http://www.huffingtonpost.com/evelyne-politanoff/tim-walker-story-teller-photos_b_1970997.html?utm_hp_ref=style&ir=Style
With an imagination that knows no bounds, Tim Walker turns fashion shoots
into fairytales or, in his own words, "daydreams into photographs."
-Evelyn Politanoff
I haven't read this book or seen this exhibition, nor am I really familiar with Tim Walker's work, but I love that phrase, turning "daydreams into photographs." It's magical, isn't it? Not to sound like a five-year-old (or maybe to bring out the five-year-old in you, too, so we can once again recognize magic), but well, isn't it magical? Turning a little bit of nothing into something...fluff into something more concrete. Dreams into reality, a little bit, anyway.
"Sometimes when you're taking a picture an extraordinary sense of luck
and chance takes over and propels you to make pictures that you could't
in your wildest dreams have imagined. This is the magic of photography."
-Tim Walker
I'm not much of a photographer, but I think I know what he's talking about when he discusses making something "that you could[n]'t in your wildest dreams have imagined," don't you?
To turning dreams into reality and creating what we can't (even in our wildest dreams) imagine. To magic.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Jolabokaflod, or the "Christmas Book Flood"
Why yes, Jolabokaflod is a word. (It's new to me, too. And no, I'm not sure of how to pronounce it.)
Sometimes it seems like there's nothing but bad news being reported. So in the spirit of the holidays (Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever you may celebrate), here's a little something cheerful from a news outlet:
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167537939/literary-iceland-revels-in-its-annual-christmas-book-flood
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. But what's really unusual is the timing: Historically, a majority of books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November. It's a national tradition, and it has a name: Jolabokaflod, or the "Christmas Book Flood."
"If you look at book sales distribution in the U.K. and the States, most book sales actually come from a minority of people. Very few people buy lots of books. Everybody else buys one book a year if you're lucky," Bjarnason says. "It's much more widespread in Iceland. Most people buy several books a year."
(Honestly, I probably only bought five to ten books this year...I like going to the library. Yes, I am one of the dinosaurs who still go to the library. You should, too.)
To books and reading and, of course, Jolabokaflod.
Sometimes it seems like there's nothing but bad news being reported. So in the spirit of the holidays (Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/whatever you may celebrate), here's a little something cheerful from a news outlet:
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/25/167537939/literary-iceland-revels-in-its-annual-christmas-book-flood
Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country in the world, with five titles published for every 1,000 Icelanders. But what's really unusual is the timing: Historically, a majority of books in Iceland are sold from late September to early November. It's a national tradition, and it has a name: Jolabokaflod, or the "Christmas Book Flood."
"If you look at book sales distribution in the U.K. and the States, most book sales actually come from a minority of people. Very few people buy lots of books. Everybody else buys one book a year if you're lucky," Bjarnason says. "It's much more widespread in Iceland. Most people buy several books a year."
(Honestly, I probably only bought five to ten books this year...I like going to the library. Yes, I am one of the dinosaurs who still go to the library. You should, too.)
To books and reading and, of course, Jolabokaflod.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wright's Law, Or, The Purpose
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/laws-of-physics-cant-trump-the-bonds-of-love/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20121225
I'm not really much of a physics kind of girl (and believe me, that is such an understatement). But the guy profiled in this documentary...well, he transcends being a physics teacher. He gets right into the heart of being human. If you have 10 or 15 minutes, watch the video and read the accompanying article.
A few highlights:
“There is something a lot greater than energy. There’s something a lot greater than entropy. What’s the greatest thing?”
“Love,” his students whisper.
Okay, so that probably sounds a tad cliche, veering into after-school special territory. But it can be true, don't you think?
“That’s what makes the why of what we exist,” Mr. Wright tells the spellbound students. “In this great big universe, we have all those stars. Who cares? Well, somebody cares. Somebody cares about you a lot. As long as we care about each other, that’s where we go from here.”
So we don't know why the stars are there (or if you do, please enlighten me), or why we're here or if there's a why at all. But we do know that we're here, right? And caring about each other and being kind - well, that's one purpose.
“When you look at physics, it’s all about laws and how the world works,” he told me. “But if you don’t tie those laws into a much bigger purpose, the purpose in your heart, then they are going to sit there and ask the question ‘Who cares?’
To the purpose in our hearts.
I'm not really much of a physics kind of girl (and believe me, that is such an understatement). But the guy profiled in this documentary...well, he transcends being a physics teacher. He gets right into the heart of being human. If you have 10 or 15 minutes, watch the video and read the accompanying article.
A few highlights:
“There is something a lot greater than energy. There’s something a lot greater than entropy. What’s the greatest thing?”
“Love,” his students whisper.
Okay, so that probably sounds a tad cliche, veering into after-school special territory. But it can be true, don't you think?
“That’s what makes the why of what we exist,” Mr. Wright tells the spellbound students. “In this great big universe, we have all those stars. Who cares? Well, somebody cares. Somebody cares about you a lot. As long as we care about each other, that’s where we go from here.”
So we don't know why the stars are there (or if you do, please enlighten me), or why we're here or if there's a why at all. But we do know that we're here, right? And caring about each other and being kind - well, that's one purpose.
“When you look at physics, it’s all about laws and how the world works,” he told me. “But if you don’t tie those laws into a much bigger purpose, the purpose in your heart, then they are going to sit there and ask the question ‘Who cares?’
To the purpose in our hearts.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Dear Sugar
So I was at work today, listening to a podcast (The Writer's Block...PBS?) and it was one of those podcasts that make you stop working and start listening. Not just the type of listening like the way you listen to music mindlessly while working, but listening the way you listen when you can't do anything but listen because what you're listening to compels you to Just Listen (anybody else read that Sarah Dessen book?). That kind of listening.
I was listening to an excerpt from Tiny Beautiful Things (http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Beautiful-Things-Advice-Sugar/dp/0307949338), which I'd heard about and had been curious about but hadn't read. And now it's on my to-read list. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get the book (let's just say the list is a long one and leave it at that), but I definitely want to read it.
This is an excerpt from the excerpt she read from. Find the whole column here: http://therumpus.net/2011/02/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-64/
Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you’ll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you’ll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.
...
The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people’s diaries and wondering about sex and God and whether you should shave under your arms or not. These things are your becoming.
To long meandering walks and reading and wondering, and yes, even shitty jobs, because they are "your becoming." To becoming.
I was listening to an excerpt from Tiny Beautiful Things (http://www.amazon.com/Tiny-Beautiful-Things-Advice-Sugar/dp/0307949338), which I'd heard about and had been curious about but hadn't read. And now it's on my to-read list. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get the book (let's just say the list is a long one and leave it at that), but I definitely want to read it.
This is an excerpt from the excerpt she read from. Find the whole column here: http://therumpus.net/2011/02/dear-sugar-the-rumpus-advice-column-64/
Most things will be okay eventually, but not everything will be. Sometimes you’ll put up a good fight and lose. Sometimes you’ll hold on really hard and realize there is no choice but to let go. Acceptance is a small, quiet room.
...
The useless days will add up to something. The shitty waitressing jobs. The hours writing in your journal. The long meandering walks. The hours reading poetry and story collections and novels and dead people’s diaries and wondering about sex and God and whether you should shave under your arms or not. These things are your becoming.
To long meandering walks and reading and wondering, and yes, even shitty jobs, because they are "your becoming." To becoming.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Ogden Nash - Introspective Reflection
So I thought this little two-line poem seemed particularly apt today. Enjoy.
Introspective Reflection
Ogden Nash
I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance
Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.
To insouciance!
Introspective Reflection
Ogden Nash
I would live all my life in nonchalance and insouciance
Were it not for making a living, which is rather a nouciance.
To insouciance!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
My Little Bit of Sugar
http://www.npr.org/2012/10/27/163560417/beth-orton-these-songs-are-my-little-bit-of-sugar
"Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup...I liked also the idea that sometimes you can smell that spring in the air even though it's the dead of winter; you just get that vague glimpse of it, and there's that sense of hope that it brings. I just thought, all in all, it just creates this wonderful imagery of writing songs: For me, it takes a lot of experience to make a little bit of sugar. These songs are my little bit of sugar, I think."
-Beth Orton
I love this whole idea of turning experience into "a little bit of sugar." I think a lot of the time it's so easy to get caught up in how things are going, and sometimes it seems like nothing's going right. But maybe the thing is, it just takes a lot of experience to make a little sugar...it takes a lot of things going wrong - or at least the feeling that things are going wrong - for you to create something or realize something that turns out to be worthwhile.
To turning experience into sugar, whatever form yours may come in.
"Sugaring season is the season when you tap the trees for sugar that turns into maple syrup...I liked also the idea that sometimes you can smell that spring in the air even though it's the dead of winter; you just get that vague glimpse of it, and there's that sense of hope that it brings. I just thought, all in all, it just creates this wonderful imagery of writing songs: For me, it takes a lot of experience to make a little bit of sugar. These songs are my little bit of sugar, I think."
-Beth Orton
I love this whole idea of turning experience into "a little bit of sugar." I think a lot of the time it's so easy to get caught up in how things are going, and sometimes it seems like nothing's going right. But maybe the thing is, it just takes a lot of experience to make a little sugar...it takes a lot of things going wrong - or at least the feeling that things are going wrong - for you to create something or realize something that turns out to be worthwhile.
To turning experience into sugar, whatever form yours may come in.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Dancing and Shadows
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-dancer-who-made-lifes-transcience-lasting/2012/10/14/b797929e-1626-11e2-9855-71f2b202721b_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
First of all, sorry it's been such a long time. I was consistent for a while...and then inconsistent for a while (maybe a cycle of its own?). I'll try to update a couple times a week again (to the possible one person out there who's reading this).
I haven't actually seen Eric Hampton's work at all, but a few sentences caught my attention in the article:
"The dances he created...had everything you need in dark times, or in life in general: humor, poetry, human warmth. Moments that trapped a fleeting sensation and kept it aglow in your mind like a candle flame."
Don't you just love that? There is so much truth in those sentences, especially the part about how humor, poetry, and human warmth are so essential.
"It was always Hampton’s strength to find gold in the shadows."
