Author Archive: Julia
Only an adventure
“An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.” ― G.K. Chesterton I must admit, it’s a bit of a stretch for me to consider most of what we call inconveniences as adventures. Being stuck in traffic? Waiting two hours for a doctors appointment? Having a flight cancelled …
The still ecstasy
“There is nothing in the world more beautiful than the forest clothed to its very hollows in snow. It is the still ecstasy of nature, wherein every spray, every blade of grass, every spire of reed, every intricacy of twig, is clad with radiance.” — William Sharp This isn’t the post I had scheduled for …
It really is
“Life is like a flower. You don’t realize how beautiful it really is until you take a closer look.” — Ash Sweeney I wasn’t able to find out anything much about Ash Sweeney other than endless web pages citing quotes from him (or her) such as this one. Perhaps Sweeney is a robot, or a pen …
Walking around
“I absolutely love cities that reward walking. In London, you can’t go three blocks without coming upon something grand and historic, a charming little square, or an interesting piece of street life. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when you’re tired of walking around London, you’re tired of life.” — Alex Soojung-Kim Pang For those who haven’t yet …
In spite of all
“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you to go on in spite of all. And so today I still have a dream.” — Martin Luther King, Jr. The Trumpet of Conscience, 1968 Today we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and …
Like enthusiasm
“Color in a picture is like enthusiasm in life.” – Vincent Van Gogh January paints nature with a muted palette, but that doesn’t mean our days have to be dull during the winter months. Add some color to your life, literally or figuratively, and get a jump on springtime by animating your mood with some sparkle. When …
Greatness in small things
“When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.” — Muriel Barbery Okay, so it’s now definitely winter– if you’re very far north of the tropics, that is. Despite the deceptively warm days of this past December, cold weather will be our frequent companion for …
Making life more bearable
“The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow…” — Kurt Vonnegut “What is the purpose of your blog?” That’s a question others have asked occasionally …
Between intention and habit
“With all the advantages being online gives us, we’re also offered a set of potential dangers we have to understand. What we know about how humans react to virtual environments is still in its infancy…In the battle between intention and habit, we need to be able to work out who is winning; who is master, …
A story
“You have a story. It doesn’t have you.” — Mark Brunetz At year’s end, we often take stock of the past twelve months, and this can lead us into contemplation about past years. For many of us 2015 has been more remarkable for its difficulties than for its successes or gifts. Come to think of it, …
Bloom indoors
“I bloom indoors in winter like a forced forsythia; I come in to come out. At night I read and write, and things I have never understood become clear; I reap the harvest of the rest of the year’s planting.” – Annie Dillard One of the best things about being an adult at Christmas is …
The keeping-place
“Christmas is the keeping-place for memories of our innocence.” — Joan Mills I couldn’t find anything about who Joan Mills was, but she must have had memories of Christmas that were similar to my own. For me, no other time of year brings as deep a connection to childhood. Perhaps it’s the combination of scents, sights …
Love, not money
“The Christmas tree is a symbol of love, not money. There’s a kind of glory to them when they’re all lit up that exceeds anything all the money in the world could buy.” ― Andy Rooney OK, for those of you who don’t already know it, I confess that our Christmas tree is WAY, way overdone. I …
Gifts of time and love
“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” — Peg Bracken I love Christmas! But it can be exhausting and stressful, particularly when invitations, intentions and demands are far greater than the time (and maybe also the money) to fulfill them. In recent years I have reminded myself to …
Natural relief
“…if [cats] are content, their contentment is absolute; and our jaded and wearied spirits find a natural relief in the sight…” — Agnes Repplier What animal comes to mind when you hear these words: relaxed, languid, graceful, calm, serene? For me, it’s always a cat. I’m a dog person through and through. I identify with …
Substantive heroism
“Resilience, inventiveness, and survivorship– qualities often ascribed to great physicians– are reflected qualities, emanating first from those who struggle with illness and only then mirrored by those who treat them. If the history of medicine is told through the stories of doctors, it is because their contributions stand in place of the more substantive heroism …
Break the habit
“Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction. Break the habit. Talk about your joys.” — Rita Schiano Right now I could sit here and go on for hours about the cares that I am facing– which include deep sorrows, minor annoyances, and the entire spectrum of trials that lie in between. I’m almost certain you …
Odd but true
“It’s odd but true that there really is consolation from sad poems, and it’s hard to know how that happens. There is the pleasure of the thing itself, the pleasure of the poem, and somehow it works against sadness.” – Carol Shields When I first read this quote, I thought about the song “Fast Car” …
Love at the board
For hearts that are kindly, with virtue and peace, and not seeking blindly a hoard to increase; for those who are grieving o’er life’s sordid plan; for souls still believing in heaven and man; for homes that are lowly with love at the board; for things that are holy, I thank thee, O Lord! — Walt …
Poetic memory
“The brain appears to possess a special area which we might call poetic memory and which records everything that charms or touches us, that makes our lives beautiful.” — Milan Kundera Memory, we are told, is highly selective and not always accurate. We may remember a time or a place as being so full of …
The quiet of power
…slow things are beautiful: The closing of day, The pause of the wave That curves downward to spray, The ember that crumbles, The opening flower, And the ox that moves on In the quiet of power. – Elizabeth Coatsworth Recently I read a book that discussed the pervasive effects of technology on how we …
A fine autumnal day
“It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts …
The transporting wonder
“Those of us who know the transporting wonder of a reading life know that…when we read, we are always inside, sheltered in that interior room, that clean, well-lighted, timeless place that is the written word.” – Alice McDermott All of my life, reading has been a shelter for me, and never more so than in …
Defeat Despair 