Monday, September 27, 2010

When I had nothing original to say...

...and it had a refreshing effect. Just because I have not written doesn't mean I would miss a single meeting of the minds at writers group. On one such occasion, I brought some quotes to read which were passed on to me by Etsy's new blog editor, Juliet Gorman. I believe these are words that have the power to inspire and revive you as they have done for me and my friends. When you start to feel a little overwhelmed, read them again. Here you go:
"I understand [hope] above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world… Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed… Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."
- Vaclav Havel



"There is a sense in which every time you choose to do something new you are going to be reborn. And if you do this well, each time up, every time you do a new story, and even if it's just going down to do the parade, or talk to the mayor, or whatever... each time up, small or large, is a little challenge. And it asks you to look and listen very, very closely, and find the thing that you pick out, that you notice, that bounces out of the situation and hits your heart or your head or makes you angry or makes you sad or makes you suspicious, and everything then becomes very personal. And if you do this well, even if you are working in an organization which doesn't want you to be personal, and wants you sounds like "the others," the secret thing you do is you sound "sort of" like the others, but you put in a little bit of your heart somewhere in there. Just a little. And if it's there, it's like a marker. It's the IOU to your soul. And sometimes they let you sing loudly, and sometimes you have to sing soft. But you keep singing, you never, ever stop."
- Robert Krulwich



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2 comments:

Lauren Bauer Photography said...

I have been feeling extremely overwhelmed, as life has been non-stop chaos and problems these past several weeks. They say, "when it rains, it pours" and I do not ever remember it pouring as much as it is now. Thank you for this post Cherie, it really helped me to stop and reflect and get in a right state-of-mind.

StudioCherie said...

Lauren, I know that in all you do, your parenting, your life with your husband, your Etsy shops, you are doing it with hope and integrity. I see the marker of love on all you do. I am glad to be one of the encouragers on your journey. You are a wonderful example to me of grace and courage.