I would like to be able to do that. We don't control so much of what happens in the world, but we can always control how we react...yes, maybe it does feel like the sky is falling. But isn't it the loveliest shade of blue? (Okay, maybe that just sounds completely absurd...but you know what? Maybe life is absurd. Things don't always make sense.)
"Yet Hampton’s courage (or was it unquenchable artistic fire?) still astounds those of us who witnessed it, and borders on the superhuman. As amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (the dread Lou Gehrig’s disease) gradually shut down his outer functioning, he still managed to bring forth a creative, nurturing inner life. "
That's just beyond words, isn't it? Impressive doesn't even come close.
To "humor, poetry and human warmth" - wherever you may find them: dance, art, sports, anything. Everything.
First of all, sorry it's been such a long time. I was consistent for a while...and then inconsistent for a while (maybe a cycle of its own?). I'll try to update a couple times a week again (to the possible one person out there who's reading this).
I haven't actually seen Eric Hampton's work at all, but a few sentences caught my attention in the article:
"The dances he created...had everything you need in dark times, or in life in general: humor, poetry, human warmth. Moments that trapped a fleeting sensation and kept it aglow in your mind like a candle flame."
Don't you just love that? There is so much truth in those sentences, especially the part about how humor, poetry, and human warmth are so essential.
"It was always Hampton’s strength to find gold in the shadows."
I would like to be able to do that. We don't control so much of what happens in the world, but we can always control how we react...yes, maybe it does feel like the sky is falling. But isn't it the loveliest shade of blue? (Okay, maybe that just sounds completely absurd...but you know what? Maybe life is absurd. Things don't always make sense.)
"Yet Hampton’s courage (or was it unquenchable artistic fire?) still astounds those of us who witnessed it, and borders on the superhuman. As amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (the dread Lou Gehrig’s disease) gradually shut down his outer functioning, he still managed to bring forth a creative, nurturing inner life. "
That's just beyond words, isn't it? Impressive doesn't even come close.
To "humor, poetry and human warmth" - wherever you may find them: dance, art, sports, anything. Everything.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Monday Mainstay: Come, Let Us Find (William Henry Davies)
Come, Let Us Find
William Henry Davies
Come, let us find a cottage, love,
That's green for half a mile around;
To laugh at every grumbling bee,
Whose sweetest blossom's not yet found.
Where many a bird shall sing for you,
And in your garden build its nest:
They'll sing for you as though their eggs
Were lying in your breast,
My love--
Were lying warm in your soft breast.
'Tis strange how men find time to hate,
When life is all too short for love;
But we, away from our own kind,
A different life can live and prove.
And early on a summer's morn,
As I go walking out with you,
We'll help the sun with our warm breath
To clear away the dew,
My love,
To clear away the morning dew.
That's green for half a mile around;
To laugh at every grumbling bee,
Whose sweetest blossom's not yet found.
Where many a bird shall sing for you,
And in your garden build its nest:
They'll sing for you as though their eggs
Were lying in your breast,
My love--
Were lying warm in your soft breast.
'Tis strange how men find time to hate,
When life is all too short for love;
But we, away from our own kind,
A different life can live and prove.
And early on a summer's morn,
As I go walking out with you,
We'll help the sun with our warm breath
To clear away the dew,
My love,
To clear away the morning dew.
Doesn't that sound like a perfect dream, to find this romantic cottage where we "A different life can live and prove"?
To walking and loving and living and proving a different life. And finding a cottage, both literally and metaphorically.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Wordsworth on Rest
“Rest and be thankful.”
-William Wordsworth
This one's self-explanatory.
To rest and gratitude.
-William Wordsworth
This one's self-explanatory.
To rest and gratitude.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
The Little Things by Carlos Bertonatti Lyrics
"If life has taught me anything,
it'’s all about the little things."
-Carlos Bertonatti, The Little Things
Things are going wrong left and right in the world. It's so easy to just sink into despair, isn't it? Complain. Scan newspaper headlines or turn on the evening news or just feel dissatisfied about your life, your job, how much money you make, how much you weigh, anything, everything.
What's the point, anyway?
Okay, I'm going to tell you right off the bat that I can't answer that question. But according to this song, Carlos Bertonatti thinks "it's all about the little things."
And I don't know if it's all about the little things...but well, the little things can certainly add up, don't you think? I know it's the same old same old (well, if your life is anything like mine) and you're trying to find joy and happiness and peace and fulfillment and all that jazz, but sometimes you look at a bright, vivid flower on a cloudy gray morning and as little a thing as it is, it's enough for that moment. Maybe for that day.
Maybe life is seizing as many of those little moments as you can, letting them go when they do, and being open to the next one. Open your eyes and really look...what do you see? I'm sure you can find at least one thing that is beautiful. Or funny or hopeful or all of the above. And if you can't, make something beautiful. Okay?
To the little things.
it'’s all about the little things."
-Carlos Bertonatti, The Little Things
Things are going wrong left and right in the world. It's so easy to just sink into despair, isn't it? Complain. Scan newspaper headlines or turn on the evening news or just feel dissatisfied about your life, your job, how much money you make, how much you weigh, anything, everything.
What's the point, anyway?
Okay, I'm going to tell you right off the bat that I can't answer that question. But according to this song, Carlos Bertonatti thinks "it's all about the little things."
And I don't know if it's all about the little things...but well, the little things can certainly add up, don't you think? I know it's the same old same old (well, if your life is anything like mine) and you're trying to find joy and happiness and peace and fulfillment and all that jazz, but sometimes you look at a bright, vivid flower on a cloudy gray morning and as little a thing as it is, it's enough for that moment. Maybe for that day.
Maybe life is seizing as many of those little moments as you can, letting them go when they do, and being open to the next one. Open your eyes and really look...what do you see? I'm sure you can find at least one thing that is beautiful. Or funny or hopeful or all of the above. And if you can't, make something beautiful. Okay?
To the little things.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Dear Enemy (by Jean Webster) Review
Dear Enemy is Sallie McBride's (if you read Daddy Long-Legs, you'll remember that Sallie was Judy's friend and roommate) story. She has graduated from college and is living the life of a well-to-do socialite when Judy offers her the position of superintendent of the John Grier Home.
Sallie accepts. She is a determined, feisty, funny heroine and her letters reflect that spirit. In the beginning, she takes the job partially because Gordon, her boyfriend, laughs at the very idea of her running an orphan asylum, but it turns into something more. Sallie has these big ideas she wants to implement, ranging from the food to the dresses to fresh air.
Sallie is optimistic, but there are definitely trying times. She deals with problems from trustees who don't think she's very well-qualified to staff not used to change to someone giving her dog Singapore a haircut.She learns so much about managing things and opens her heart up to the orphans and of course, she changes and learns along the way.
Dear Enemy delves much more deeply into asylum life and orphans and running an institution. I enjoyed reading about Sallie's attempts to brighten up the children's lives, and her sparring with the "enemy," the doctor who recommends scientific texts in order to provide her with the scientific knowledge that befits an orphan asylum superintendent. There's a scene that really reminds me of Jane Eyre (you'll know exactly what I mean if you read it).
The novel is in letter format, like Daddy Long-Legs. I found Dear Enemy to be charming and witty and entertaining as well, but I wasn't as big a fan as I was of Daddy Long-Legs. Anyway, it's a pretty inspiring story - but not preach-y.
Sallie accepts. She is a determined, feisty, funny heroine and her letters reflect that spirit. In the beginning, she takes the job partially because Gordon, her boyfriend, laughs at the very idea of her running an orphan asylum, but it turns into something more. Sallie has these big ideas she wants to implement, ranging from the food to the dresses to fresh air.
Sallie is optimistic, but there are definitely trying times. She deals with problems from trustees who don't think she's very well-qualified to staff not used to change to someone giving her dog Singapore a haircut.She learns so much about managing things and opens her heart up to the orphans and of course, she changes and learns along the way.
Dear Enemy delves much more deeply into asylum life and orphans and running an institution. I enjoyed reading about Sallie's attempts to brighten up the children's lives, and her sparring with the "enemy," the doctor who recommends scientific texts in order to provide her with the scientific knowledge that befits an orphan asylum superintendent. There's a scene that really reminds me of Jane Eyre (you'll know exactly what I mean if you read it).
The novel is in letter format, like Daddy Long-Legs. I found Dear Enemy to be charming and witty and entertaining as well, but I wasn't as big a fan as I was of Daddy Long-Legs. Anyway, it's a pretty inspiring story - but not preach-y.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Monday Mainstay: If I Were In Charge of the World (Judith Viorst)
If I Were In Charge of the World
Judith Viorst
If I were in charge of the world
I'd cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots, and also Sara Steinberg.
If I were in charge of the world
There'd be brighter nights lights,
Healthier hamsters, and
Basketball baskets forty eight inches lower.
If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn't have lonely.
You wouldn't have clean.
You wouldn't have bedtimes.
Or "Don't punch your sister."
You wouldn't even have sisters.
If I were in charge of the world
A chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable
All 007 movies would be G,
And a person who sometimes forgot to brush,
And sometimes forgot to flush,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.
The world sounds like it'd be more fun if Judith Viorst were in charge of the world, doesn't it? Maybe my favorite bit is how she would cancel Monday mornings (or bedtimes or lonely). If I were in charge, I'd outlaw cubicles for sure and give everyone ice cream on Wednesdays (it's smack in the middle of the week and sometimes you need an extra little something to get through it, don't you think?) and there would be no such thing as malnutrition or war. Oh, and there'd be more glitter and sequins. Definitely.
What would the world be like if you were in charge?
To doing one thing that makes us feel like we are in charge of the world (I've had ice cream today, thank you very much).
I'd cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots, and also Sara Steinberg.
If I were in charge of the world
There'd be brighter nights lights,
Healthier hamsters, and
Basketball baskets forty eight inches lower.
If I were in charge of the world
You wouldn't have lonely.
You wouldn't have clean.
You wouldn't have bedtimes.
Or "Don't punch your sister."
You wouldn't even have sisters.
If I were in charge of the world
A chocolate sundae with whipped cream and nuts would be a vegetable
All 007 movies would be G,
And a person who sometimes forgot to brush,
And sometimes forgot to flush,
Would still be allowed to be
In charge of the world.
