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

Last Wednesday Wisdom for December

12/28/2016

15 Comments

 
​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.
Picture
Art is not a set of rules, but a harmony of whims.
-- ​Rubén Darío 
Picture
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.
Picture
The purpose of the artist is to draw back the veil that leaves us indifferent before the universe.
​-- Marcel Proust
Picture
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
Picture
Poetry is not a means to an end,, but a continuing engagement with being alive.
-- Kim Addonizio, poet, novelist and performer 
Picture
Inspiration is not divine intervention. It's figuring out a solution to a problem.
-- Editors, Poets & Writers​, January/February, 2017
Picture
The purpose of art is to stop time.
​-- Bob Dylan
Picture
We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
​-- Maya Angelou

Picture
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
Linda Curatolo link
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.
Thanks Nancy.
Linda

Reply
Nan
12/28/2016 07:00:42 am

Yes,and I think that one can be taken more than one way, don't you?

Reply
Susan Stec link
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.

Reply
Nan
12/28/2016 08:47:51 am

So interesting to read people's responses to these.

Reply
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.

Reply
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

Reply
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.

J.Q. Rose link
12/28/2016 12:33:07 pm

When I read Proust's quote, I immediately thought of all the arts on display at Artprize. Each artist evoked an emotion from the viewer. And like Dylan, some of the works did stop time for me. Thanks for sharing such profound quotes.

Reply
Nan
12/29/2016 11:52:26 am

I hadn't thought about the connection to ArtPrize, but you're so right!

Reply
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.

Reply
Nan
12/29/2016 11:56:10 am

Excellent observation, Fran!

Reply
Marsha Reeves link
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.

Reply
Nan
12/29/2016 11:57:10 am

Very good reminder, Marsha. Something to keep in mind now, especially.

Reply
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.

Reply
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.

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