In a fantastic little bookshop in Lenox, Massachusetts this week, I found a book called The Gift by Lewis Hyde. The title refers to that certain something we each individually have to offer. A kind of cult classic (recently going into its 25th edition) it was called "the best book I know of for talented … Continue reading The Gift | Lewis Hyde
Category: What (S)he Said
Lingerers and Quitters
This month's issue of Psychology Today has a great article, "Move On!" , encouraging us all to do just that. If you're thinking of escaping but second guessing yourself like crazy, this is the article for you. An excerpt: "Some people plod away in dreary jobs and dead relationships, while others are forever cutting people … Continue reading Lingerers and Quitters
Trouble | Joel Chandler Harris
"You'll be lookin' for him in the broom grass and he'll be sneakin' up on you in the water." --Woody of The Wren's Nest Today I sat in the steamy heat of a West End Victorian garden and listened to the folktale of Brer Alligator, who didn't know what trouble was but decided it couldn't … Continue reading Trouble | Joel Chandler Harris
Unfamiliarity | Natasha Tretheway
You can get there from here, though there’s no going home. Everywhere you go will be somewhere you’ve never been. --Natasha Trethewey, “Theories of Time and Space” (from Native Guard, the Pulitzer-winning poetry collection exploring her relationship with her native South)
Intuition | Naomi Shihab Nye
"To live without roads seemed one way not to get lost. To make maps of stone and grass. to rub stars together, find a spark." -Naomi Shihab Nye, "Spark"