The world sounds like it'd be more fun if Judith Viorst were in charge of the world, doesn't it? Maybe my favorite bit is how she would cancel Monday mornings (or bedtimes or lonely). If I were in charge, I'd outlaw cubicles for sure and give everyone ice cream on Wednesdays (it's smack in the middle of the week and sometimes you need an extra little something to get through it, don't you think?) and there would be no such thing as malnutrition or war. Oh, and there'd be more glitter and sequins. Definitely.
What would the world be like if you were in charge?
To doing one thing that makes us feel like we are in charge of the world (I've had ice cream today, thank you very much).
Friday, August 31, 2012
Time to Move On - Tom Petty Lyrics
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
...
Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to forgiveness
Which way do I go
...
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
I've been feeling like it's time to move on for a while now. But how do you ever know it's the right time? If overanalyzing and overthinking were Olympic sports, I think I'd have a real shot at a gold medal, people. But I guess I can either stay, feeling jaded and stuck...or decide it's time to move on, time to get going and start doing something about it. I've been feeling stuck for far too long...and it's time to do something about it.
You know what I think the hardest thing is, though? It's not making the decision...that's pretty easy. I've made this decision a few times already. It's taking those first few steps after making the decision. Sticking with the decision after a few disappointments and setbacks. Keeping yourself motivated.
How do you ever know you've made the right decision? I guess sometimes you don't. And maybe there aren't necessarily right decisions all the time. Maybe there are just choices you make, and none of them are right or wrong, really. They're just choices and you can change your mind. All you can do is the best you can (even if you don't think it's any good, at least you're trying, right?)...and hope.
To something better, moving on...and getting going.
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
...
Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to forgiveness
Which way do I go
...
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
I've been feeling like it's time to move on for a while now. But how do you ever know it's the right time? If overanalyzing and overthinking were Olympic sports, I think I'd have a real shot at a gold medal, people. But I guess I can either stay, feeling jaded and stuck...or decide it's time to move on, time to get going and start doing something about it. I've been feeling stuck for far too long...and it's time to do something about it.
You know what I think the hardest thing is, though? It's not making the decision...that's pretty easy. I've made this decision a few times already. It's taking those first few steps after making the decision. Sticking with the decision after a few disappointments and setbacks. Keeping yourself motivated.
How do you ever know you've made the right decision? I guess sometimes you don't. And maybe there aren't necessarily right decisions all the time. Maybe there are just choices you make, and none of them are right or wrong, really. They're just choices and you can change your mind. All you can do is the best you can (even if you don't think it's any good, at least you're trying, right?)...and hope.
To something better, moving on...and getting going.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Story Girl (by L.M. Montgomery) Review
I loved the Anne of Green Gables books when I was younger. (Actually, I'm thinking about re-reading them.) Anyway, this book by the same author caught my attention. Supposedly, this was actually L.M. Montgomery's favorite of the books she'd written.
The Story Girl isn't really related to Anne, but the tone is similar. Nature's beauty is extravagantly praised and you just wish you could see the sunset and their scenic views and the charming brooks and everything. I laughed and laughed at the characters' antics - trying to keep their New Year's resolutions and such. (Mainly Dan, who said the funniest things. He and Felicity had a few disagreements, to put it mildly.)
The Story Girl is Sara Carlisle, and she enjoys telling stories to her cousins and really everybody else. This is one year in their lives. They have adventures and come up with their own newspaper (or was it a magazine?). Certain chapters are the newspaper/magazine in its entirety and it's hilarious reading their writing and then the characters' responses...especially Dan, I must say).
It's a pretty easy read (probably written for the same age group as the Anne books were). Mostly, it's comforting (I seem to be looking for that in books recently) and extremely entertaining. Sometimes I think I should be reading more Great Literature, you know, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and Dickens...but I don't crave those books like I crave these books. (I should probably still try.)
If you're looking for something charming and simple and not very demanding, something to make you laugh (and your heart to ache a little), this is the book. Especially for people who loved the Anne of Green Gables books.
(Oh, and I started Dear Enemy by Jean Webster today. It's the sequel of sorts to Daddy Long-Legs. I'll probably review it next week.)
Does anyone have book suggestions, specifically for books similar to Daddy Long-Legs and The Story Girl? I'd be interested to hear what everyone else likes to read.
To stories and reading and book suggestions.
The Story Girl isn't really related to Anne, but the tone is similar. Nature's beauty is extravagantly praised and you just wish you could see the sunset and their scenic views and the charming brooks and everything. I laughed and laughed at the characters' antics - trying to keep their New Year's resolutions and such. (Mainly Dan, who said the funniest things. He and Felicity had a few disagreements, to put it mildly.)
The Story Girl is Sara Carlisle, and she enjoys telling stories to her cousins and really everybody else. This is one year in their lives. They have adventures and come up with their own newspaper (or was it a magazine?). Certain chapters are the newspaper/magazine in its entirety and it's hilarious reading their writing and then the characters' responses...especially Dan, I must say).
It's a pretty easy read (probably written for the same age group as the Anne books were). Mostly, it's comforting (I seem to be looking for that in books recently) and extremely entertaining. Sometimes I think I should be reading more Great Literature, you know, Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky and Dickens...but I don't crave those books like I crave these books. (I should probably still try.)
If you're looking for something charming and simple and not very demanding, something to make you laugh (and your heart to ache a little), this is the book. Especially for people who loved the Anne of Green Gables books.
(Oh, and I started Dear Enemy by Jean Webster today. It's the sequel of sorts to Daddy Long-Legs. I'll probably review it next week.)
Does anyone have book suggestions, specifically for books similar to Daddy Long-Legs and The Story Girl? I'd be interested to hear what everyone else likes to read.
To stories and reading and book suggestions.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Richard Russo's 2004 Commencement Speech
For the full text: http://www.colby.edu/news/detail/488/
...suggest what the next decade of your lives is likely to be about, and that is, trying to ensure that you don't wake up at 32 or 35 or 40 tenured to a life that happened to you when you weren't paying strict attention, either because the money was good, or it made your parents proud, or because you were unlucky enough to discover an aptitude for the very thing that bores you to tears, or for any of the other semi-valid reasons people marshal to justify allowing the true passion of their lives to leak away. If you're lucky, you may have more than one chance to get things right, but second and third chances, like second and third marriages, can be dicey propositions, and they don't come with guarantees.
-Richard Russo
I don't want to wake up one day tenured to a life that happened - I want to make my life happen. To make the things that I want happen. But oh, sometimes it feels so far away, doesn't it?
Search out the kind of work that you would gladly do for free and then get somebody to pay you for it. Don't expect this to happen overnight. It took me nearly twenty years to get people to pay me a living wage for my writing, which makes me, even at this juncture, one of the fortunate few. Your work should be something that satisfies, excites and rewards you, something that gives your life meaning and direction, that stays fresh and new and challenging, a task you'll never quite master, that will never be completed. It should be the kind of work that constantly humbles you, that never allows you to become smug—in short, work that sustains you instead of just paying your bills. While you search for this work, you'll need a job. For me that job was teaching, and it's a fine thing to be good at your job, as long as you don't confuse it with your work, which it's hard not to do.
-Richard Russo
I know, I know. I am obsessed with work quotes. But I can't help it, at this particular time in my life. I keep reading these quotes about doing what you love in the hopes that it will make me courageous enough to well, do it. I'm still working on it, obviously.
I have a job. But I'm still looking for my work. I wonder how many other people out there are in the same boat.
To working on the true passion of our lives and doing our own work.
...suggest what the next decade of your lives is likely to be about, and that is, trying to ensure that you don't wake up at 32 or 35 or 40 tenured to a life that happened to you when you weren't paying strict attention, either because the money was good, or it made your parents proud, or because you were unlucky enough to discover an aptitude for the very thing that bores you to tears, or for any of the other semi-valid reasons people marshal to justify allowing the true passion of their lives to leak away. If you're lucky, you may have more than one chance to get things right, but second and third chances, like second and third marriages, can be dicey propositions, and they don't come with guarantees.
-Richard Russo
I don't want to wake up one day tenured to a life that happened - I want to make my life happen. To make the things that I want happen. But oh, sometimes it feels so far away, doesn't it?
Search out the kind of work that you would gladly do for free and then get somebody to pay you for it. Don't expect this to happen overnight. It took me nearly twenty years to get people to pay me a living wage for my writing, which makes me, even at this juncture, one of the fortunate few. Your work should be something that satisfies, excites and rewards you, something that gives your life meaning and direction, that stays fresh and new and challenging, a task you'll never quite master, that will never be completed. It should be the kind of work that constantly humbles you, that never allows you to become smug—in short, work that sustains you instead of just paying your bills. While you search for this work, you'll need a job. For me that job was teaching, and it's a fine thing to be good at your job, as long as you don't confuse it with your work, which it's hard not to do.
-Richard Russo
I know, I know. I am obsessed with work quotes. But I can't help it, at this particular time in my life. I keep reading these quotes about doing what you love in the hopes that it will make me courageous enough to well, do it. I'm still working on it, obviously.
I have a job. But I'm still looking for my work. I wonder how many other people out there are in the same boat.
To working on the true passion of our lives and doing our own work.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Goethe on The Sense of the Beautiful
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine
picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not
obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the
human soul.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Have you heard some music (and/or made some), read any poetry or seen a fine picture today yet? Go listen/read/see if you haven't yet. It's not too late.
Isn't it strange that for all the technological leaps and bounds we've made in the past centuries since Goethe died, life is still the same in certain ways? There are still the same worldly cares...and the same cures - music, poetry, art. Something that elevates you above the tedium.
Today was one of those days I really needed to focus on the sense of the beautiful.
To listening to music, reading poetry and looking at art every day and to maintaining our sense of the beautiful.
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Have you heard some music (and/or made some), read any poetry or seen a fine picture today yet? Go listen/read/see if you haven't yet. It's not too late.
Isn't it strange that for all the technological leaps and bounds we've made in the past centuries since Goethe died, life is still the same in certain ways? There are still the same worldly cares...and the same cures - music, poetry, art. Something that elevates you above the tedium.
Today was one of those days I really needed to focus on the sense of the beautiful.
