Desiderata.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.
Thymewarp brought this to my attention in a comment the other day. And it has wandered through my head – the words being sung out in my teenagers voice – ever since. All us girls had it memorised when I was attending Sacred Heart Convent in Napier, New Zealand.
In fact it is stuck on my head this morning blocking all other original thought so I am down loading it to you!
Max Ehrmann wrote this in the 1920’s – not the 1600’s as we were taught in school.
In fact many of the things we were taught in school have been proven to be incorrect. Though they were facts at the time. Which is an excellent education in the progression of knowledge and having to keep ones mind open to embrace the changes. (And do our own fact checking).
Tomorrow I will begin the journey back across the United States away from this warm busy home to my cold windy farm. I dream’t last night that while I was away some big company came and took over my farm and sold all my cows including Daisy. (Daisy, who has been dead for years now, is often the head cow in my dreams). I spent the whole dream looking for Daisy (you know that dream) and encountering broken gates and loose animals everywhere I went.
I wanted to start a dream blog once. Not for me alone but for as many people as wanted to join. So we could tell our dreams to the ether. However the logistics of publishing became questionable – being that no-one else wants to listen to other peoples dreams and imagine how often each day we would get other peoples dreams in our INbox!
Years and years ago I read a book about a person who bought other peoples dreams. I was a solo Mum raising way too many children on way too little money then; so it was an idea that grew in my head at the time. Imagine if I could sell my dreams to feed my children. But of course the buyer of dreams was a work of fiction. And so were my dreams.
Our last guest writer will be visiting with you tomorrow as I travel.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Love celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
75 responses to “A Dream Blog”
Thank you thank you thank you for that poem! I don’t care when it was written. It was written at the right time. And you blogged it on the right day.
Have a great day honey. c
Well, I tried but I wasn’t very successful. I find that when I start the day tired there is little for it. And after the bubblegum pink wore off, the flavor of the mind was something a bit less perky. I will try again tomorrow!
that is the good part about being alive – we always get a tomorrow
Lovely to be reminded of this again. And yes, Mad Dog, we all had this on a poster in the wild and crazy 60s, didn’t we! It is a good one, full of gentle common sense. Taking the counsel of the years kindly is such an inspiring thought!
Huh! Isn’t it funny how we all think we are the first ones to discover something. I love it from the seventies but OF COURSE it was already being circulated in the 60’s. Gentle common sense! So right. How are all your babies? c
Travel safe!
P.S: I love the post ❤
I hope I get to travel safely too! c
You will love 🙂
Of course you will!
Take good care ❤
I love that inspirational piece. I’ve read/heard bits of it over the years but never seen it in its entirety. Thanks for sharing. Interestingly (to me) when I dream of a lost horse, it is always Auke, who was very difficult to ride but who taught me so much. Not my favorite horse, so I find this interesting. Hmmm, maybe I should try selling that dream and see what the fictional buyer comes up with… Isnt’ the weather in NorCal perfect this week? Loving it!
The weather has been perfect for my stay. Just perfect.. c
I spent a lot of years as a transpersonal counsellor and dream work was part of what I did …..before I went mainstream and dealt with the real things of people’s lives….child abuse, domestic violence, grief etc. But I loved, still do, dream work, and have had a lovely time reading all the types of dreams here and having a little peek into your inner workings:) I remember first seeing/hearing Desidarata in the early 80s when I started Uni, it seemed to speak to me of things I knew but had forgotten. It was like seeing a familiar friend when I saw it at the top of your post. Happy trails home.
Gosh – that must have been a fascinating study – I would love to read more about dreams and feel so Sad for the people who cannot remember their dreams..
I think each of us likely is twigged by different lines in that poem. All of it, overall, of course, but particular lines will dig deeper at different times to us. The lines that hit me so strongly today are, “and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.” So often we judge others, even when we attempt not to, and it’s just not fair.
Anyway, thank you for the reminder… I never saw this poem till I was well out of school.
