Author Archive: Julia
I sit and watch
Oh! ’twas very sad and lonely When I found myself the only Population on this cultivated shore; But I’ve made a little tavern In a rocky little cavern, And I sit and watch for people at the door… Then we gather as we travel, Bits of moss and dirty gravel, And we chip off little …
Those moments
“What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering and I responded…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.” – George Saunders There’s nothing at all wrong with acting in ways that are sensible, reserved, and mild. But there are times when such demeanor …
There is nothing lacking
“Be content with what you have, rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” — Lao-tzu It’s a curious paradox that some of the people who have the most possessions never seem to have enough, and some with the least are the most content. …
Participate relentlessly
“You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.” – Elizabeth Gilbert Two years ago today we got the devastatingly bad news nobody ever wants to get, and despite some initial hope that it might not be as fearful as it seemed at first, the prognosis only got worse and worse in …
Dressing herself
“September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes I agree with Holmes that the beauty of October is usually more extravagant than the showy displays of September. …
People together
“Adversity not only draws people together, but brings forth that beautiful inward friendship.” – Soren Kierkegaard Working together under difficult circumstances tends to strip away the vacuous and trivial concerns that we are too often preoccupied with, especially in affluent societies. None of us want adversity or crisis, nor do most of us wish it …
Another turned page
“…that old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” ― Wallace Stegner Though it …
When we came together
“Remember the hours after September 11th when we came together as one to answer the attack against our homeland. We drew strength when our firefighters ran upstairs and risked their lives so that others might live; when rescuers rushed into smoke and fire at the Pentagon; when the men and women of Flight 93 sacrificed …
Rest now
“…rest now. Rest for longer than you are used to resting. Make a stillness around you, a field of peace. Your best work, the best time of your life will grow out of this peace.” ― Peter Heller Jeff is really good about prioritizing sleep, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy resting. I sometimes joke …
If we only knew
“Good heavens, of what uncostly material is our earthly happiness composed— if we only knew it! What incomes have we not had from a flower, and how unfailing are the dividends of the seasons!” — James Russell Lowell It’s hard to choose a favorite season, but this time of year I’m especially aware of the …
Nowhere else to go
“I have been many times driven to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” ― Abraham Lincoln Not quite 152 years ago, the United States endured “the single bloodiest day in American military history” …
No matter how close
“No matter how close we are to another person, few human relationships are as free from strife, disagreement, and frustration as is the relationship you have with a good dog.” — Dean Koontz Those of us who have adopted an animal will immediately connect with what Koontz is saying here. Our non-human family members are …
At the mere sight
“Many people, myself among them, feel better at the mere sight of a book.” ― Jane Smiley I was quite a few years into adulthood before I realized that the mere presence of books was a comfort to me, even if I didn’t reach out and take one from the shelf. This seemed a bit …
Due gratitude and respect
“Thus the hurry of spirits, that ever attends the eager pursuit of fortune and a passion for splendid enjoyment, leads to forgetfulness; and thus the inhabitants of America cease to look back with due gratitude and respect on the fortitude and virtue of their ancestors, who, through difficulties almost insurmountable, planted them in a happy …
Sought and found
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” ― Albert Schweitzer Matt was so happy to be able to return to Camp Baker this year, after missing last year due …
The ordinary things
“If I seem to write to write most happily about the ordinary things that boys do who live in the country it is because this is the part of my childhood that I look back upon with the greatest affection.” — Christopher Milne Look closely at the name of the person who wrote today’s quote. …
A moment just before
“Well,” said Pooh, “what I like best,” and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.” ― A.A. Milne …
Where you’re meant to be
“A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind.” ― Daisaku Ikeda “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door and the whole world will be clean.”— Johann Wolfgang von …
Now that I am fifty
“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” — …
More power than will
“We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible.” – Francois VI, Duc De la Rochefoucauld “I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can’t be done.” — Henry Ford “Ford decided to produce …
Finished and complete
“For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught …
The indispensable ingredient
“It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast.” …
Solaced and refreshed
“My heart, which is so full to overflowing, has often been solaced and refreshed by music when sick and weary.” ― Martin Luther I connect with a lot of things Martin Luther said, but none more than this quote. There is nothing quite like music to soothe, heal, cheer, console or bring cathartic tears. Music …
Defeat Despair 