To listening to music, reading poetry and looking at art every day and to maintaining our sense of the beautiful.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Monday Mainstay: Leisure (William Henry Davies)
Leisure
William Henry Davies
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
It's pretty common to hear that someone is busy. It's almost like a competition sometimes. But I don't want to be the busiest person. I never want to be too busy "to stand and stare." I think there are lovely moments that arise only from standing still, from staring at something and letting your mind drift wherever it pleases.
So this Monday, stay still for a while. To standing and staring.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Laughter & Tears
Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.
Lord Byron
The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the sea.
-Isak Dinesen
Sometimes you need to laugh and sometimes you need to cry. And it's okay - no, more than okay, necessary - to cry sometimes. It really is. I love books and movies that make me do both.
To laughing and crying.
Lord Byron
The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears or the sea.
-Isak Dinesen
Sometimes you need to laugh and sometimes you need to cry. And it's okay - no, more than okay, necessary - to cry sometimes. It really is. I love books and movies that make me do both.
To laughing and crying.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Oprah's 2008 Commencement Speech
(For the full transcript of the speech, see: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/june18/como-061808.html)
"...walk through life eager and open to self-improvement and that which is going to best help you evolve, 'cause that's really why we're here, to evolve as human beings. To grow into more of ourselves, always moving to the next level of understanding, the next level of compassion and growth.
And I believe that there's a lesson in almost everything that you do and every experience, and getting the lesson is how you move forward."
Self-improvement can sound kind of hokey. But if you really think about it, you're trying to make yourself a better person. Who care if it sounds hokey? I want to evolve as a human being, and always keep growing.
"When you're doing the work you're meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you're getting paid.
...
And how do you know when you're doing something right? How do you know that? It feels so. What I know now is that feelings are really your GPS system for life. When you're supposed to do something or not supposed to do something, your emotional guidance system lets you know...If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. That's the lesson...There are many times when you don't know what to do. When you don't know what to do, get still, get very still, until you do know what to do."
I'm going to keep searching for the work I'm meant to do. So far, I've learned about the work I'm not meant to do. And you know what? That's part of finding what you are meant to do.
"...forget about the fast lane. If you really want to fly, just harness your power to your passion. Honor your calling. Everybody has one. Trust your heart and success will come to you.
...
But having a lot of money does not automatically make you a successful person. What you want is money and meaning. You want your work to be meaningful. Because meaning is what brings the real richness to your life. What you really want is to be surrounded by people you trust and treasure and by people who cherish you. That's when you're really rich."
There are so many different definitions of success. Mine includes doing meaningful work. I want to be excited to go off to work in the morning and find my work meaningful and be interested in things. Not just what I'm doing, but in what other people are doing, in what's happening in the world at large. (It can feel small sometimes, but a lot of things can happen out there!)
"If things go wrong, you hit a dead end—as you will—it's just life's way of saying time to change course. So, ask every failure—this is what I do with every failure, every crisis, every difficult time—I say, what is this here to teach me? And as soon as you get the lesson, you get to move on. If you really get the lesson, you pass and you don't have to repeat the class. If you don't get the lesson, it shows up wearing another pair of pants—or skirt—to give you some remedial work.
But, if you ask the right question—not why is this happening, but what is this here to teach me?—it puts you in the place and space to get the lesson you need."
I'd like to approach failures this way. I need to work on asking what lessons are in the failures.
"This is what I know for sure: In order to be truly happy, you must live along with and you have to stand for something larger than yourself. Because life is a reciprocal exchange. To move forward you have to give back. And to me, that is the greatest lesson of life. To be happy, you have to give something back. ...if you're hurting, you need to help somebody ease their hurt...
...helping others is the way we help ourselves."
I completely agree. Okay, this is going to sound kind of silly, but I helped someone find a book at the library yesterday, and it made me feel pretty happy. Yes, it's a very small act (I didn't cure cancer or facilitate peace in the Middle East or anything like that), but I helped someone when I could have chosen not to. I didn't know him. I don't work at the library. But I took the time to help him and honestly, I improved my day and his. So go out there and help someone find a book or something. Improve your day and someone else's.
"So, I know this—that whether you're an actor, you offer your talent in the way that most inspires art. If you're an anatomist, you look at your gift as knowledge and service to healing... if you choose to offer your skills and talent in service, when you choose the paradigm of service, looking at life through that paradigm, it turns everything you do from a job into a gift."
Whatever you do, think of it as a gift.
To finding the lesson, honoring your calling, and helping others.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Daddy-Long-Legs (by Jean Webster) Review
The book is mostly written in letter format, so I thought I'd review it in the same format.
Dear Reader,
I loved this book. I really did. It was charming and sweet and witty. Very heartwarming. Another book to curl up with when you could use a little cheering up (I seem to be especially fond of these books).
Judy Abbott is an orphan who is unexpectedly given the opportunity to attend college. Her mysterious benefactor only has one requirement, that she writes a letter to him once a month updating him on her progress. Judy is quite the correspondent - she writes much more often than once a month and she really fills Daddy-Long-Legs (her nickname for the benefactor, since she only caught a glimpse of his long legs) in on her days at college.
The letters are funny and irreverent and just delightful to read, but there is a more serious side to Judy, too. She gets downright philosophical sometimes. She writes in one letter,
"It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones - I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant...Most people don't live; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful, tranquil country they are passing through; and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out, and it doesn't make any difference whether they've reached the goal or no. I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses."
Don't you think that's wise? I'm very interested in the whole idea of happiness, what it means, how to attain it, if there is any such thing, etc. And I think gratitude is an essential component of happiness. Sometimes the little things - a new book or bottle of nail polish or a letter in the mail - are everything. And if you think about it, little moments comprise so much more of life than big things. How often do birthdays and graduations and weddings and those milestone events occur (not that they can't be perfectly wonderful)? And how often can you borrow a book or paint your nails or write something? Take a walk and look at the stars? So if you want to be happy more often, perhaps appreciating the little things would help.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book. It's become one of my favorites, I think (although it's hard to play favorites with books). If you have ever read any books from the Anne of Green Gables series or the Betsy-Tacy series (two of my very favorites) and loved them, this book is in the same vein.
Affectionately yours,
Eva
Dear Reader,
I loved this book. I really did. It was charming and sweet and witty. Very heartwarming. Another book to curl up with when you could use a little cheering up (I seem to be especially fond of these books).
Judy Abbott is an orphan who is unexpectedly given the opportunity to attend college. Her mysterious benefactor only has one requirement, that she writes a letter to him once a month updating him on her progress. Judy is quite the correspondent - she writes much more often than once a month and she really fills Daddy-Long-Legs (her nickname for the benefactor, since she only caught a glimpse of his long legs) in on her days at college.
The letters are funny and irreverent and just delightful to read, but there is a more serious side to Judy, too. She gets downright philosophical sometimes. She writes in one letter,
"It isn't the great big pleasures that count the most; it's making a great deal out of the little ones - I've discovered the true secret of happiness, Daddy, and that is to live in the now. Not to be for ever regretting the past, or anticipating the future; but to get the most that you can out of this very instant...Most people don't live; they just race. They are trying to reach some goal far away on the horizon, and in the heat of the going they get so breathless and panting that they lose all sight of the beautiful, tranquil country they are passing through; and then the first thing they know, they are old and worn out, and it doesn't make any difference whether they've reached the goal or no. I've decided to sit down by the way and pile up a lot of little happinesses."
Don't you think that's wise? I'm very interested in the whole idea of happiness, what it means, how to attain it, if there is any such thing, etc. And I think gratitude is an essential component of happiness. Sometimes the little things - a new book or bottle of nail polish or a letter in the mail - are everything. And if you think about it, little moments comprise so much more of life than big things. How often do birthdays and graduations and weddings and those milestone events occur (not that they can't be perfectly wonderful)? And how often can you borrow a book or paint your nails or write something? Take a walk and look at the stars? So if you want to be happy more often, perhaps appreciating the little things would help.
Anyway, I highly recommend this book. It's become one of my favorites, I think (although it's hard to play favorites with books). If you have ever read any books from the Anne of Green Gables series or the Betsy-Tacy series (two of my very favorites) and loved them, this book is in the same vein.
Affectionately yours,
Eva
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Dalai Lama: You Are Just Who You Are
“There is only one important point you must keep in your mind and let it
be your guide. No matter what people call you, you are just who you
are. Keep to this truth. You must ask yourself how is it you want to
live your life. We live and we die, this is the truth that we can only
face alone. No one can help us, not even the Buddha. So consider
carefully, what prevents you from living the way you want to live your
life?
-Dalai Lama XIV
I think keeping to the truth of who you are is difficult. I can't decide if I think it's easy or hard to even know who you are...there are days I think it's incredibly simple and people just complicate things needlessly. And then there are days I am so confused about everything, and I can't even begin to explain.
I guess we can always keep asking, though. I think it's important to. Don't drive yourself crazy about it, but ask: how do you want to live your life? And what prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?
There are so many factors to consider, of course. It's completely overwhelming to think of instituting huge changes and sticking to it. Maybe the way to go (for me, at least) is to integrate a little bit of change every day. Not everything at once, but baby steps.
Maybe the most important thing is not succeeding (because we're all works-in-progress, right? There will always be room for improvement), but just to keep trying. To wake up every day and keep asking these really difficult questions and reflecting and trying.
To keeping to this truth that you are just who you are, to asking how you want to live your life, to living the way you want to live your life.
-Dalai Lama XIV
I think keeping to the truth of who you are is difficult. I can't decide if I think it's easy or hard to even know who you are...there are days I think it's incredibly simple and people just complicate things needlessly. And then there are days I am so confused about everything, and I can't even begin to explain.
I guess we can always keep asking, though. I think it's important to. Don't drive yourself crazy about it, but ask: how do you want to live your life? And what prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?
There are so many factors to consider, of course. It's completely overwhelming to think of instituting huge changes and sticking to it. Maybe the way to go (for me, at least) is to integrate a little bit of change every day. Not everything at once, but baby steps.
Maybe the most important thing is not succeeding (because we're all works-in-progress, right? There will always be room for improvement), but just to keep trying. To wake up every day and keep asking these really difficult questions and reflecting and trying.