With the winter storm now taking place and expected to continue until well into tomorrow, you might rethink your return date and push it back an extra day… that way avoiding the awful mess and enjoying the warmth one day longer… just a thought. Whenever you do, travel safe and arrive home bright eyed and bushy tailed. ~ Mame 🙂
Yes I like that line too – at one time or the other we are all the dull and ignorant.. c
I enjoyed reading the Desiderata again. Thanks for sharing it. Loved those cute tricycles and the pink boots too. Makes me feel happy. I’m always interested in others dreams. I rarely dream anymore. Just an occasional nightmare every couple of years. It would be lovely to sell dreams to feed children. Mine would have starved for certain. Something is wrong in the world when single mothers have a hard time feeding their children. Makes my feathers ruffle and I want to start pecking at people. I hope you’ve had a wonderful time with those cute tricycles and arrive home to find all is well. It’s kind of ugly out there in some parts. I’m sure it will miss you. Fingers crossed.
The weather out there has been rubbish – I am sure there will be lots to sort out – I just hope I can get home all in one trip with no hold ups.. c
Thank you for Desiderata this morning, as I sipped coffee, fuel for my body, I read and absorbed the words slowly to feed my Self, to centre before embarking on another day in a busy week.
A dream sharing forum would be a fine thing. The enduring most popular post on my blog continues to be the ginger cat dream. Over the years many times I have had the trying to find [ ] dream, usually my cats & dog who died many years ago. I love hearing people’s dreams, and workshopping interpretations if they’re interested. Safe & happy travels ♡
interesting that the animals in our dreams are often dead.. I guess it is the missing them or something unfinished.. c
I have Desiderata hanging as a poster tacked on inside of a cupboard door here in my office. I haven’t really read it for years until just now, so thank you for reminding me. Have a safe journey back to your family in waiting.
Probably been sitting in your subconscious.. c
I never heard of the poem but downloaded it and will put it in a place I will be sure to see. Thank you for this!
You are always welcome..
“Child of the universe” – this selection was to popular when I was in college. How nice to seep back into those words again.
(And never fear – we’d blockade the farmy with our will and dreams before letting it be snatched while you were away)
Hopefully it will not be snatched! c
“Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness”. Oh yes, that one right there… Thank you for reminding me of this poem, Miss C, I like it much better without the pseudo-illuminated manuscript styling that it came with on so many posters – as if any ancient poem would be talking about careers! But it’s full of sage advice that I’m very happy to take 🙂 Safe journey home, and I hope you find everything at the Farmy as it should be on your return.
YES. It never made much sense at the time either.. c
Well, I’ve been absent from the blogosphere and have been dilatory in reading blogs of my friends. However, today I saw Chris’ reblog and so had to come to red the whole post. As Chris says, it’s a lovely post.
I’m a little worried about your dream. I’m sure when you get home all will be well. Anyway, that’s today’s wish for you.
And I seem to have dropped off your subscription list so am rejoining. BTW. We’ve had a terrible summer, in fact no summer at all and now we’re dropping into the dreary season. Enjoy fall and winter in your little corner of the world. JX
Every now and then a great chunk of readers drop off.. but it works out in the end.. c
Yes, your morning post no longer appears in my email. I have to go to Facebook and click on your website link.
I had a poster of this as a teen in the 1970’s . I have seen it resurrected a lot lately. A few folks have thought it was ‘new’ to represent what some believe to be challenging current times. How surprised they are to hear me recite it from memory. I, in turn, had believed it was written as a response to what I thought were the challenging times of the said decade. And so I am humbled and reminded that our histories are quite cyclical.
As usual. Here is me thinking I am being original!! Ah well.. c
Looking at the size of the ‘happy booties’ the family truly has grown since the last visit . . . then methinks we were at least ‘treated’ to a leg show 🙂 ! Oddly I did not dream until I reached the mid-century mark . . . now I SO look forwards to the night as the stories thru’ which I travel are funny and light and most certainly contain food: lots of it . . . . Meanwhile uneventful travels home and no snow on arrival!
There will be plenty of snow but the cold is going to be the bad one – I have to walk a ways through town between train stations. So I hope the footpaths are not too bad – there will be ice too i think – very cold. But I am used to it now – and will be moving at speed// c