Today’s Quote
If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow. ~ Louis L’Amour
Today’s Quote
If you’re going to be a writer, the first essential is just to write. Do not wait for an idea. Start writing something and the ideas will come. You have to turn the faucet on before the water starts to flow. ~ Louis L’Amour
Ray Bradbury’s book, Zen in the Art of Writing, has had a profound freeing experience on my writing. I’ve read it at least a half dozen times and keep my worn out paperback copy close by. I pick it up whenever my writing spirit needs to catch fire. Here’s a bit from his book to fire you up.
“And what, you ask, does writing teach us? First and foremost, it reminds us that we are alive and that it is a gift and a privilege, not a right.” ~ Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing
A new serialized story, Doing It Our Way, begins in 2 days
From that hour comes man’s Truth; and
During that century Truth sleeps between
The restless arms of disturbing dreams.
In that hour the soul sees for herself
The Natural Law, and for that century she
Imprisons herself behind the law of man;
And she is shackled with irons of oppression.
That hour was the inspiration of the Songs
Of Solomon, an that century was the blind
Power which destroyed the temple of Baalbek.
That hour was the birth of the Sermon on the
Mount, and that century wrecked the castles of
Palmyra and the Tower of Babylon.
That hour was the Hegira of Mohammed and that
Century forgot Allah, Golgotha, and Sinai.
One hour devoted to mourning and lamenting the
Stolen equality of the weak is nobler than a
Century filled with greed and usurpation.
It is at that hour when the heart is
Purified by flaming sorrow and
Illuminated by the torch of Love.
And in that century, desires for Truth
Are buried in the bosom of the earth.
That hour is the root which must flourish.
That hour of meditation, the hour of
Prayer, and the hour of a new era of good.
And that century is a life of Nero spent
On self-investment taken solely from
Earthly substance.
This is life.
Portrayed on the stage for ages;
Recorded earthly for centuries;
Lived in strangeness for years;
Sung as a hymn for days;
Exalted but for an hour, but the
Hour is treasured by Eternity as a jewel.
Today’s Quote
For all that has been, thank you. To all that shall be, Yes. ~ Dag Hammarskjold
The sea awoke at midnight from its sleep,
And round the pebbly beaches far and wide
I heard the first wave of the rising tide
Rush onward with uninterrupted sweep;
A voice out of the silence of the deep,
A sound mysteriously multiplied
As of a cataract from the mountain’s side,
Or roar of winds upon a wooded steep.
So comes to us at times, from the unknown
And inaccessible solitudes of being,
The rushing of the sea-tides of the soul;
And inspirations, that we deem our own,
Are some divine of foreshadowing and foreseeing
Of things beyond our reason or control.
Our life is grounded and rooted in love, and without love we may not live – Julian of Norwich
If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. – Einstein
Don’t start your day with broken pieces of the past. Yesterday ended last night. Today is a brand new day and it’s yours. Zig Ziglar
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. – Vince Lombardi
It’s Christmas Eve – Enjoy O Holy Night by Celine Dion – Merry Christmas = Ray