To keeping to this truth that you are just who you are, to asking how you want to live your life, to living the way you want to live your life.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Monday Mainstay: Kim Addonizio's What Do Women Want?
What Do Women Want?
Kim Addonizio
I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.
I want a red dress. I want to be a little reckless and channel a glamorous movie star (maybe Elizabeth Taylor) and not think about consequences and plans and The Future. Just for a while.
To red dresses and whatever they may represent to you.
Kim Addonizio
I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what's underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I'm the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment
from its hanger like I'm choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I'll wear it like bones, like skin,
it'll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.
I want a red dress. I want to be a little reckless and channel a glamorous movie star (maybe Elizabeth Taylor) and not think about consequences and plans and The Future. Just for a while.
To red dresses and whatever they may represent to you.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Lenka - Live Like You're Dying Lyrics
You'll be under the table and you'll realize
That all of your days are numbered, all of them one to one hundred
All of them millions, all of them trillions
So what am I gonna do with my time?
I'll take every moment, I know that I own them
It's all up to you to do whatever you choose
Live like you're dying and never stop trying
It's all you can do, use what's been given to you
from Lenka (Live Like You're Dying)
We don't know how much time we have, but we can choose how to spend the time that we do have. There are a lot of things we can't choose in the world, but some of them we can. It seems like such a small, simple truth, doesn't it?
Do something you want today. Not because of anything or anyone else - just because you want to. Take a nap or sit outside and stare at the sky. Sing and dance. Make art.
To using what's been given to you.
That all of your days are numbered, all of them one to one hundred
All of them millions, all of them trillions
So what am I gonna do with my time?
I'll take every moment, I know that I own them
It's all up to you to do whatever you choose
Live like you're dying and never stop trying
It's all you can do, use what's been given to you
from Lenka (Live Like You're Dying)
We don't know how much time we have, but we can choose how to spend the time that we do have. There are a lot of things we can't choose in the world, but some of them we can. It seems like such a small, simple truth, doesn't it?
Do something you want today. Not because of anything or anyone else - just because you want to. Take a nap or sit outside and stare at the sky. Sing and dance. Make art.
To using what's been given to you.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Conan O'Brien's 2011 Commencement Speech
"Your path at 22 will not necessarily be your path at 32 or 42. One’s
dream is constantly evolving, rising and falling, changing course."
I need to remember this.
"No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you. In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."
You are not defined by your job. You are not defined by your goals, even. I'm not entirely sure what people are defined by - another one of those maddening questions that don't really have an answer but I wonder about, anyway - but it's not your job. You are more than what you do to earn a living, more than what you buy, more than what you say.
To changing dreams and defining ourselves.
I need to remember this.
"No specific job or career goal defines me and it should not define you. In 2000, I told graduates to not be afraid to fail, and I still believe that. But today I tell you that whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."
You are not defined by your job. You are not defined by your goals, even. I'm not entirely sure what people are defined by - another one of those maddening questions that don't really have an answer but I wonder about, anyway - but it's not your job. You are more than what you do to earn a living, more than what you buy, more than what you say.
To changing dreams and defining ourselves.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten Review
Overall, this book was an easy, quick read. It's a collection of brief essays, all heartwarming and reaffirming the goodness of human nature. Plus, the essays are funny. If you're feeling kind of blue, this is a nice little pick-me-up.
The topics touch on daily life ("the daily ordinariness of life") - everything from laundry, chicken-fried steak, crayons, visits to the zoo, neighbors to flight. It might make you appreciate ordinary moments more deeply. I felt more optimistic after finishing this book.
The author, Robert Fulghum, has written other books that I'm curious about and am adding to my reading list.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away. Most of this "something" cannot be seen or heard or numbered. It does not show up in a census. But nothing counts without it." (119)
"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air...And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." (52)
On Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony, which he composed when he was deaf: "Out of all that sorrow and trouble, out of all that frustration and disappointment, out of all that deep and permanent silence, came all that majesty - that outpouring of JOY and exaltation! He defied his fate with jubilation!" (113)
To appreciating ordinary moments more deeply, to crayons, and to music.
The topics touch on daily life ("the daily ordinariness of life") - everything from laundry, chicken-fried steak, crayons, visits to the zoo, neighbors to flight. It might make you appreciate ordinary moments more deeply. I felt more optimistic after finishing this book.
The author, Robert Fulghum, has written other books that I'm curious about and am adding to my reading list.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Every person passing through this life will unknowingly leave something and take something away. Most of this "something" cannot be seen or heard or numbered. It does not show up in a census. But nothing counts without it." (119)
"Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air...And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination." (52)
On Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony, which he composed when he was deaf: "Out of all that sorrow and trouble, out of all that frustration and disappointment, out of all that deep and permanent silence, came all that majesty - that outpouring of JOY and exaltation! He defied his fate with jubilation!" (113)
To appreciating ordinary moments more deeply, to crayons, and to music.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Vaddey Ratner: The Power of Storytelling
http://www.npr.org/2012/08/14/158691935/in-the-shadow-of-death-stories-survive
"I actually want to tell a story about the power of storytelling to transcend suffering. Because it was the stories that saved me, the stories, the poetry that my father left behind."
-Vaddey Ratner
I haven't read this book - I only read this review this morning - but this quote pretty much encapsulates everything this blog is about. I think words and storytelling have immense power - the power to transcend, to transport. To save.
To stories, poetry and words transcending suffering.
"I actually want to tell a story about the power of storytelling to transcend suffering. Because it was the stories that saved me, the stories, the poetry that my father left behind."
-Vaddey Ratner
I haven't read this book - I only read this review this morning - but this quote pretty much encapsulates everything this blog is about. I think words and storytelling have immense power - the power to transcend, to transport. To save.
To stories, poetry and words transcending suffering.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday Mainstay: a (second) Emily Dickinson poem
There is no frigate like a book
To take us lands away,
Nor any courses like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may be the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
If it's not obvious by now, I love to read. I love how books can whisk you to "lands away," no matter what is going on.
To books taking us "lands away."
To take us lands away,
Nor any courses like a page
Of prancing poetry.
This traverse may be the poorest take
Without oppress of toll;
How frugal is the chariot
That bears a human soul!
If it's not obvious by now, I love to read. I love how books can whisk you to "lands away," no matter what is going on.
To books taking us "lands away."
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Francesca Lia Block: On Stories
“Stories are like genies...They can carry us into and though our
sorrows. Sometimes they burn, sometimes they dance, sometimes they
weep, sometimes they sing. Like genies, everyone has one. Like genies,
sometimes we forget that we do.
Our stories can set us free...When we set them free.”
- Francesca Lia Block
I completely believe this quote. I don't think this only applies to stories, though. I think this really can apply to any type of art, anything you can pour yourself into: painting, singing, dancing, drawing, etc. You always have that power to make music, make art, write a story, to create from whatever is in your head, no matter what's going on.
And setting it down, pouring it out...it can free you sometimes. Lighten your load.
To telling your story (even if you're the only one who ever reads it).
Our stories can set us free...When we set them free.”
- Francesca Lia Block
I completely believe this quote. I don't think this only applies to stories, though. I think this really can apply to any type of art, anything you can pour yourself into: painting, singing, dancing, drawing, etc. You always have that power to make music, make art, write a story, to create from whatever is in your head, no matter what's going on.
And setting it down, pouring it out...it can free you sometimes. Lighten your load.
To telling your story (even if you're the only one who ever reads it).
Friday, August 10, 2012
The Wind by Cat Stevens
I listen to the wind
To the wind of my soul
Where I'll end up well I think,
Only God really knows
...
I let my music take me where
My heart wants to go.
Cat Stevens, The Wind
I love these lyrics from this song. It's so mystical and almost otherworldly. My favorite part is the bit about letting the music take you where your heart wants to go. You might not be able to explain where your heart wants to go, even to yourself, and you might not even know, but the music takes you there anyway. This song always puts me in a contemplative mood.
To listening to the wind of your soul and letting music take you where your heart wants to go.
To the wind of my soul
Where I'll end up well I think,
Only God really knows
...
I let my music take me where
My heart wants to go.
Cat Stevens, The Wind
I love these lyrics from this song. It's so mystical and almost otherworldly. My favorite part is the bit about letting the music take you where your heart wants to go. You might not be able to explain where your heart wants to go, even to yourself, and you might not even know, but the music takes you there anyway. This song always puts me in a contemplative mood.
To listening to the wind of your soul and letting music take you where your heart wants to go.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Catcher in the Rye Review
I read this for the first time as a high school junior. I don't remember liking the book very much. All I remembered is how Holden hated phoniness, and something about a carousel, maybe.
I can't say that this is now my favorite book or anything, but I liked it more this time around. I guess the first thing is just the whole tone of the book. It's so conversational and it feels natural, not forced at all. And I relate more to Holden - he seems so lost. He's looking for something, but he doesn't know what. He only knows that the world he lives in isn't the world he really wants. He's drinking and meeting people and going out and talking, but having so much trouble connecting to them. He feels depressed so much of the time.
There's this one part where he's talking to a former teacher of his. They have maybe the most profound conversation in the book.
“But what I mean is, lots of time you don’t know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn’t interest you most. I mean you can’t help it sometimes.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
I like this quote because it seems true to me about life in general. You have to experiment and maybe do a lot of "wrong" things until you get to the right thing. Maybe the thing that's most important is that you start at all. You have no idea where you are or what you want? Fine, just start with one little thing. When was the last time you felt happy? What were you doing? Or try something you've never tried before.
One more quote. Holden's talking to his younger sister Phoebe.
I can't say that this is now my favorite book or anything, but I liked it more this time around. I guess the first thing is just the whole tone of the book. It's so conversational and it feels natural, not forced at all. And I relate more to Holden - he seems so lost. He's looking for something, but he doesn't know what. He only knows that the world he lives in isn't the world he really wants. He's drinking and meeting people and going out and talking, but having so much trouble connecting to them. He feels depressed so much of the time.
There's this one part where he's talking to a former teacher of his. They have maybe the most profound conversation in the book.
“But what I mean is, lots of time you don’t know what interests you most till you start talking about something that doesn’t interest you most. I mean you can’t help it sometimes.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
I like this quote because it seems true to me about life in general. You have to experiment and maybe do a lot of "wrong" things until you get to the right thing. Maybe the thing that's most important is that you start at all. You have no idea where you are or what you want? Fine, just start with one little thing. When was the last time you felt happy? What were you doing? Or try something you've never tried before.
