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On the last Wednesday of every month, I serve up a potpourri of tidbits I've come across in recent weeks. This being the last post of 2016, I hope to offer a little inspiration for the year ahead.  Art is not a set of rules, but a harmony of whims. -- Rubén Darío  No small part of sanity, I think, is accepting the distance between the discipline you think you should have and that which is actually available to you. -- Naomi Jackson, author, in Poets & Writers, September/October 2016.  The purpose of the artist is to draw back the veil that leaves us indifferent before the universe. -- Marcel Proust  I am not much of a believer in inspiration. Well, no, that's not true: Good writing needs a little lightning, which only strikes unbidden, coursing through it. But waiting to write until one is inspired is like waiting to have a drink of water until it rains. -- Craig Morgan Teicher, poet, critic and freelance writer, in Poets & Writers, January/February 2017  Poetry is not a means to an end,, but a continuing engagement with being alive. -- Kim Addonizio, poet, novelist and performer  Inspiration is not divine intervention. It's figuring out a solution to a problem. -- Editors, Poets & Writers, January/February, 2017  The purpose of art is to stop time. -- Bob Dylan  We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. -- Maya Angelou  You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.
-- Jane Goodall
15 Comments
12/28/2016 06:55:39 am
My favorite is the Bob Dylan take. All of them were wonderful, but that one was the most thought provoking for me.
Nan
12/28/2016 07:00:42 am
Yes,and I think that one can be taken more than one way, don't you? 12/28/2016 08:39:14 am
My favorite was the one by Maya Angelou. But Dylan's quote is so simple, yet expands layers of thought and images of paintings I've seen that have done just that.
Nan
12/28/2016 08:47:51 am
So interesting to read people's responses to these.
Sally
12/28/2016 11:05:51 am
Each quote spoke to a different aspect of my life. Proust challenged my quest for originality and Goodall, my daily intention setting. Thanks for the diverse inspirations.
Katherine Myers
12/28/2016 05:29:12 pm
I was so impressed when Jane Goodall came to speak to our students. This quote is inspiring, but also scary when you realize the choices we make really do have so much impact on our planet
Nan
12/29/2016 11:55:15 am
I had the pleasure and honor of interviewing Jane Goodall several times during my newspaper career. She was so gracious, gentle and wise. I'm glad to know that she came to speak to your students. I was disheartened once when I was speaking to a school group and one student asked what famous people I had interviewed. I mentioned Jane Goodall, and no one knew who she was.
Nan
12/29/2016 11:52:26 am
I hadn't thought about the connection to ArtPrize, but you're so right!
Fran Haman
12/28/2016 01:13:21 pm
Where the viewer of the Art is AT,emotionally, physically, mentally, while viewiing, can be very different at different times, often, providing an amazing freshness in the experience.
Nan
12/29/2016 11:56:10 am
Excellent observation, Fran! 12/28/2016 08:22:30 pm
I resonate most strongly with Jane Goodall's statement. It is completely resonant with the Anishinaabe prophecy for this time, that the future of the world depends on the choices each and everyone of us makes in every moment. It really is up to us, and it's good to be reminded of that.
Nan
12/29/2016 11:57:10 am
Very good reminder, Marsha. Something to keep in mind now, especially.
Sue S.
12/30/2016 05:17:31 pm
Jane Goodall's words speak to the daily focus of my intention in life. There are many layers of this quote and I appreciate the multiple facets. Thanks for sharing these nuggets of wisdom every month.
Nan
12/31/2016 08:04:24 am
That one seems to strike a chord with a lot of people. Good words to live by. Leave a Reply. |
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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
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