NAN SANDERS POKERWINSKI
  • Home
  • Media
  • About
  • Contact
  • MANGO RASH
  • Blog
  • EVENTS
  • Journalism
  • Photography
  • Buy Books
  • Collages

HeartWood
A blog about cultivating
creativity, connection and contentment
wherever you are

FIRST Wednesday Wisdom for June 2020

6/3/2020

9 Comments

 
If you've been a HeartWood subscriber for a while,  you may remember the Last Wednesday Wisdom feature that appeared on the last Wednesday of every month. When I switched to publishing blog posts only twice a month--on the first and third Wednesdays--that feature went away, except for occasional appearances in months with an extra Wednesday.
During these troubled times, though, I couldn't think of anything better to offer than a collection of wisdom from other minds. I hope you find comfort and inspiration here.
Picture
Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that's all that's happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others . . . On the other hand, wretchedness--life's painful aspect--softens us up considerably. . . but if we were only wretched . . . we'd be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn't have enough energy to eat an apple. Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.
-- Pema Chödrön
Picture
You only get one chance. You have one journey through life; you cannot repeat even one moment or retrace one footstep. It seems that we are meant to inhabit and live everything that comes toward us.
-- John O'Donohue
Picture
Prejudice of any kind implies that you are identified with the thinking mind. It means you don't see the other human being anymore, but only your own concept of that human being. To reduce the aliveness of another human being is already a form of violence.
​-- Eckhart Tolle
Picture
When you can't find someone to follow, you have to find a way to lead by example.
​-- Roxane Gay
Picture
Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.
-- Rabindranath Tagore
Picture
My sense of the holy . . . is bound up with the hope that someday, any millennium now, my remote descendants will live in a global civilization in which love is pretty much the only law.
​-- Richard Rorty
Picture
We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
-- Etty Hillesum
Picture
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
​-- Maya Angelou
Picture
You say to yourself when you are at liberty how desperate you are for your solitude, you love your periods of solitude, you scramble for it, you find ways of being by yourself so you can do what you want with yourself and your mind. But when you're deprived of it for a lengthy period then you value human companionship.
​-- Wole Soyinka
Picture
9 Comments
Sally Kane
6/3/2020 06:38:55 am

Each of these quotes gave me pause, like a balm. I especially connected to the one by Pema Chodren. These troubled times really call for reflection before reaction. Inciteful of you, Nan, to repost these quotes now.

Reply
Nan
6/5/2020 12:20:12 pm

Thank you, Sally. It's a small thing, but I like to think small things add up and offer some solace.

Reply
Kitty Kole
6/3/2020 08:36:39 am

I like the saying by Benjamin Franklin.. “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as out raged as those who are”

Reply
Nan
6/5/2020 12:28:05 pm

It's a great quote. Apparently, it's one of those that's been misattributed to Benjamin Franklin. Wherever it originated, though, it's worth sharing.

Reply
Katherine Myers
6/4/2020 09:12:24 am

Etty Hillesum is the one that I'm struggling with at the moment--in the middle of the night when they are always magnified. But as John O'Donohue said, we only get this moment one time and I'm determined to make the most of it and not waste it worrying.

Reply
Nan
6/5/2020 12:30:05 pm

It's a challenge, isn't it, Katherine? But worry does taint the present moment.

Reply
Emily Everett
6/4/2020 01:20:51 pm

These all touched me, encouraged me and all brought tears. It's the yin and yang that Pema Chödrön speaks of. I need all the wisdom I can get these days so thank you.

Reply
Nan
6/5/2020 12:31:16 pm

Same here, Emily.

Reply
Sue Schneider
7/9/2020 03:52:28 pm

Another insightful and significant post. Eckert’s quote really moved my soul. Thank you Nan.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Written from the heart,
    from the heart of the woods
    Read the introduction to HeartWood here.

    Subscribe to HeartWood

    Available now!

    Picture
    Check with your favorite bookseller or order from the BUY BOOKS page on this website.
    Get updates on Mango Rash
    BUY MANGO RASH

    Author

    Nan Sanders Pokerwinski, a former journalist, writes memoir and personal essays, makes collages and likes to play outside. She lives in West Michigan with her husband, Ray.

    Archives

    April 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Better Living
    Books
    Community
    Creativity
    Events
    Explorations
    Food
    Gardens
    Guest Posts
    Health
    Inspiration
    Last Wednesday Wisdom
    Local Artists
    Mecosta County
    Montcalm County
    Music
    Muskegon County
    Nature
    Newaygo County
    Oceana County
    People
    Photography
    Pure Michigan
    Reflection
    Return To Paradise
    Samoa
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Media
  • About
  • Contact
  • MANGO RASH
  • Blog
  • EVENTS
  • Journalism
  • Photography
  • Buy Books
  • Collages