One more quote. Holden's talking to his younger sister Phoebe.
“Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game
in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and
nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on
the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch
everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running
and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from
somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the
catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only
thing I'd really like to be.”
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
― J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye
It's beautiful and impossible and terribly, terribly sweet, don't you think? It sounds like Holden wants to help and maybe save (as much as you can save others, anyway) kids. In one alternate universe ending, maybe he'd be a school counselor or something. (I don't know how well he'd do with bureaucracy and all...but actually, I think maybe he'd be understanding with the kids.)
I like that Salinger never answers the question (too easy, right?), but I'm curious nevertheless. I can see him as a temp, bouncing around from position to position, drinking and smoking and reading all the time and still searching for something, whatever it is. I can also see him as a writer, like his brother D.B. Maybe not a commercial success, but he'd be doing something he believed in. Or maybe he does leave everyone and everything he knows and goes out west to work on a ranch or something. Who do you think Holden would grow up to be?
To getting to the things that interest you most.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Friends, "The One With George Stephanopoulos"
I was watching a Friends rerun the other day and there were a few quotes that resonated with me.
Rachel: Now everything is just...
Phoebe: Floopy?
Rachel: Yeah.
Monica: Well, that's not just you. I mean, half the time we don't know what we're doing. You just have to hope that it will all come together and things will be... unfloopy.
Phoebe: Yeah, like that's a word.
How many people actually know what they're doing all the time? Maybe it's not as fun, knowing what you're doing. Maybe life is just a whole lot of stumbling around and sometimes you're lucky enough to stumble into something you're supposed to be doing, and you keep walking down that path and things eventually get "unfloopy." (And maybe not.)
And then, my very favorite part. The end, when Rachel tells the Visa card people she's got "magic beans." It's heartwarming and reassuring and it stuck with me. Maybe the trick is just to fake it until you make it: you believe in something and you act accordingly and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And even if it doesn't...well, you did more than you thought you could. You did something, at least.
To embracing the floopy parts as best we can, not knowing what we're doing and hoping it'll come together, and naturally, magic beans.
Rachel: Now everything is just...
Phoebe: Floopy?
Rachel: Yeah.
Monica: Well, that's not just you. I mean, half the time we don't know what we're doing. You just have to hope that it will all come together and things will be... unfloopy.
Phoebe: Yeah, like that's a word.
How many people actually know what they're doing all the time? Maybe it's not as fun, knowing what you're doing. Maybe life is just a whole lot of stumbling around and sometimes you're lucky enough to stumble into something you're supposed to be doing, and you keep walking down that path and things eventually get "unfloopy." (And maybe not.)
Rachel: Okay, see you guys, what if we don’t get magic beans? What if all we got are beans?
Phoebe and Monica don't really have an answer. It's one of those unanswerable questions, really.
To embracing the floopy parts as best we can, not knowing what we're doing and hoping it'll come together, and naturally, magic beans.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Moonstruck (On Why We're Here)
Loretta, I love you. Not like they told you love is, and I didn't know
this either, but love don't make things nice - it ruins everything. It
breaks your heart. It makes things a mess. We aren't here to make things
perfect. The snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. Not
us! We are here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts and love the
wrong people and die.
-Ronny Cammareri to Loretta, Moonstruck
This is my absolute favorite quote from the movie. (Perfect if you need a little pick-me-up.) I love that last sentence - how we're here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts...It's almost giving you permission to do something you know you're going to regret but have to do anyway.
And I love how Ronny is romantic and anti-romantic at the same time, talking about how love isn't like "they" (whoever "they" is, anyway) told you, but how "it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess."
To ruining ourselves, (of course).
-Ronny Cammareri to Loretta, Moonstruck
This is my absolute favorite quote from the movie. (Perfect if you need a little pick-me-up.) I love that last sentence - how we're here to ruin ourselves and to break our hearts...It's almost giving you permission to do something you know you're going to regret but have to do anyway.
And I love how Ronny is romantic and anti-romantic at the same time, talking about how love isn't like "they" (whoever "they" is, anyway) told you, but how "it ruins everything. It breaks your heart. It makes things a mess."
To ruining ourselves, (of course).
Monday, August 6, 2012
Monday Mainstay: an Emily Dickinson poem
| IF I can stop one heart from breaking, | |
| I shall not live in vain; | |
| If I can ease one life the aching, | |
| Or cool one pain, | |
| Or help one fainting robin | 5 |
| Unto his nest again, | |
| I shall not live in vain. |
I've decided that Mondays need a little something to brighten them up. So this Monday, it's Emily Dickinson to the rescue. I think she's eased the aching in countless lives and cooled countless pains - maybe even stopped hearts from breaking. Her words still resonate with us today.
I must say that one of the reasons this particular poem appeals to me so much is its simplicity. She says everything outright and so clearly and elegantly, too. This poem is so utterly sincere; doesn't it kind of stop you in your tracks?
To not living in vain and to Emily Dickinson.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
P.S. Additional Thoughts on Man's Search for Meaning
Oh, and maybe Frankl's main point is this: that man is driven by the search for meaning, for purpose. I find that uplifting.
You know all those conversations about whether humans are innately good or innately bad? I go back and forth. I read about horrible things happening in the world, but then there are also people trying to do good. Dedicating their whole lives to it, in some cases. Right now, I believe that people are born with the potential for good as well as the potential for bad. Their parents, their environments, etc. shape them to a certain extent of course, but then they also choose. They make the decision to do whatever it is.
Since I graduated and started working last year, I've been thinking about meaning a lot more. I agree with Frankl, that humans are driven by the search for meaning and purpose (as well as you know, food and shelter and all that). I'm searching for my meaning, my purpose.
I definitely haven't found it yet. I don't even think I'm close. I think I'm still pretty much at the beginning of it, actually. It doesn't really matter where you are, though. You know that line about how it's not the destination, but the journey? Cliched and corny as it is, it's true. So it doesn't matter how young or old you are, how far you think you may be from where you need to go...just start. Search.
And hey, look out the window once in a while. Enjoy the scenery.
You know all those conversations about whether humans are innately good or innately bad? I go back and forth. I read about horrible things happening in the world, but then there are also people trying to do good. Dedicating their whole lives to it, in some cases. Right now, I believe that people are born with the potential for good as well as the potential for bad. Their parents, their environments, etc. shape them to a certain extent of course, but then they also choose. They make the decision to do whatever it is.
Since I graduated and started working last year, I've been thinking about meaning a lot more. I agree with Frankl, that humans are driven by the search for meaning and purpose (as well as you know, food and shelter and all that). I'm searching for my meaning, my purpose.
I definitely haven't found it yet. I don't even think I'm close. I think I'm still pretty much at the beginning of it, actually. It doesn't really matter where you are, though. You know that line about how it's not the destination, but the journey? Cliched and corny as it is, it's true. So it doesn't matter how young or old you are, how far you think you may be from where you need to go...just start. Search.
And hey, look out the window once in a while. Enjoy the scenery.
Man's Search for Meaning Review (and of course, a few quotes)
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I read this book a few months ago, mostly during breaks at work. There I was, not exactly thrilled about being at work, and then I would travel back in time (15 minutes at a time) to the 1940's, to Auschwitz. To being a prisoner at Auschwitz.
I was stunned by this book. Frankl managed to make life in a concentration camp meaningful. How many people have so much, and yet live their lives dissatisfied? I told myself that if Frankl could make his concentration camp experiences meaningful, surely I could endure work in higher spirits.
I was struck by that quote, how a person always has the freedom "to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." There is so much we don't know, so much we can't control in life. But we can control our attitude, how we react. It might not sound like very much. But it can be everything.
Frankl made it through the concentration camp partially because he knew he had a book manuscript to finish. He had a higher purpose. He had to make it through the concentration camp so he could fulfill his destiny. And you know what? He did.
"If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete."
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I'm an agnostic. I'm not sure exactly what I believe. But I'm inspired by this quote. It's logical, too, isn't it? I don't know what the meaning of suffering is, but to believe that there is a meaning to it can help.
"human life, under any circumstances, never ceases to have a meaning, and that this infinite meaning of life includes suffering and dying, privation and death."
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Even if you don't feel like your life has meaning (I think everyone feels this way at least a few times), it does. I can't explain it to you. Maybe no one can. It's yours to make, yours to discover. It's a great, great privilege (as well as a challenge and a responsibility), don't you think?
To choosing your own attitude, your own way, especially in the times it seems like you can't.
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I read this book a few months ago, mostly during breaks at work. There I was, not exactly thrilled about being at work, and then I would travel back in time (15 minutes at a time) to the 1940's, to Auschwitz. To being a prisoner at Auschwitz.
I was stunned by this book. Frankl managed to make life in a concentration camp meaningful. How many people have so much, and yet live their lives dissatisfied? I told myself that if Frankl could make his concentration camp experiences meaningful, surely I could endure work in higher spirits.
I was struck by that quote, how a person always has the freedom "to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." There is so much we don't know, so much we can't control in life. But we can control our attitude, how we react. It might not sound like very much. But it can be everything.
Frankl made it through the concentration camp partially because he knew he had a book manuscript to finish. He had a higher purpose. He had to make it through the concentration camp so he could fulfill his destiny. And you know what? He did.
"If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete."
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
I'm an agnostic. I'm not sure exactly what I believe. But I'm inspired by this quote. It's logical, too, isn't it? I don't know what the meaning of suffering is, but to believe that there is a meaning to it can help.
"human life, under any circumstances, never ceases to have a meaning, and that this infinite meaning of life includes suffering and dying, privation and death."
-Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning
Even if you don't feel like your life has meaning (I think everyone feels this way at least a few times), it does. I can't explain it to you. Maybe no one can. It's yours to make, yours to discover. It's a great, great privilege (as well as a challenge and a responsibility), don't you think?
To choosing your own attitude, your own way, especially in the times it seems like you can't.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Creativity (on Disney lacking imagination, the paradox of creativity, and art)
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/creative-thinkering/201112/twelve-things-you-were-not-taught-in-school-about-creative-thinking
"Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them."
