A Prayer For The World Let the rain come and wash away the ancient grudges, the bitter hatreds held and nurtured over generations. Let the rain wash away the memory of the hurt, the neglect. Then let the sun come out and fill the sky with rainbows. Let the warmth of the sun heal us wherever we are broken. Let it burn away the fog so that we can see each other clearly. So that we can see beyond labels, beyond accents, gender or skin color. Let the warmth and brightness of the sun melt our selfishness. So that we can share the joys and feel the sorrows of our neighbors. Let the earth, nourished by rain, bring forth flowers to surround us with beauty. And let the mountains teach our hearts to reach upward to heaven. —Rabbi Harold Kushner
Category: Quotes
When is writing done?
“Even after a poem has hardened into print, it may continue to represent a risk, a chance, a surmise, or a hypothesis about itself.” —Mary Kinzie. A Poet’s Guide to Poetry, U Chicago Press Thank you, Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Dave Seter, for letting me know about Mary Kinzie. Dave’s response to Mary’s quote: “What this means to me is, a piece of writing is never truly ‘done’ so instead of worrying so much about whether it is ‘done,’ we should share our writing with each other even when it feels a little raw, because there is power in the original idea and sometimes it takes time for the words to catch up with the idea.” #justwrite #iamwriting #iamawriter
Why Write?
“Writing sheds light where there is darkness. It brings people a greater understanding of themselves and each other and the world. It connects them and brings them together. It makes our world warmer and brighter and more hopeful.” —Tiffany Yates Martin, Nov/Dec 2024 Writer’s Digest magazine. More on “Why write:” Writing Resilient: Why Write? Why Write Your Story?
Surrender for Inspiration
Note from Marlene:Grant Faulkner’s musings on his Substack page are golden comfort to a writer’s soul, offering unique perspectives that inspire writing. For example, his essay on “Surrender as Action Verb.” “When we surrender ourselves to our art, we allow ourselves to soften. Surrender invites us to give ourselves up to something larger, to meld with wonder and awe. Surrender creates intimacy and expansiveness at the same time. It sparks curiosity, exploration. It’s the equivalent of going to sleep: by sinking into an unconscious state, we allow dreams to fill us. We give up trying to change and control things. The rigidities of expectations, desires, and aspirations melt away. Think what would change if you allowed yourself to surrender in a conversation. What if you committed to listening, to let another’s words and spirit rise up and take you instead of focusing on your point of view, your needs. What…
Memory is a river, not a block of cement
“Alternate versions of past events are common, because it is human nature, especially where childhood memories are concerned, to move ourselves—over time—to the center of a story. We are hardwired to see the world through our own points of view, and increasingly so with the passage of time. Memory is a river, not a block of cement.” — “But My Sister Remembers It Differently: On Working with Contested Memories,” by Dinty Moore, Aug. 15, 2024 Brevity Blog.
What is creative intuition?
KimBoo York has this to say about intuition: “It is your brain connecting dots so quickly that you are not aware of the connections until you look backward to figure out why you know what you know, or did what you did.” — “The Secret Sauce for Writers: Intuition,” by KimBoo York on Jane Friedman’s September 4, 2024 Blog More Write Spot Blog posts on intuition: Trust your intuition for creative writing Bella Mahaya Carter writes about courage, love, and intuition Intuition . . . Prompt #741 Just Write!
It’s more than okay to ask for help.
Faulkner: Intimations
“ . . . our primary drive as humans is to be understood, be seen, and writers use words, these tools of precision and imprecision, to make ourselves understood, to make life understandable—to try rather, to endlessly try.” —Grant Faulkner To read more about Grant Faulkner and why he started his Substack platform “Intimations: Writer’s Discourse,” click on Intimations.
Writers: Open doors to flights of imagination
“. . . the urge to be a writer is a generous act at its core: we want to share our story with others, to give them a world that will open doors to insights and flights of the imagination.” — Grant Faulkner Excerpted from “Sharing stories, sharing yourself,” from Grant’s Substack newsletter on writing and creativity, “Intimations: A Writer’s Discourse.” Grant: As a boy, I spent my allowance on all sorts of pens and paper, so there was never much question I would become a writer. I received my B.A. from Grinnell College in English and my M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. It seems like I should have other degrees, such as an MFA in Novels about People Doing Nothing But Walking Around, a PhD in Collages and Doodles and Stick Drawings of Fruitless Pursuits, or a Knighthood in Insomniac Studies, but I don’t.
Be Brave!
“Coming out of your comfort zone is tough in the beginning, chaotic in the middle, and awesome in the end . . . because in the end, it shows you a whole new world.” — Manoj Arora Just Write! #amwriting #iamawriter #justwrite