Thu 16 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under art, procrastination, quote of the day, writing
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Tonight some people were talking about a book they were going to write someday. There’s no book you are going to write. There is no someday.â€
—Anne Lamott, Twitterfeed, June 23, 2013
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Wed 15 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under expectations, quote of the day
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“No matter what, expect the unexpected. And whenever possible, BE the unexpected.â€
—Lynda Barry, Cruddy
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Mon 13 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under imagination, quote of the day, reality, suffering
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“We suffer more from imagination than from reality.â€
—Seneca, Letters from a Stoic,  #13
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Fri 10 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under death, geegaws, irony, quote of the day
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Every little tchotchke outlives us. So choose with care.â€
—Joyce Carol Oates, Twitterfeed, August 12, 2013
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Thu 9 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under aging, glory, haiku, quote of the day, seasons
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“The old cherry tree’s
final blossoms are her last
cherished memory.â€
—BashŠ(tr. Sam Hamill in Narrow Road to the Interior)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Tue 7 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under imagination, quote of the day, writers, writing
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Imagination is like a muscle. I found out that the more I wrote, the bigger it got.â€
—Philip José Farmer, quoted in his New York Times obituary, February 26, 2009
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Mon 6 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under generosity, greed, quote of the day
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Generous, adj. Originally this word meant noble by birth and was rightly applied to a great multitude of persons. It now means noble by nature and is taking a bit of a rest.â€
—Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Fri 3 Aug 2018
Posted by PJ under art, fashion, quote of the day
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.â€
—Jean Cocteau, quoted in Threads: My Life Behind the Seams in the High-Stakes World of Fashion by Joseph Abboud
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Fri 27 Jul 2018
Posted by PJ under quote of the day, the deep within, the self
No Comments
Random quote of the day:
“Be faithful to that which exists nowhere but in yourself…â€
—André Gide, Les Nourritures Terrestres
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this random quote of the day do not necessarily reflect the views of the poster, her immediate family, Orville and Wilbur, Katy Perry, or the Avengers. They do, however, sometimes reflect the views of the Cottingley Fairies.
Thu 26 Jul 2018
Posted by PJ under acceptance, depression, happiness, healing, hope, the path, what the living do
No Comments
Happiness an illusion we kid ourselves about on a regular basis.
Oh yes, it exists, in bubbles and baubles—like pearls on a string, sometimes many pearls together, sometimes stretched out with mundane filler or truly ugly bits and bobs.
But as a permanent state, no. Happiness is always in flux. It’s not something we can achieve and hold onto if we just cultivate the right attitude of mind. I don’t care how much positive thinking you try to stream through your existence, life will always throw something in your way that trips you up. The power of positive thinking is a good thing, a great thing even, but there are also times when it’s just another form of denial.
Or narcissism: “The world revolves around me and I control all its forces with my Powerful, Positive Mind.†Then it becomes something of a cult, and those are never good.
Happy times are blessings that shouldn’t be taken for granted, but the pendulum always swings the other way. We have to accept that and walk through the shadows.
I try to cultivate an attitude of hopeful acceptance: accepting that the pendulum has swung into a dark place, but hoping that if I go through the dark and allow myself to fully experience it without telling myself I don’t feel it, without beating myself up with toxic “shoulds,†without haranguing myself about my bootstraps and their potential lift, that eventually I will walk through and emerge into light.
There isn’t any easier path. And telling people to cheer up when they’re struggling is another form of toxicity. I will say, in my experience, that the path of walking the shadows can be a peculiarly satisfying path—if you survive it. You walk, you survive, you’re ready to start again. It isn’t easy, and it isn’t a straight path, and hard not to lose your way and head in the wrong direction. But even the wrong direction can be part of the path.
Nothing puritanical here. I’m not talking about clinical depression. Everybody needs help sometimes and there is no shame in asking for it. Only fools—as intransigent as the “always positive thinking†fools—believe they can do it all on their own.
I’m trying to convince myself of that even as I write this.
I have faith in sunshine, though. I catch its faint glint far down the tunnel and believe I am heading in the right direction.
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