Turn the faucet on

"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

(my western lovin' dad would be so happy I'm quoting his favorite author!)

via my new favo art blog: Daisy Yellow. Make sure to read her 13 tips for kicking your inner perfectionist to the curb!

Go wild

What she can do with imagination, markers & prismacolors makes me so happy - I am such a fan of Mary Englebreit - and I just love reading her blog. She doesn't post often, but she's really generous with her knowledge and it's so fun to just get a peek into her process.

Sunbeams

It is with words as with sunbeams, the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.

- Robert Southey (1774-1843, From A Word A Day)

via Deegy

Blackmail

I warned Keith he had better be nice to me or I'd post this picture on Facebook and tag it as him :D


via People of Walmart

Running against the wind

via vol. 25 (quote credit) (image credit)

One giant step

"Sometimes we have to "step over" our anger, our jealousy, or our feelings of rejection and move on. The temptation is to get stuck in our negative emotions, poking around in them as if we belong there. Then we become the "offended one," "the forgotten one," or the "discarded one." Yes, we can get attached to these negative identities and even take morbid pleasure in them. It might be good to have a look at these dark feelings and explore where they come from, but there comes a moment to step over them, leave them behind and travel on."

Henri Nouwen

Justice for all

True authority is exercised in the context of justice for all, with special attention to the weakest people, who cannot defend themselves and are part of the oppressed minority. A family or community authority, as well as having this sense of justice and truth, needs personal relationships, sensitivity in its action and the ability to listen, trust and forgive. None of this, of course, excludes moments of firmness.

- Jean Vanier, Community and Growth, p. 207

New year stories instead of resolutions

I sent this out on my facebook page, but don't want to forget it or have anyone miss it (Erin) because they are not in facebook.

Donald Miller blogged today about how to create stories around our goals to give them life and to inhabit them instead of having them cause us shame.

He writes:

A story involves a person that wants something and is willing to overcome conflict to get it. If you plan a story this year, instead of just simple goals, your life will be more exciting, more meaningful and more memorable. And you are much more likely to stick to your goals. For instance, rather than saying I want to finish getting into shape this year, I’ve written down that I want to climb Mt. Hood with a couple friends. I have a vision of standing on top of the mountain in May, taking pictures and all that. Now my goal has a narrative context. That’s just a simple story, and I’ve planned some stories that are far more difficult but I only use that as an example. If my goal were to lose twenty pounds, I doubt I’d stick with it. But when you have friends flying up from Texas to summit the mountain with you, you’d better believe you are going to be hitting the stairs. I have to, because it I don’t, my story will be a tragedy. Again, stories give goals context.

Make sure to head to his blog to read the rest of the post and grab a copy of his book A Million Miles in A Thousand Years like I'm going to very, very soon.

Donald Miller: Living a Good Story, An Alternative to New Years Resolutions

Happy New Decade!

And now, we welcome the new year,
full of things that have never been.

Ranier Maria Rilke