We might feel most alive in the presence of what seems most dark within us.

" Don't ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

-Harold Thurman Whitman

A"no" uttered from the deepest conviction is better and greater than a "yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
-Gandhi

After the final no there comes a yes.
And on that yes the future world depends.
-Wallace Stevens

...

How can the mysterious, redemptive, creative force enter (and where does it come from, anyhow?) when our house or selves are crammed, busy, overfull? We need to let go of everything that gets in the way of what needs to enter.

...

Lighten up. It's all temporary, anyway. Mountaintops were under the sea. Don't hole yourself up inside or brick yourself in. The world might flood. Be ready to touch down somewhere new and live in another realm.

...

I wasn't as bad as I thought. I couldn't bring the world to a halt, only myself. Hmm. Earth still here, holding me up. Sun still here. Night. Rain on the way. Thunder. Sky. Stars. Fireflies. Reminding me to just breathe and shine and, yes, quit trying. Fall back. Eyes shut. Begin in the quiet, to discover and simply be the creature you are.

...

It's as if my soul called for an internal meltdown, a small death, with me spiral-fizzing out of control like a balloon let go.

All my life, I now feel in my body, down into my feet, I've been preparing, taking notes, living to write and speak about all this. To be this, whatever. A little wild. A little sloppy. Yes, out of bounds. A little crazy. No holds barred.

...

Maybe some of us need to dive into the depths of self, no matter how dangerous it seems, to uncover more meaning, passion expression of soul, and , indeed more light. We might feel most alive in the presence of what seems most dark within us.

...

Did Grandpa know that we loved and feared him in a way that is usually reserved for gods or superheroes? Did he know that we dropped large objects down the laundry chute with the eager apprehension of naughty schoolchildren? It was only fun because we knew how loud Grandpa could yell.... We also knew how loud Grandpa could laugh.

...When I think of Grandpa Julian, I think of crinoid hunts at the dunes, I think of hugs interrupted by beeping hearing aids, I think of woodpeckers, rocks, rhyming birthday cards, slide shows, and Mel Brooks. I think of the smell of wool and fresh air. I think of bushy eyebrows, warm hands, marbles, garage door openers, slightly rotten fruit, hummingbirds, corn shucking, my loose teeth, and shy good-nights from the doorway.

I always thought that along with my father, Grandpa was the smartest nab who could ever possibly exist. He knew absolutely everything. I never heard a question he couldn't answer without complete certainty.

Grandpa called me Wrinkle Nose. A title created in honor of the crumpled face of my whining. A title I loved because it came from a man I loved so much. I don't know if Grandpa ever realized how huge he was to me, how important he was in my world. I'm so afraid he never realized the extent of his importance. I loved my grandpa Julian more than I even understand.

I hope he understood.

...

I know what the great cure is: it is to give up,
to relinquish, to surrender, so that our little
hearts may beat in unison with the great heart of the world
-Henry Miller

...

It can take courage for us to realize we've had the wrong idea and made wrong decisions and need to change mainstream. We might be in the wrong city for us. The wrong relationship. The wrong life. Writing the wrong book. If we have to be right about everything, we won't allow ourselves to change, and to free our creative natures.

...

But heavens, let's not worry about being wrong! I'm gradually learning that, paradoxically, it's the foolsgold-the blunderings, giving ups, breakdowns, in spite ofs, chance encounters, shatterings, letting gos, and mess-ups-that has led to most of the creativity in my life, not the sweet making of something beautiful, or "enlightened" inspiration, and certainly not feeling in control. It's the opposites, listenings, buzz hums, the falling (leaping) down the rabbit hole, the stepping through the looking glass, barefoot, with no suitcase, in new territory.

...

I read Francisco Alarcon's peom "Drought."

despite

dry
years

siempre
verde
inside

Always green inside.

...

We've tumbled from a variety of pedestals early, freeing ourselves from expectations. We can create loosely, sloppily, with depth and mistakes and range and passion.

...

Anyone who has never made a mistake has
never tried anything new....There is only one road to
true human greatness: through the school of
hard knocks.
-Albert Einstein

...

Paul insists. "Human beings are surrounded by death. It's here that people have to face the hardest choices; become heroes."

...

All of this is coming from somewhere. I just have to stand there with open arms. That's what has brought me success. If the muse calls I drop everything and go with it."

...

Poetry is a life-cherishing force....For poems
are not words, after all, but fires
for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as
bread in the pockets of the hungry.
-Mary Oliver

...

Sometimes you might want to be real and believable in your writing, serene and grounded and calmly loving. Other times, go bananas. Do this in the middle of the night. Do this in the rain. Do this burning candles. Do this perched on a balcony like Rapunzel. Let your hair down. Weep and laugh for love. Run the lines together. Rant, spin, dashoutside to ask the trees for help, and write more. Be a lover in a fairy tale that ends happily ever after.

Then look out. Be ready to dive in, or to run.

And in the meantime, love the people around you and those who come your way."

-- Foolsgold, Susan G.Wooldridge