A Snippet of Soul Language from bell hooks

"From the people of the backwoods, I have learned that we can see into each other's hearts if we want to; that there is really never any need for words; that if you want to know a person you have to taek a good lok inside them, to move on inside their flesh, to open the doors of their heart and take a look. From the people of the backwoods I have learned that looking into a body this way can be violating, that it is always necessary to look only to be of service, and not to use what is seen for power. It is the difference between magic that heals and magic that hurts."

- bell hooks, Wounds of Passion

 When reading bell hooks' autobiographies, I was struck by how close to home her language came to me - we have not shared experiences, but we share a stylistic spirit that I can only hope is cultivated within me.

South Asian American History Lessons

"These personal accounts allow us to glimpse an alternate picture of South Asian American history, one in which migrants from the subcontinent built lives with and among people who had come to New York City--and to Harlem--from different parts of the country and the world and who shared class circumstances, living conditions, parallel experiences of racialization, and eventually neighborhoods and families, once they settled in the city. The stories of this hidden life of Harlem also make one thing certain: it is impossible to find the 'South Asian America' of the pre-1965 era as if it were a neatly delineated ethnic neighborhood, with clear borders and clearly marked signs; this South Asian America was and continues to be embedded within other Americas, within Puerto Rican America, Afro-Caribbean America, and African America."

-- Vivek Bald, Bengali Harlem

Please obtain this amazing book as soon as possible.

The Voice of Dreams

"The present tense is the voice of dreams."
- Richard Panek (my creative non-fiction professor)

Blueprint on Mastery

"I expressed to Rare Groove that, to me, music is like a beach.  If you were to go to the beach and pick up as much sand as possible with your hands, that would be the most music knowledge and experience that any one person would ever have.  Just as you can never pick up all the sand, you can never learn all there is to know about music.  But instead of letting that fact discourage me, I use it as inspiration to go back to the beach every day and appreciate it for what it is and the breadth of knowledge it has to offer.  I can’t quit going to the beach that music represents because I love it, and because I will never master it."

- Blueprint, "A Birthday and an Anniversary"

Da Vinci on Accomplishment

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

The First Thought

"Trust the impulse." - Professor Panek (on writing down your first thoughts)

A Quote on Kindness

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Unknown

(brought to my attention by my roommate Lea)

Leonardo Da Vinci on Bodies

"The boundaries of bodies are the least of all things." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

Mr. Saleq on Destiny and Fear

"'What else can I do? I am sitting under the sword of Damocles. So I have to be cautious. I don't sleep at home at night. But I believe in destiny. I can never die before my death.'"

- pg. 120, Of Blood and Fire, Jahanara Imam quoting Mr. Saleq

Toni Cade on Speed and Movement

Not all speed is movement.
- Toni Cade, "On the Issue of Roles," The Black Woman

Some Words on Doing Nothing from Franz Kafka

You need not do anything. 

 Remain sitting at your table and listen. 

 You need not even listen, just wait. 

 You need not even wait, just learn to be quiet, still and solitary. 

And the world will freely offer itself to you unmasked. 

 It has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

 - Franz Kafka

Some Wisdom from A Writer's Resource

"Your focus is your reality." 

- the front cover of my notebook from Half-Price Books.

Edgar Allan Poe on Truth

"Thus there is such a thing as being too profound. Truth is not always in a well. 

In fact, as regards the more important knowledge, I do believe that she is invariably superficial. The depth lies in the valleys where we seek her, and not upon the moutaintops where she is found." - Edgar Allan Poe (via his character Dupin) in "Murders in the Rue Morgue"

A Quote from Richard Hugo on Small Things

“Think small. If you have a big mind, that will show itself. If you can't think small, try philosophy or social criticism.”
― Richard Hugo, The Triggering Town: Lectures and Essays on Poetry and Writing

A Quote on Suffering and Change by Socrates

"If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter the reality." - Socrates

Some Words on Fallibility from a Student

"Are we faulting her for being human?" - a student in my Early Modern Women Writers class on value judgments and women who do not nurture

How to Build Your Life from Anita Hill

"Don't build the vision of your life on your current circumstances, build it on what you can imagine." - Anita Hill (from her speech at Barnard two weeks ago)

Insight from Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf's New Year's resolutions, January 2, 1931 via Lauren Elkin:

    Here are my resolutions for the next 3 months; the next lap of the year.
    To have none. Not to be tied.
    To be free & kindly with myself, not goading it to parties: to sit rather privately reading in the studio.
    To make a good job of The Waves.
    To stop irritation by the assurance that nothing is worth irritation [referring to Nelly].
    Sometimes to read, sometimes not to read.
    To go out yes—but stay at home in spite of being asked.
    As for clothes, to buy good ones.

(thanks The Migrant Book Club!)

Inspiration from Womensphere

As I mentioned on the past two posts, I attended the Womensphere Emerging Leaders Summit this week, whose theme was Creating the Future. I left the conference feeling truly honored to have listened to these amazing women speakers who are all doing great work in their fields. Here are a few of the many inspiring quotes that I took down throughout the the first day of the conference (click on any of their names for more information about the women behind the words):

"One of your biggest weapons is the sound of your voice." - Toshi Reagon

"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste." - Michele Wucker

"There is no substitute for shared experiences." - Angela Leaney

"Leadership is not a part-time job." - Angela Leaney

"It's important to be comfortable with discomfort." - Lisa Shalett

"You have all this runway in front of you. What are you going to do with it?" - Susan Tardanico

"I got put on this earth as a woman. I don't want to be a man. I want to be what I was put on this earth to be." - Madeline Nelson

"The legacy you live is the legacy you leave." - Virginia Ruesterholz

"Sometimes when people say 'no' really loudly, it tells you that you that it's a really good idea." - Keren Bergman

"You only really need to be 85% right." - Keren Bergman

"If you're feeling helpless, help someone." - Morley

"Being fearless is not an absence of fear." - Jacqueline Wales

12 True Things

Today? A round-up of wisdom, some clichéd and others not, that bears repeating.*

(via My Modern Met)

The world will not end should you decide not to engage with it.

"Be different from one another, and love our differences with big, open hearts." - Sally McGraw from Already Pretty

The memories you make are all you get to keep.

"Most of us have an invisible inner terrible someone who says all sorts of nutty stuff that has no basis in truth." - Sugar via The Rumpus

Loving yourself is not an option - rather, it is the denial of an essential truth.

"Saying I have to suggests that we do not have a choice, and that we are not in control of our lives... For starters, you don’t have to do anything! You know that. The world will not come to an end if you don’t do something (in most cases)." - Vanessa Paxton via ThinkSimpleNow

Take care of your emotions as if they were a bath: too hot and they burn you, too cold and they make you shiver. Let them drain out when it's time and build up when you need them. Don't leave the water unchanged for too long.

"You have permission to: not ever feel the need for permission." - Danelle LaPorte on White Hot Truth

Revision to the Golden Rule: Don't treat others the way you want to be treated - ask them how they want to be treated and honor that decision.

"…What matters is the work: the string of words propelled by God becoming a poem, the weave of colour and graphite scrawled upon a sheet that magnifies His motion. To achieve within the work a perfect balance of faith and execution. From this state of mind becomes a light, life-charged." - Patti Smith via Nextness

Love the challenge. Love the process. Don't settle for less.

*If you're counting the picture, we have 12 True Things. Good eye! Here's a bonus:

You will become what you manifest.