-Michael Michalko
I have mixed feelings about that very first sentence in the quote. I love it but it also frustrates me beyond belief...it's like asking someone a question (i.e., What should I do with my life?) and having them give the best and worst, most helpful and most useless answer ever: What do you want/think?
(I have to admit, I myself am guilty of giving that answer!)
I think it's necessary, though, this paradox. You have to let go of everything you think you know, and then sometimes, some knowledge - maybe something you had within you this whole time, maybe something outside finally makes an impact - enters and you create something new.
"Albert Einstein was expelled from school because his attitude had a negative effect on serious students; he failed his university entrance exam and had to attend a trade school for one year before finally being admitted; and was the only one in his graduating class who did not get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professor said Einstein was "the laziest dog" the university ever had. Beethoven's parents were told he was too stupid to be a music composer. Charles Darwin's colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing "fool's experiments" when he worked on his theory of biological evolution. Walt Disney was fired from his first job on a newspaper because "he lacked imagination." Thomas Edison had only two years of formal schooling, was totally deaf in one ear and was hard of hearing in the other, was fired from his first job as a newsboy and later fired from his job as a telegrapher; and still he became the most famous inventor in the history of the U.S."
- Michael Michalko
Who else finds this paragraph inspiring? Walt Disney lacking imagination? Einstein being expelled? Charles Darwin, the fool? Quick, someone tell me I lack imagination and call me a fool!
"If you want to become an artist and all you did was paint a picture every day, you will become an artist. You may not become another Vincent Van Gogh, but you will become more of an artist than someone who has never tried."
- Michael Michalko
So true, right? So whatever it is that you want to do, do it a little bit every day. You never know what could happen. Not all artists are Van Goghs, not all writers are Shakespeare...so the hell what? They're still artists and writers, aren't they?
You have to be willing to be bad, and actually produce "bad" work, in order to get better.
To lacking imaginations, being fools, and being "bad."
"Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them."
-Michael Michalko
I have mixed feelings about that very first sentence in the quote. I love it but it also frustrates me beyond belief...it's like asking someone a question (i.e., What should I do with my life?) and having them give the best and worst, most helpful and most useless answer ever: What do you want/think?
(I have to admit, I myself am guilty of giving that answer!)
I think it's necessary, though, this paradox. You have to let go of everything you think you know, and then sometimes, some knowledge - maybe something you had within you this whole time, maybe something outside finally makes an impact - enters and you create something new.
"Albert Einstein was expelled from school because his attitude had a negative effect on serious students; he failed his university entrance exam and had to attend a trade school for one year before finally being admitted; and was the only one in his graduating class who did not get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professor said Einstein was "the laziest dog" the university ever had. Beethoven's parents were told he was too stupid to be a music composer. Charles Darwin's colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing "fool's experiments" when he worked on his theory of biological evolution. Walt Disney was fired from his first job on a newspaper because "he lacked imagination." Thomas Edison had only two years of formal schooling, was totally deaf in one ear and was hard of hearing in the other, was fired from his first job as a newsboy and later fired from his job as a telegrapher; and still he became the most famous inventor in the history of the U.S."
- Michael Michalko
Who else finds this paragraph inspiring? Walt Disney lacking imagination? Einstein being expelled? Charles Darwin, the fool? Quick, someone tell me I lack imagination and call me a fool!
"If you want to become an artist and all you did was paint a picture every day, you will become an artist. You may not become another Vincent Van Gogh, but you will become more of an artist than someone who has never tried."
- Michael Michalko
So true, right? So whatever it is that you want to do, do it a little bit every day. You never know what could happen. Not all artists are Van Goghs, not all writers are Shakespeare...so the hell what? They're still artists and writers, aren't they?
You have to be willing to be bad, and actually produce "bad" work, in order to get better.
To lacking imaginations, being fools, and being "bad."
Having It All vs. Having Enough
Full text of the article: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/07/what-my-sons-disabilities-taught-me-about-having-it-all/260479/
We are chasing the wrong things, asking ourselves the wrong questions. It is not, "Can we have it all?" -- with "all" being some kind of undefined marker that shall forever be moved upwards out of reach just a little bit with each new blessing. We should ask instead, "Do we have enough?"
-Marie Myung-Ok Lee
I think that's incredibly wise. The more I think about and read this quote, the more I agree. Why do we keep asking if we can have it all? What is with this obsession with having everything? Why do we want it all?
I like dresses. At last count a few months ago, I had forty-some dresses hanging in my closet. Do I need that many dresses? No. Absolutely not. But I like having them. And I continually find myself drawn to dresses when I go shopping. There's always the thought of another dress. I will never own every single dress. It's ridiculous to think about that...but do I have enough? Yes. Much more than enough. (No, that's probably not going to stop me from buying more dresses, but hopefully thinking of this quote will give me some extra perspective.) And okay, this was probably not the best example, but hey, it applies to my life, certainly.
Think about your life. Think about everything you have. No, you don't have everything. Someone has newer, improved, more expensive...well, just about everything - clothes, technology, a house. But think about everything you do have. Is it enough?
Do I have enough? Resoundingly: yes. And I ask you to take a moment: I suspect you might, too.
-Marie Myung-Ok Lee
To having enough instead of desperately pursuing "having it all" (whatever that means, anyway).
We are chasing the wrong things, asking ourselves the wrong questions. It is not, "Can we have it all?" -- with "all" being some kind of undefined marker that shall forever be moved upwards out of reach just a little bit with each new blessing. We should ask instead, "Do we have enough?"
-Marie Myung-Ok Lee
I think that's incredibly wise. The more I think about and read this quote, the more I agree. Why do we keep asking if we can have it all? What is with this obsession with having everything? Why do we want it all?
I like dresses. At last count a few months ago, I had forty-some dresses hanging in my closet. Do I need that many dresses? No. Absolutely not. But I like having them. And I continually find myself drawn to dresses when I go shopping. There's always the thought of another dress. I will never own every single dress. It's ridiculous to think about that...but do I have enough? Yes. Much more than enough. (No, that's probably not going to stop me from buying more dresses, but hopefully thinking of this quote will give me some extra perspective.) And okay, this was probably not the best example, but hey, it applies to my life, certainly.
Think about your life. Think about everything you have. No, you don't have everything. Someone has newer, improved, more expensive...well, just about everything - clothes, technology, a house. But think about everything you do have. Is it enough?
Do I have enough? Resoundingly: yes. And I ask you to take a moment: I suspect you might, too.
-Marie Myung-Ok Lee
To having enough instead of desperately pursuing "having it all" (whatever that means, anyway).
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Come alive
“Don't ask what the world needs. Rather ask--what makes you come alive?
Then go and do it! Because what the world needs is people who have come
alive.”
― Howard Thurman
I've always loved this quote. It really struck me the first time I saw it. I had one of those moments where I just sat and re-read it a few times and thought. I mean, how many people do you know who seem alive every single day?
I don't have a five-year plan or know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I know I want to do what makes me come alive. I want to be alive, every single moment, every single day. Even if you can't do what makes you come alive every single moment, do it as much as you can. Come alive.
― Howard Thurman
I've always loved this quote. It really struck me the first time I saw it. I had one of those moments where I just sat and re-read it a few times and thought. I mean, how many people do you know who seem alive every single day?
I don't have a five-year plan or know exactly what I want to do with my life, but I know I want to do what makes me come alive. I want to be alive, every single moment, every single day. Even if you can't do what makes you come alive every single moment, do it as much as you can. Come alive.
Neil Gaiman 2012 Commencement Speech
For full text of Neil Gaiman's speech: http://www.uarts.edu/neil-gaiman-keynote-address.
"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art.
And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones."
-Neil Gaiman
“In a time of destruction, create something.”
― Maxine Hong Kingston
I think these two quotes go together pretty well. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do for a living, I think creating something - writing or taking pictures or singing or playing an instrument or whatever you do - helps in not-so-great situations. Maybe not right away, but eventually.
And there's kind of a balance to it, too, don't you think? When there is destruction, if you create, at least you have added some little bit of energy, of newness in the world. Even if it's just a silly poem you wrote, nonsensical and laughable...well, you did something, didn't you? You created something. And that's not nothing. Maybe it's not on the same scale as the destruction, whatever it was, and it doesn't even out, but still. It's something. You're adding to art, to creation.
"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique. You have the ability to make art.
And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and it gets you through the other ones."
-Neil Gaiman
“In a time of destruction, create something.”
― Maxine Hong Kingston
I think these two quotes go together pretty well. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do for a living, I think creating something - writing or taking pictures or singing or playing an instrument or whatever you do - helps in not-so-great situations. Maybe not right away, but eventually.
And there's kind of a balance to it, too, don't you think? When there is destruction, if you create, at least you have added some little bit of energy, of newness in the world. Even if it's just a silly poem you wrote, nonsensical and laughable...well, you did something, didn't you? You created something. And that's not nothing. Maybe it's not on the same scale as the destruction, whatever it was, and it doesn't even out, but still. It's something. You're adding to art, to creation.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Faith and Poetry (Natasha Trethewey)
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/08/154566358/natasha-trethewey-poetrys-always-a-kind-of-faith
Faith. What comes to mind - God/Buddha/Jehovah/etc. and religion? Family? Country?
Poetry. High school English class. Memorization. Shakespeare and incomprehensible words. Blah blah blah. Why should I care? Why does this matter?
I used to not like poetry. I hated analyzing it. I didn't get it. And then I don't know, I started reading it more. First, it was because I had to. Now, it's because I want to. (Funny how that can happen, isn't it?)
I love what Trethewey (new U.S. poet laureate) says about poetry.
"I think poetry's always a kind of faith. It is the kind that I have," Trethewey says. "It is what can offer solace and meaning but also ... allows me to understand these events."
If someone asked me to explain why poetry is relevant today, I think that quote is a fine answer. (Of course, not everyone finds faith in poetry. Sometimes it takes some ice cream or talking to a friend or crying it out or whatever. But I've always been able to find comfort in words.)
There is so much going on in the world today. If you skim newspaper headlines, sometimes it seems like there are only negative things: war, destruction, fires, death. Greed and corruption and people hurting other people. And yet there are still poets. Still artists and dreamers and people trying to live their lives the best way they can.
