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

Last Wednesday Wisdom for October 2017

10/25/2017

12 Comments

 
This month's collection of wisdom is a mixed bag, a reflection of what I've been thinking and doing since we returned from vacation. First came the obsessing over all the things I needed and wanted to catch up on, then the realization that I didn't need to do them all at once. When I settled down enough to set priorities, it was with a renewed commitment to my creative projects, both ongoing and new. 

I also spent some time reflecting on our travels and on the benefits of travel in general. And then, because my daily at-home routine involves at least a little attention to the news of the day, I sought guidance to help me keep distressing events in perspective.

Finally, travels over and routine restored, I found comfort in being right where I am, right now.
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We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
​-- Etty Hillesum
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I believe that if you do not answer the noise and urgency of your gifts, they will turn on you. Or drag you down with their immense sadness at being abandoned.
-- Joy Harjo, ​Crazy Brave
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Work is love made visible.
​-- Ama Ata Aidoo
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We see achievement as purposeful and monolithic, like the sculpting of a massive tree trunk that has first to be brought from the forest and then shaped by long labor to assert the artist's vision, rather than something crafted from odds and ends, like a patchwork quilt, and lovingly used to warm different nights and bodies.
-- Mary Catherine Bateson
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You throw an anchor into the future you want to build, and you pull yourself along by the chain.
​-- John O'Neal
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The more I traveled, the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends.
​-- Shirley MacLaine
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We say, "Seeing is believing," but actually . . . we are all much better at believing than at seeing. In fact, we are seeing what we believe nearly all the time and only occasionally seeing what we can't believe.
​-- Robert Anton Wilson
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I have striven not to laugh at human actions, not to weep at them, nor to hate them, but to understand them.
-- Baruch Spinoza
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Perhaps the most radical thing we can do is stay home, so we can learn the names of the plants and animals around us; so that we can begin to know what tradition we're part of.
​-- Terry Tempest Williams
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The little things? The little moments? They aren't little.
​-- Jon Kabat-Zinn
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What's on your mind as this month draws to an end?
12 Comments
Sally C Kane
10/25/2017 08:18:31 am

I want to paper the walls of my private space at home with these quotes, so I may make friends with them and gather them around me when I need a boot, a guide or reminder. Like friendships, each quote shines like a jewel of its own character and color.

Reply
Nan
10/26/2017 12:21:57 pm

Good impulse, Sally!

Reply
Susan Stec link
10/25/2017 09:01:46 am

I needed this today. Thank you.

Reply
Nan
10/26/2017 12:23:57 pm

You're so welcome. Glad to offer a little something to brighten or ease your day.

Reply
Marsha Reeves link
10/25/2017 11:38:37 am

I LOVE the Terry Tempest Williams quote. I call this 'traveling deep' instead of 'traveling wide', and find it extremely rewarding.

Reply
Nan
10/26/2017 12:24:41 pm

And I LOVE the "traveling deep" concept.

Reply
Marty Ace
10/25/2017 12:58:22 pm

OH! I so love the little things. Thank you.

Reply
Nan
10/26/2017 12:25:30 pm

Thanks for reading, Marty!

Reply
Emily M Everett
10/26/2017 06:32:41 am

What a great collection of wisdom. I especially love yours: "... I found comfort in being right where I am, right now." Words to tattoo on my heart.

Reply
Nan
10/26/2017 12:26:57 pm

I've got plenty of your words tattooed on my heart, so I'm glad you liked these.

Reply
Sue Schneider
11/1/2017 04:03:32 am

All of the quotes have great value. Terry Tempest Williams words ring so true in my soul. Living in Newaygo has helped me realize how blessed I am to begin to learn about the Nature that surrounds me. Thanks Nan.

Reply
Nan
11/1/2017 06:23:00 am

You're making good use of the opportunity!

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.

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