Grateful for Words That Refresh

She read books as one would

breathe air, to fill up and live.

ANNIE DILLARD

Words have changed my world. The peace, tranquility, and joy I experience has so often come through the books I have read. I am in awe of writers and poets who—through their unique creative expression, discipline, and sacrifice—have enhanced my own life. Such a debt of gratitude I owe to them for finding ways to continually offer me light, hope, peace, insight, aha moments, and kindred connections. I ask you, what would we do without our books?

When I read something that grabs my heart, I'll jot it down in my journal. And if it turns out that there's too much I want to copy down, I'll try to purchase rather than borrow the book. Underlined and 'starred', these favourite passages become guideposts—tiny lights filled with inspiration and focus. I turn to them time and again when I need my imagination refueled.

Today, I offer a few lines I've gleaned from my reading since the start of the new year. These words ground me even as they add a sparkle to my current Covid-quiet life. I hope you will find a shimmer of inspiration for yourself, making today's visit worth your while.

Note: Below, I bolded the particular phrases that speak to me in this season. Do you have any particular words or phrases haunting your thoughts (in a good way, I hope) these days?

May you find sacred space and make room

for Holy Presence, and there find exactly

what your soul needs.

JOY B

Respond to the call of your gift

and the courage to follow its path.

JOHN O'DONOHUE

In truth, we don't know which of our acts in the

present will shape our future. But we have to behave

as if everything we do matters. Because it might.

GLORIA STEINEM

Everything we do ripples out through creation,

i.e., we are embodied in all creation and therefore

part of what we are goes back through all creation.

BODMIN HERMIT

What doth God require of thee but

to do justice and to love mercy, and

to walk humbly with thy God?

BOOK OF MICAH, OLD TESTAMENT

as shared by Anne Lamott in her book

Hallelujah Anyway, Rediscovering Mercy

I want to be famous to shuffling men

who smile while crossing streets,

sticky children in grocery lines,

famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,

or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,

but because it never forgot what it could do.

NAOMI SHIHAB NYE

lines from her poem "Famous"

Home is a symbol of the self.

Caring for home is caring for one's self.

GLORIA STEINEM

It doesn’t have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don’t try

to make them elaborate, this isn’t

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.

MARY OLIVER, "Praying"

 Maybe this is why we read,

and why in moments of darkness

we return to books: to find words

for what we already know.

ALBERTO MANGUEL

*

Reading gives us someplace to go

when we have to stay where we are.

MASON COOLEY

* * *

Wishing you a beautiful day.

Heart Hugs,

Brenda

xox

Photos: All Images from Pixabay