The Quotidian Kit: Winterize

QUOTIDIAN

" 'Oh, it's all so delicious! [Olga] said. 'I never knew before how terribly interesting little things were.' "
~E. F. Benson, British novelist (1867 - 1940)
from Queen Lucia, 237

"Look closely.
The beautiful may be small."
~Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (1724 - 1804)

"Let us not take it for granted
that life exists more fully
in what is commonly thought big
than in what is commonly thought small."
~Virginia Woolf, British novelist (1882 - 1941)

"The big ideas huddle
in the jar together.
You spread them over
the black bread of day after day
and swallow them."
~Quinton Duval, American Poet (1948 - 2010)

Why Write?

"In fact, I didn't expect that
anybody would be interested
in my kind of writing.
I was interested, and
this was for me enough.
~ I. B. Singer

"Possibly the book may not sell,
but that is nothing --
it was written for love."
~Mark Twain

"I am just going to write
because I cannot help it."
~Charlotte Bronte

"It is not often that
someone comes along
who is a true friend
and a good writer.
Charlotte was both."

from Charlotte's Web
~ E. B. White

"A writer -- and, I believe,
generally all persons --
must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art."
~Jorge Luis Borges
Argentine writer (1899-1986)

THE PRICE OF EXPERIENCE

You have learned something.
That always feels at first
as if you have lost something."
by George Bernard Shaw

In much wisdom is much grief:
and those who increase knowledge
increase sorrow.
from Ecclesiastes 1: 18

What is the price of experience?
Do you buy if for a song --
Or wisdom for a dance
in the street?
No. It is bought with the price
of all that you have:
your heart,
your home,
your children.
by William Blake

The naive ecstasies of her girlhood had long
since departed -- the price paid for experience
and self-possession and a true vision of things.
by Arnold Bennett
from The Old Wives' Tale

I want them to know that I cannot ever feel
about the world the way I might have felt
had they never come near me.
by Mary Gordon
from the story "Violation"
in Temporary Shelter

From StoryPeople:
Really wanting to work up to 3 dimensions,
but not sure it'll be as fun as everyone says.
It's hard to trust anyone who's already doing it, he said.
They never remember what they lost to get there.
by Brian Andreas

A Course in Miracles

Can't say that I'm entirely sure what all of these mean, but since this title -- A Course in Miracles -- has appeared several times in my recent reading, I decided to take a look. Here are a few thoughts gleaned from the Preface and Chapter 1.

"Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God."

"Knowledge is truth. . . .
Truth is unalterable, eternal,
and unambiguous."

Perception is illusion . . .
interpretive, selective,
unstable and inaccurate.

We mistakenly believe in loss,
separation, death, scarcity.

"Sin is defined as lack of love."

"Love is incapable of
asking for anything."

"The scarcity principle governs
the whole world of illusion."

"The body appears to be largely
self-motivated and independent,
yet it actually responds only
to the intentions of the mind."

"Forgiveness . . . reflects the
law of Heaven that giving and
receiving are the same."

"Forgiveness is the means by
which we will remember" [our
forgotten reality of oneness
with Heaven].

"Miracles are natural.
When they do not occur
something has gone wrong."

"Miracles . . . supply a lack;
they are performed by those who
temporarily have more for those
who temporarily have less."

"Each day should be devoted to
miracles. The purpose of time
is to enable you to learn how
to use time constructively.
It is thus a teaching device
and a means to an end. Time
will cease when it is no longer
useful in facilitating learning."

"Miracles . . . reflect the laws
of eternity, not of time."

"The miracle is the only device
at your immediate disposal
for controlling time."

BUILT-IN SHIT DETECTOR

"Martha was a touchstone. She had an unfailing shit detector. She did not pick up every truth, but she picked up every lie. . . . One could trust Martha to challenge one's lies and yet not to deny one's reality. That made Martha very rare. . . . Martha laughed the braying laugh she used whenever her shit detector was working."

from The Woman's Room
by Marilyn French

"You can fool too many of the people too much of the time."

from "The Owl Who Was God"
by James Thurber

"There is no lie that contains no part of truth."

from "The Summer Belvedere"
by Tennessee Williams

"It makes me boil, it really does!"

from A Christmas Memory
by Truman Capote

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it."

--Mark Twain

Gems from "Experience"

"So much of our time is preparation, so much is routine, and so much retrospect . . . It takes a good deal of time to eat or to sleep, or to earn a hundred dollars, and a very little time to entertain a hope and an insight which becomes the light of our life."

"The years teach much
which the days never know."

"From the mountain
you see the mountain."

"To fill the hour, --
that is happiness."

"To live the greatest number
of good hours, is wisdom."

"Five minutes of today are worth
as much to me, as five minutes
in the next millennium."

Let us treat the men and women
well: treat them as if they were
real: perhaps they are."

"The great gifts are
not got by analysis.
Everything good
is on the highway."

"People forget that it is the eye
which makes the horizon."

The true romance which
the world exists to realize,
will be the transformation
of genius into practical power."

from Ralph Waldo Emerson's
essay, "Experience," 1844

Nothing To Live Against

Helpful insights from
Margaret Atwood's
True Stories

from True Romances #3

friend 1: " . . . what am I going to do, now that he's left me and I have nothing to live for?"

friend 2: "Who told you it has to be for anything? . . . were you living for him when he was there?"

friend 1: " No . . . I was living in spite of him, I was living against him."

friend 2: "Then you should say, I have nothing to live against."
friend 1: "It's the same thing, isn't it?"

friend 2: "No."

from True Romances #2

"A long tme ago I was desperately in love. Desperately is what I mean, in fact you could leave out the love and still get a good picture."

