Dear Friends,
Tis the season...final grades are due. I had no time to formulate my thoughts this week, but I did listen, read and collect them from everyone around me. Below you will find some of the beauty, wisdom and encouragement I gathered in between reading research papers.
Beauty from Books
“Ask her what she craved and she’d get a little frantic about things like books, the woods, music. Plants and the seasons. Also freedom.” -Charles Frazier
“In this atmosphere of heat and truth, preambles fell away and you ended up just saying the thing.” -Jennifer Egan, Manhattan Beach
Things I Heard That STUCK
“Writing is more discovery than work.” -Beth Ann Fennelly
“You have come so far.” -my therapist
Inspiration
“Because it is only by empathy being aroused that we change. That is the power of writing.” -Alice Walker
“You have a paintbrush which can be used to transfer your insides onto the canvas of your life - where others can see it and be inspired and comforted by it.” -Glennon Melton
“Writing itself was a magical act in which imagination altered reality and gave form to power.”
-Alice Hoffman, The Rules of Magic
Thoughts on Health
“It blows my mind that people will do anything they can to get better once they’re sick, but when they’re well, they don’t do everything they can to stay well.” -Marco Borges
“Health is not just about what you’re eating. It’s also about what you’re thinking and saying.”
-repost from projecthappiness.org.
Favorite Texts of the Week (or Times My Friends Saved Me)
“I needed a buff, book loving, authentic, vulnerable, tough, kind, wild haired dirty hippie in my life.” -a friend who totally gets me
“You are definitely a paintbrush full of bold, bright, beautiful colors.” -my BFF
Favorite Line from Grading
“In conclusion: you’re a great professor and your arms are ripped dude.” - one of my students (I will forgive him the missing comma)
Extremely Important Life Lesson (High Priority!!)
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou
In closing…
I am excited for the gift of time over the upcoming break. I have some new projects and ideas I can’t wait to share.
Have a great week!
Look for the magic.
Find beauty in the ordinary.
Fall in love with as many things as possible.
-me