So here's to faith, and poetry. If you think you don't like poetry, please try reading different types of poetry. I bet you'll find at least a few poems you relate to and love.
Faith. What comes to mind - God/Buddha/Jehovah/etc. and religion? Family? Country?
Poetry. High school English class. Memorization. Shakespeare and incomprehensible words. Blah blah blah. Why should I care? Why does this matter?
I used to not like poetry. I hated analyzing it. I didn't get it. And then I don't know, I started reading it more. First, it was because I had to. Now, it's because I want to. (Funny how that can happen, isn't it?)
I love what Trethewey (new U.S. poet laureate) says about poetry.
"I think poetry's always a kind of faith. It is the kind that I have," Trethewey says. "It is what can offer solace and meaning but also ... allows me to understand these events."
If someone asked me to explain why poetry is relevant today, I think that quote is a fine answer. (Of course, not everyone finds faith in poetry. Sometimes it takes some ice cream or talking to a friend or crying it out or whatever. But I've always been able to find comfort in words.)
There is so much going on in the world today. If you skim newspaper headlines, sometimes it seems like there are only negative things: war, destruction, fires, death. Greed and corruption and people hurting other people. And yet there are still poets. Still artists and dreamers and people trying to live their lives the best way they can.
So here's to faith, and poetry. If you think you don't like poetry, please try reading different types of poetry. I bet you'll find at least a few poems you relate to and love.
Monday, July 30, 2012
David McCullough, Jr.'s 2012 Commencement Speech
(Full text of the speech: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/commencement-speaker-blasts-students/2012/06/08/gJQATvF1MV_blog.html)
I've always liked reading commencement speeches. There's something sweet in just the very fact of a commencement speech, don't you think? One generation passing on advice and wisdom to the next. Listening to them (at least the ones I've heard in person - I don't remember anything from a single one I've heard), not so much. So I've been reading some lately, and thought I'd post a few quotes I especially liked.
David McCullough, Jr.'s speech made me laugh. I found it funny and witty and true.
If you’ve learned anything in your years here I hope it’s that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You’ve learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an fyi) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters.
I love how he mentions wisdom and ice cream in the same breath, pretty much. (Makes me want to go eat some ice cream and read Sophocles.) Plus, I agree whole-heartedly with what he says about what education is for. Honestly, a lot of the things I learned in school I have no idea if/when I'm ever going to need them...but I'm glad I know them. Well, some of them, at least.
And the thing about school and learning is that you keep learning after you're done with school. It's better in some ways, since you can decide to a much larger extent what you want to learn.
I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance.
I need to work on this one.
And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it.
Yes, yes, yes.
Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.
Because everyone is.
Along with meaning, I've also been thinking about fulfillment lately. I'd like to figure out how to live a fulfilled life (along with everyone else). And of course it's paradoxical (at least according to McCullough, Jr.): "happens when you're thinking about more important things." It would be, wouldn't it?
I don't think there's any one recipe for living a fulfilled life. But I do think selflessness is (probably) a part of it.
So here's to finding (or at least embarking on a grand quest for) fulfillment and being selfless.
I've always liked reading commencement speeches. There's something sweet in just the very fact of a commencement speech, don't you think? One generation passing on advice and wisdom to the next. Listening to them (at least the ones I've heard in person - I don't remember anything from a single one I've heard), not so much. So I've been reading some lately, and thought I'd post a few quotes I especially liked.
David McCullough, Jr.'s speech made me laugh. I found it funny and witty and true.
If you’ve learned anything in your years here I hope it’s that education should be for, rather than material advantage, the exhilaration of learning. You’ve learned, too, I hope, as Sophocles assured us, that wisdom is the chief element of happiness. (Second is ice cream… just an fyi) I also hope you’ve learned enough to recognize how little you know… how little you know now… at the moment… for today is just the beginning. It’s where you go from here that matters.
I love how he mentions wisdom and ice cream in the same breath, pretty much. (Makes me want to go eat some ice cream and read Sophocles.) Plus, I agree whole-heartedly with what he says about what education is for. Honestly, a lot of the things I learned in school I have no idea if/when I'm ever going to need them...but I'm glad I know them. Well, some of them, at least.
And the thing about school and learning is that you keep learning after you're done with school. It's better in some ways, since you can decide to a much larger extent what you want to learn.
I urge you to do whatever you do for no reason other than you love it and believe in its importance.
I need to work on this one.
And read… read all the time… read as a matter of principle, as a matter of self-respect. Read as a nourishing staple of life. Develop and protect a moral sensibility and demonstrate the character to apply it.
Yes, yes, yes.
Like accolades ought to be, the fulfilled life is a consequence, a gratifying byproduct. It’s what happens when you’re thinking about more important things. Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. Go to Paris to be in Paris, not to cross it off your list and congratulate yourself for being worldly. Exercise free will and creative, independent thought not for the satisfactions they will bring you, but for the good they will do others, the rest of the 6.8 billion–and those who will follow them. And then you too will discover the great and curious truth of the human experience is that selflessness is the best thing you can do for yourself. The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you’re not special.
Because everyone is.
Along with meaning, I've also been thinking about fulfillment lately. I'd like to figure out how to live a fulfilled life (along with everyone else). And of course it's paradoxical (at least according to McCullough, Jr.): "happens when you're thinking about more important things." It would be, wouldn't it?
I don't think there's any one recipe for living a fulfilled life. But I do think selflessness is (probably) a part of it.
So here's to finding (or at least embarking on a grand quest for) fulfillment and being selfless.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Meaning & "a moment without meaning"
http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/06/19/155344057/stars-planets-and-the-meaningless-life
Astronomy is not really something I've taken a great interest in. But something in this article resonated with me.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about meaning. The meaning of life - well, the meaning of my life, in particular. And this article was just plain reassuring.
My favorite quotes from the article: "In a small patch of sky, in a small wedge of space, there are worlds out there right now. There are, most likely many thousands of them. These are places just like here, places where you can stand and look around. These are places with landscapes."
"Thus, for me, anytime I can be lifted from the crushing sense that this is all there is, it's a good thing. Anytime I can be reminded that there is more, so much more, than this mortal coil, it feels like a good thing.
One doesn't have to search the Kepler archive to find that feeling. It can arrive in the form of art, poetry, your kids laughter or just looking up and out. I hope you get a moment to do that today.
May you have a moment without meaning."
Sometimes you need a moment to step back from everything in your life and realize that in the grand scheme of things, whatever you're worried about isn't as big a deal as you're making it. I mean, I am one person out of almost seven billion in the world out of possibly thousands of worlds. It always comes as somewhat of a shock, realizing my own insignificance. (Not in a bad way...sometimes it's reassuring.)
Would it be strange to say that I guess there is more to life than life?
Astronomy is not really something I've taken a great interest in. But something in this article resonated with me.
Lately, I've been thinking a lot about meaning. The meaning of life - well, the meaning of my life, in particular. And this article was just plain reassuring.
My favorite quotes from the article: "In a small patch of sky, in a small wedge of space, there are worlds out there right now. There are, most likely many thousands of them. These are places just like here, places where you can stand and look around. These are places with landscapes."
"Thus, for me, anytime I can be lifted from the crushing sense that this is all there is, it's a good thing. Anytime I can be reminded that there is more, so much more, than this mortal coil, it feels like a good thing.
One doesn't have to search the Kepler archive to find that feeling. It can arrive in the form of art, poetry, your kids laughter or just looking up and out. I hope you get a moment to do that today.
May you have a moment without meaning."
Sometimes you need a moment to step back from everything in your life and realize that in the grand scheme of things, whatever you're worried about isn't as big a deal as you're making it. I mean, I am one person out of almost seven billion in the world out of possibly thousands of worlds. It always comes as somewhat of a shock, realizing my own insignificance. (Not in a bad way...sometimes it's reassuring.)
Would it be strange to say that I guess there is more to life than life?
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares Review
Sisterhood Everlasting (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants #5) by Ann Brashares
This book made me incredibly nostalgic. I remembered being in middle school and high school reading this series, and seeing the movies with friends. (And of course, crying.)
I didn't re-read the other books before reading this one and it's been a few years, but I did remember the characters. I will say there's a completely unexpected twist in the book, but I don't want to give it away. I have mixed feelings overall. I did love this book, but part of me almost wishes Ann Brashares hadn't written it. I felt like she left the characters in a pretty good place in the fourth book. It's always kind of difficult to see fictional characters you're fond of grown up. (Like I could really have done without the epilogue in the last Harry Potter.)
Saturday, June 16, 2012
To Beginnings
There's an Aristophanes quote I love: By words the mind is winged.
I read news articles a lot. Pretty much on a daily basis. It's easy to get sucked into thinking that the sky is falling. It can get depressing.
Plus, sometimes things just aren't going the way you want them to. Sometimes, life isn't really going the way you want it to. But there's one thing I know - that words can inspire you, comfort you (hokey as that undoubtedly sounds).
You know that feeling you get when you read something that speaks to you? It's like it was written just for you. You read it aloud to yourself, again and again. Maybe try to memorize it. Write it down. This is an effort to compile quotes, articles, poems, etc. to wing the mind.
First up: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/14/152442084/alzheimers-patients-turn-to-stories-instead-of-memories.
"It turns out that for people with dementia, storytelling can be therapeutic."
I think storytelling can be therapeutic for everyone.
Here's to storytelling and words. And to beginnings.
I read news articles a lot. Pretty much on a daily basis. It's easy to get sucked into thinking that the sky is falling. It can get depressing.
Plus, sometimes things just aren't going the way you want them to. Sometimes, life isn't really going the way you want it to. But there's one thing I know - that words can inspire you, comfort you (hokey as that undoubtedly sounds).
You know that feeling you get when you read something that speaks to you? It's like it was written just for you. You read it aloud to yourself, again and again. Maybe try to memorize it. Write it down. This is an effort to compile quotes, articles, poems, etc. to wing the mind.
First up: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/14/152442084/alzheimers-patients-turn-to-stories-instead-of-memories.
"It turns out that for people with dementia, storytelling can be therapeutic."
I think storytelling can be therapeutic for everyone.
Here's to storytelling and words. And to beginnings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)