Fate is a story that's been written for you by somebody else. By your parent's genes, by what happened to you when you were a child, by your culture, by the fact that you were born a man or a woman. Destiny is a story that you write.

The more separated we become from the Earth, the more hostile we become to the feminine. We disown our passion, our creativity, and our sexuality. Eventually the Earth itself becomes a baneful place. I remember being told by a medicine woman in the Amazon, “Do you know why they are really cutting down the rain forest? Because it is wet and dark and tangled and feminine.

We often forget that growth requires sacrifice.

Only when all conceptions of space and time, life and death, are exploded, when the grip of the past and fear of the future become merely conditions of one's past, only then can one live in the present fully.

Having the courage to dream means following your calling today, in some way, despite the facts in your life that seem to be unmovable obstacles. And then, if your canvas is unfinished at the moment you die, at least you'll die an artist rather than a dabbler who talks about how she or he would truly like to live.

December 21, 2012 represents a unique opportunity for renaissance, renewal and reinvention that people have waited for for centuries.

The task is not to search for meaning, but to bring meaning to every situation you are in.