing

Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun
Roll out the barrel, we've got the blues on the run
Zing boom tararrel, sing out a song of good cheer
Now's the time to roll the barrel, cause the gang's all here

La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Hey, hey, hey
La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Hey, hey, hey
La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la

Now's the time to roll the barrel, cause the gang's all here

La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Hey, hey, hey
La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Hey, hey, hey
La-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la-la-la

***

(Please don't judge me)

sparringK9 said...

grrherhahahaha to puerileuwaite. i love that finish! so poignant! dianne -those are all lovely. agree with foamy that weeds are hardy survivors and a bit of wild child dont hurt either. i shall visit the good col. and your new friend soon. and thank you for your visit to chickory. i am struggling trying to decide on what hens to order for 09! i love them all.

J Cosmo Newbery said...

I don't know if it translates to men; my mind seems to be full of nameless prickly things with small yellow flowers.

darkfoam said...

cosmo ..
they might have meds for that ...
;)

The Phosgene Kid said...

Didn't know you could use the words "woman" and "think" in the same sentence!!! There, that should fire up this discussion!!

Just kidding, you know...

Lee said...

Some good advice there. I remember a James Rohn tape I listened to once where he advised "Stand guard at the door of your mind." He also said you reap what you sow, if you plant tomatoes, you wont get pumpkins.

dianne said...

Yes Foamie , dear I would love to go for a walk with you, sure sounds like a nice place to wander, a babbling brook in the park,a crisp winter morning with sunshine, yes I could use some of that its so hot and humid here.
And yes as /t. said bring a camera and take some photos and we could have a lovely chat along the way. :-) ♥

dianne said...

Puggles my sweet, they are still lovely words, poetry set to a bright tune and everyone sounds happy as they sing and dance. ♥

Judge you? I think you are very sweet and if Lambie doesn't kidnap you I just might. ♥

dianne said...

Thanks dear K9 , yes that Puggles is sure a treasure.
Actually I was just looking at my garden a while ago, I love it because it is not formal, I just stick things in where I think they will look nice, very random.
If I can borrow my sons camera later I will take another photo to show you how it looks.
Yes retaining a bit of the wild child within never hurts.
I really enjoyed my visit to Chickory, what a wonderful place and as dear Mayden so beautifully put it you are 'a gift to the world', so is she, Lambie and my dear Foamie. ♥
And any hens that you decide to adopt will be very fortunate. ♥

dianne said...

Yes j cosmo dear it does translate to men as well, I'm sure you have a lot more going on in that sharp mind of yours other than prickly weeds with yellow flowers. ♥

dianne said...

Phossy dear I know you are just kidding, I have always perceived from your writing that you have the greatest respect for women. ♥

dianne said...

Yes Lee dear, that is good advice about 'standing guard at the door of your mind' and being careful what thoughts you let in.
Also you 'reap what you sow', that's a tricky one I think for no matter how nice you are and the kind deeds you do some people do not return that kindness and will always find fault and doubt your sincerity ; but that does not deter me from being me as the act of kindness is its own reward and the seeds of friendship I plant will always bear beautiful flowers within me. ♥

dianne said...

Hey Foamie my dear, I think we should all come over and go for a walk together. :-) ♥

Little Lamb said...

We women do think alike. We understand each other.

dianne said...

Yes we do think alike Lil Lambie dear, we have to support each other. ♥
Dont worry I wont try and kidnap Puggles you are definitely his number one girl. :-) ♥

The Phosgene Kid said...

Wow, thought I'd get more of a reaction. Anyway, sounds as though you are coming out of your funk, which is a good thing...

dianne said...

Thanks dear Phos , yes I'm getting there slowly, good days and bad days and some in between... ♥

The Phosgene Kid said...

Know how it goes, Dr. gave me some pills that help me get past the rough spots and as a bonus I don't feel like choking the living shit out of people who annoy me.

Happy Days!!!

dianne said...

Thanks dear Phossy , I didn't feel like choking anyone, just feeling really down and hurting to a point where I couldn't function properly and couldn't stop crying...my doctor has helped.

Thank you for your concern.
Happy Days to you too my dear friend. ♥

ANNA-LYS said...

Hope You're OK, beautiful Dianne.

dianne said...

Yes thanks dear Anna-Lys , I hope I will be OK; I hope you are well too.

I like your new Avatar, the Vampire Girl, she has attitude for sure, I found her a while back when I was searching for fantasy photos for a post on faeries. ♥