A place where you can be human.
🙏🏽Small Talk: Do you have any fun weekend plans?
☝🏽Gentle thought: You’re human. You’re powerful beyond measure but also you’re not a machine. Rest.
📝 In case you missed yesterday’s post, here’s a quote I shared.
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” -Leo Tolstoy
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“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” -Leo Tolstoy
There’s two things I learned from writing this novel: patience and keeping my work in a sacred space while it’s still in development. The patience was hard for me because I often think that it consumed a lot of my time. Truth be told, if I hadn’t started a nonprofit and also worked with veterans during that process, I think I would have felt more upset about the time it took.
But I have to say there were so many little things I had to learn. It makes me laugh to think of all the tidbits of wisdom I gained.
🙏🏽Small Talk: It’s Monday! How do you feel about Mondays?
☝🏽Gentle thought: Rest creates more productive workers. So does self care. Have you been taking care of yourself?
📝 In case you missed yesterday’s post, here’s a quote I shared.
“The most important thing is not to let yourself get impatient. You have to figure it’s going to be a long process and that you’ll work on things slowly, one at a time.” — Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)
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“The most important thing is not to let yourself get impatient. You have to figure it’s going to be a long process and that you’ll work on things slowly, one at a time.” — Haruki Murakami (Norwegian Wood)
One thing at a time.
The world really tries to make you into a machine. Pump out work. Lose weight fast. Change bad habits in just 30 days.
Why can’t we take our time?
Why can’t we sit in the process and feel our way through? It’s one thing to put it off because you’re scared. It’s another thing to take time learning the environment. Learning what feels right and taking time to speak up when things feel wrong.
Give yourself permission to stop and smell the roses. Give yourself permission to take it slow. Florence Given just shared a podcast the other day titled The Art of Lingering. At one point, she says just practice taking a seat on a park bench somewhere and just sitting. That’s what I want in my life. I want to linger around in my work and my parenting. I want to watch bees build nests and listen to the water rush by.
I’m beginning to think I was created for the writer’s life.
Tonight I wanted to share one of my most favorite Rachell Platten songs.
When I first heard this song, it was everything I needed in the moment. Not only did it lift me out of my dark place, we even “just so happened” to get tickets to go see her in concert. My daughter and I loved that experience. It was my firstborn’s first concert. And it doesn’t end there. While we were there, someone handed us floor seat tickets! So we love Rachel Platten in our household. I am so very grateful that she used her platform to be positive and uplifting.
Stand by You-Rachell Platten
Even if we can’t find heaven, heaven, heaven, heaven
Hands put your empty hands in mine
And scars show me all the scars you hide
And hey, if your wings are broken
Please take mine ’til yours can open too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Oh, tears make kaleidoscopes in your eyes
And hurt, I know you’re hurting but so am I
And love, if your wings are broken
Borrow mine so yours can open too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we’re breaking down
We can find a way to break through
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Yeah, you’re all I never knew I needed
And the heart, sometimes it’s unclear why it’s beating
And love, if your wings are broken
We can brave through those emotions too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
And oh, truth I guess truth is what you believe in
And faith, I think faith is having a reason
And I know, know love, if your wings are broken
Borrow mine so yours can open too
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we’re breaking down
We can find a way to break through
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
I’ll be your eyes ’til yours can shine
And I’ll be your arms I’ll be your steady satellite
And when you can’t rise
Well, I’ll crawl with you on hands and knees ’cause I
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we’re breaking down (Hey)
We can find a way to break through (Come on)
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love, you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven (Hey)
I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven
I’ll walk through hell with you
Love you’re not alone
‘Cause I’m gonna stand by you
Love you’re not alone
Oh, I’m gonna stand by you
Even if we can’t find heaven, heaven, heaven, heaven
I’m gonna stand by you
“Putting my hand in someone else’s has always been my definition of happiness. Before I fall asleep, often – in that small struggle not to lose consciousness and go into the greater world – often, before I get up the courage to go into the vastness of sleep, I pretend that someone has my hand in theirs, and then I go, go to that enormous absence of form that is sleep.” -Clarice Lispector
I have never in my life related so much to a woman writer. Well, I’ve only read Agua Viva so far, but have you seen this woman? She’s stunning. When I read her work, I am transported to a place where I’m finally understood as a woman. And this quote I shared, my God, she’s a gift to life. The way she romances the tidbits of being alive is heaven. The way she speaks from the mouths of our ancestors feels like home. Here are a couple of lines.
“I know what I am doing here
I’m improvising.”
“What I say is never what I say.
Read the energy of my silence.”
“I’m obscure to myself.”
It’s interesting because she says “read the energy of my silence” and then writes books that hold the weight of every woman’s silence. As in, she speaks of things most women don’t share or don’t have the capacity to share, especially in today’s world. The cost is high to spend time examining yourself. We are all busy trying to make ends meet, pay off debts, and do what we do to make a buck. Which leads to another line of hers that says, “I’m obscure to myself.” And aren’t we all a mystery to ourselves these days? No? Maybe it’s just me. She makes me want to write the rest of my days away.
What book(s) are you loving lately?
Featured Image from New York Times.
“A writer is a world trapped in a person.” -Victor Hugo
You gotta set it free! There’s a story inside you and it’s going to find its way out. Sometimes it comes out in other ways like nightmares or fears. The best way to take hold of the story inside of you is to lasso it word by word and throw it down on paper every night. There’s no good reason to keep it crammed inside you, causing all sorts of disarray. Well, the truth is that I can’t promise one gathered story will bring order into your life, but there’s a huge possibility that it will give you the space to be human. Full on 100% homegrown human.
Can you tell me an old story idea you may have had as a child?
I had this one story about a girl running as fast as she could through the woods and she finally came upon a huge castle. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to write that story. But to this day, I can’t believe how real it felt.
“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.” – Steve Jobs
I’ve been inspired by innovation quotes lately. Maybe it’s because I’m working on my next novel. It does get me excited to combine the old with the new to make even newer things. The fun part is that it doesn’t always have to be the new with the old; it can be whatever I want. I’m taking this quote as a little piece of inspiration today. It gives me permission to explore my writing in new ways.
How’s your writing coming along?
“Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible.” — M. C. Escher
This quote tickles my inner child in a good way. What does it mean to attempt the absurd? To attempt something that doesn’t yet make sense. That’s where innovation begins. It reminds me of the Bible story about Noah. He was building a huge boat, and everyone was calling him crazy. Well, it turns out he was right on time. When the ark was finished, God closed the doors. Noah and his family survived along with all the animals. You see, they were called crazy for the entire building process, but in the end, he wasn’t so crazy after all.
Don’t let outside factors keep you from inside work. Do the thing even if it doesn’t make sense right away.
🙏🏽Small Talk: Tonight, I decided to make myself a dark chocolate mug cake. Wow was it rich. I could only take about 5 bites but it made me sit down and close my eyes for a moment. A
☝🏽Gentle thought: The best way to combat fear in writing is to face it head on. And then use it to push you forward.
📝 In case you missed yesterday’s post, here’s a quote I shared.
“Art at its most significant is a distant early warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen.” —Marshall McLuhan
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