Juice Box Tips For the Perfectly Good Mother

Parenting is not a contest.

There are no perfect mothers.

Taking care of me means
more to give my kids.

I can live with this.

So what?

Many factors affect my child--
I don't have to blame myself.

My day is not ruined . . .

Children are resilient . . .

Children are capable . . . .

Children are adaptable . . .

What are the odds?

Control what you can;
let go of the rest.

Less is more.

Enough for now.

I need no approval but my own.
I know what is best for me
and my family.

Love the kid . . .

Being myself is perfectly good.

I can think for myself.

No more illogical thinking
about parenting.

It's okay to be honest
about who I am.

Even perfectly good moms
need help sometimes.

I deserve to spend time
with women who respect
and support me.

There is nothing the matter
with me.

from Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box
by Ann Dunnewold, Ph. D.
(p 280)

Favorites from Sappho

#1
Tell everyone
Now, today, I shall
sing beautifully for
my friends' pleasure

#2
We shall enjoy it
As for him who finds
fault, may silliness
and sorrow take him!

#28
For her sake
We ask you
to come now

O Graces
O rosy-armed
perfection:

God's daughters

#59
I said, Sappho
Enough! Why
try to move
a hard heart?

#60
You may forget but
Let me tell you
this: someone in
some future time
will think of us

#69
This way, that way
I do not know
what to do: I
am of two minds

#73
Yes, it is pretty
But come, dear, need
you pride yourself
that much on a ring?

#76
Sappho, when some fool
Explodes rage
in your breast
hold back that
yapping tongue!

#79
Really . . .
My disposition
is not at all
spiteful: I have
a childlike heart.

A charm against fear

As heaven and earth are not afraid,
and never suffer loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, be not afraid.

As day and night are not afraid,
nor ever suffered loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, be not afraid.

As sun and moon are not afraid,
nor ever suffer loss or harm,
Even so my spirit, be not afraid.

As truth and falsehood have no fear,
nor ever suffer loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, be not afraid.

As what has been and what shall be fear not,
nor ever suffer loss or harm,
Even so, my spirit, be not afraid.

Hymn XV, from the Atharva Veda

Antidotes for Fretfulness

All shall be well
and all shall be well
and all manner of things
shall be well.

--Dame Juliana of Norwich
14th Century Mystic
(1342 - 1416)

"I wish for you
some new love
at lovely things,
some new forgetfulness
at teasing things,
some higher pride
in the praising things,
some sweeter peace
from the hurrying things,
and some closer fence
from the worrying things."

--John Ruskin
English art critic
(1819 - 1900)

"Whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honest,
whatsover things are just,
whatsover things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good
report,
if there be any virtue and
if there be any praise,
think on these things."

Philippians 4: 8

Not Even On My Radar

One day last summer I received a thumbs up from my darling niece Amy when we apparently, at a 4-way stop, annoyed another driver, who expressed an opinion of my driving by honking. Amy, bless her heart, was outraged on my behalf. I assured her, "Oh, not to worry; that's not even on my radar," and we proceeded on our way.

Amy kept laughing and repeating, "That's not even on my radar! I'm going to start saying that. That's great."

Wow! Really? Without even meaning to, I had made a positive impression by dismissing an insult rather than taking it personally. If only I could remember my own advice and do that all the time!

To help myself remember, I sat down and compiled a list of positive thoughts, healthy responses, and other antidotes to fretfulness, starting with:

That's not even on my radar.

Here are some more,
nothing fancy:

Oh well.

That's okay.

That's funny.

Be flexible.

Don't judge.

Deep breath.

It's broken.

Plain & simple.

That happens sometimes.

I may protect myself . . . but

I may not try to change others.

What if this was alright?
[This last profound mantra
I learned from Susan Jeffers, in
The Lttle Book of Peace of Mind]

The Quotidian Kit

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Winterize

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Photo by Dagmar Murray
Chicago, February 2009

QUOTIDIAN

Why Write?

Search This Blog

Search / Go To Fortnightly Blog

Search / Go To Book Blog

THE PRICE OF EXPERIENCE

A Course in Miracles

BUILT-IN SHIT DETECTOR

Gems from "Experience"

Nothing To Live Against

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

MAGICAL THOUGHTS
FROM ERICA JONG

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

Juice Box Tips For the Perfectly Good Mother

Simple Words At Parting

Cautionary Watchwords from Virginia Woolf

Favorites from Sappho

A charm against fear

Antidotes for Fretfulness

Not Even On My Radar

About Me

HOLIDAY FASHION TIP

Followers

Blog Archive

Labels

The Quotidian Kit

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Winterize

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Photo by Dagmar MurrayChicago, February 2009

QUOTIDIAN

Why Write?

Search This Blog

Search / Go To Fortnightly Blog

Search / Go To Book Blog

THE PRICE OF EXPERIENCE

A Course in Miracles

BUILT-IN SHIT DETECTOR

Gems from "Experience"

Nothing To Live Against

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

MAGICAL THOUGHTS FROM ERICA JONG

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

Juice Box Tips For the Perfectly Good Mother

Simple Words At Parting

Cautionary Watchwords from Virginia Woolf

Favorites from Sappho

A charm against fear

Antidotes for Fretfulness

Not Even On My Radar

About Me

HOLIDAY FASHION TIP

Followers

Blog Archive

Labels

Photo by Dagmar Murray
Chicago, February 2009

MAGICAL THOUGHTS
FROM ERICA JONG