Natalie Goldberg: Writing Practice

All of those hours of our life are our own. We have to figure out what to do with them, but having our feet on the ground is a good beginning. Writing practice can set you in the right direction, then you can go off on your own journey.
- Natalie Goldberg, Wild Mind

Water Table

I think talent is like a water table under the earth—you tap it with your effort and it comes through you.
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Pema Chödrön

People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That's not the idea at all. The idea of karma is that you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn't understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you're given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.
― Pema Chödrön

Natalie Goldberg

The deepest secret in our heart of hearts is that we are writing because we love the world, and why not finally carry that secret out with our bodies into the living rooms and porches, backyards and grocery stores? Let the whole thing flower: the poem and the person writing the poem. And let us always be kind in this world.
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

First Thoughts

Why else are first thoughts so energizing? Because they have to do with freshness and inspiration. Inspiration means “breathing in.” Breathing in God. You actually become larger than yourself, and first thoughts are present. They are not a cover-up of what is actually happening or being felt. The present is imbued with tremendous energy. It is what is.
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Natalie Goldberg: On Support

As writers we are always seeking support. First we should notice that we are already supported every moment. There is the earth below our feet and there is the air, filling our lungs and emptying them. We should begin from this when we need support. There is the sunlight coming through the window and the silence of the morning. Begin from these. Then turn to face a friend and feel how good it is when she says, “I love your work.” Believe her as you believe the floor will hold you up, the chair will let you sit.
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Natalie Goldberg: Trust

A friend once told me: “Trust in love and it will take you where you need to go.” I want to add, “Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” And don’t worry too much about security. You will eventually have a deep security when you begin to do what you want. How many of us with our big salaries are actually secure anyway?”
― Natalie Goldberg, Writing Down the Bones

Quiet People Have the Loudest Minds

Introversion is "the state of or tendency toward being wholly or predominantly concerned with and interested in one's own mental life". Introverts are typically perceived as more reserved or reflective. Some popular psychologists have characterized introverts as people whose energy tends to expand through reflection and dwindle during interaction. This is similar to Jung's view, although he focused on mental energy rather than physical energy. Few modern conceptions make this distinction.

Introverts often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, using computers, hiking and fishing. The archetypal artist, writer, sculptor, engineer, composer and inventor are all highly introverted. An introvert is likely to enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent with large groups of people, though they may enjoy interactions with close friends. Trust is usually an issue of significance: a virtue of utmost importance to introverts is choosing a worthy companion. They prefer to concentrate on a single activity at a time and like to observe situations before they participate, especially observed in developing children and adolescents. They are more analytical before speaking. Introverts are easily overwhelmed by too much stimulation from social gatherings and engagement, introversion having even been defined by some in terms of a preference for a quiet, more minimally stimulating external environment. -Wikipedia

Jacques Pépin: My Life in the Kitchen

“Fortunately, I knew the cardinal rule of getting on with one’s fellow cooks. It applies in any kitchen and can be summed up in two short words: bust ass. Restaurant kitchens are the ultimate levelers. When you’re slammed and orders are starting to back up, you could care less about the color of the hands of the cook who is working next to you, as long as they are moving fast and effectively. Personal life, sexual preferences, accent, addictions, criminal record—none of them matter. Conversely, if he isn’t holding up his end, he could be your blood brother and you’d fire him in a second. That I had been chef at the “French White House” didn’t mean anything to these HoJo line chefs.”
― Jacques Pépin, The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen

Dream

I dreamed that my husband and I went into a porn shop in Chicago. It was a tiny store. Everything was pink. The items on the shelves had been rolled in pink paint. The phone rang. Nobody was around. "You'll have to answer that," I said.
"Hello, Pink Labia," he said.
I took a walk outside and saw train tracks leading directly into a sandy beach. I returned to the shop and said "Wow, train tracks and ocean! Just like where my grandmother lived on Brighton Beach."
"It's a lake, not ocean," the proprietor said.

Ram Dass, Ocean of Devotion

Once you have drunk from the water of unconditional love, no other well can satisfy your thirst.
- Ram Dass

Robert Bly

It is not our job to remain whole.
We came to lose our leaves
Like the trees, and be born again,
Drawing up from the great roots.
― Robert Bly

Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey

“It's hard to grasp how much generosity
Is involved in letting us go on breathing,
When we contribute nothing valuable but our grief.

Each of us deserves to be forgiven, if only for
Our persistence in keeping our small boat afloat
When so many have gone down in the storm.”
― Robert Bly, Talking into the Ear of a Donkey: Poems

The Shadow

“Those of us who make up poems have agreed not to say what the pain is.”
― Robert Bly, My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy: Poems

“If any help was going to arrive to lift me out of my misery, it would come from the dark side of my personality.”
― Robert Bly, A Little Book on the Human Shadow

Baskets Made of Reeds

“Morris Berman has pointed out that museums characteristically present hard things, such as axes and spears, as evidence of early culture. But culture very likely begins with baskets made of reeds that are “soft” and hold emptiness.”
― Robert Bly

Gustave Flaubert: Everything one Invents is True

“The day before yesterday, in the woods of Touques, in a charming spot beside a spring, I found old cigar butts and scraps of pâté. People had been picnicking. I described such a scene in Novembre eleven years ago; it was entirely imagined, and the other day it came true. Everything one invents is true, you may be sure. Poetry is as precise as geometry. Induction is as accurate as deduction; and besides, after reaching a certain point one no longer makes any mistake about the things of the soul.”
― Gustave Flaubert, Selected Letters

Flaubert

“To be simple is no small matter.”
― Gustave Flaubert, Selected Letters

“A good sentence in prose should be like a good line in poetry, unchangeable, as rhythmic, as sonorous.”
― Gustave Flaubert, Selected Letters

Truman Capote

Writing has laws of perspective, of light and shade just as painting does, or music. If you are born knowing them, fine. If not, learn them. Then rearrange the rules to suit yourself.
- Truman Capote

Swimming by Mary Lee Hahn

First it's about the shock of the cold
and the strength of the first five laps.
Then, for the next howevermany laps,
it's about the rhythm
and the breathing
and the black line below me.

It's the rhythm
and the breathing
and the black line below me.

It's the cardinal outside my window this morning
and the things I need to do this weekend
and the things that didn't get done today.

It's the rhythm
and the breathing
and the black line below me.

It's the girl in the purple bikini in the lane next to me.
She swims so fast it seems like she's on top of the water
instead of in it,
like I am.

It's the rhythm
and the breathing
and the black line below me.

It's the smell of the chlorine
and the push off the wall.

And the rhythm
and the breathing
and the black line below me.

Finally it's about the deliciously hot water of the shower
and the sting of the cold air on my damp head.
It's about

the drive home and
the late dinner and
the falling asleep.

- Mary Lee Hahn ©2010 used with permission by the author.

The Guardian by Joseph Mills

I don't think my brother realized all
the responsibilities involved in being
her guardian, not just the paperwork
but the trips to the dentist and Wal-Mart,
the making sure she has underwear,
money to buy Pepsis, the crying calls
because she has no shampoo even though
he has bought her several bottles recently.
We talk about how he might bring this up
with the staff, how best to delicately ask
if they're using her shampoo on others
or maybe just allowing her too much.
"You only need a little, Mom," he said,
"Not a handful." "I don't have any!"
she shouted before hanging up. Later
he finds a bottle stashed in her closet
and two more hidden in the bathroom
along with crackers, spoons, and socks.
Afraid someone might steal her things,
she hides them, but then not only forgets
where, but that she ever had them at all.

I tease my brother, "You always wanted
another kid." He doesn't laugh. She hated
her father, and, in this second childhood,
she resents the one who takes care of her.
When I call, she complains about how
my brother treats her and how she hasn't
seen him in years. If I explain everything
he's doing, she admires the way I stick up
for him. Doing nothing means I do nothing
wrong. This is love's blindness and love's
injustice. It's why I expect to hear anger
or bitterness in my brother's voice, and why
each time we talk, no matter how closely
I listen, I'm astonished to hear only love.
- Joseph Mills, Love and Other Collisions © Press 53, 2010.