reminders for the soul
Only silence enables us to say something unheard of. The compulsion of communication, by contrast, leads to the reproduction of the same, to conformism:
So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop
Byung-Chal Han • Vita Contemplativa
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.
Stephen King • On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (A Memoir of the Craft (Reissue))
If you find yourself not following through on one of your strategies, for example, slow yourself down and list the actions you actually took instead of the actions detailed in your strategy.
Nancy A. Ratey • The Disorganized Mind
"Write in a way that comes naturally," "Revise and rewrite," "Do not explain too much," and the rest; above all, the cleansing, clarion "Be clear."
William Strunk JR. and E.B. White • The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition
Good writing is specific and concrete.
William Zinsser • Writing to Learn
"E. L. Doctorow once said that “writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.” You don’t have to see where you’re going, you don’t have to see your destination or everything you will pass along the way. You just have to see two or three feet ahead of you. This i... See more
Anne Lamott • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
the weirder, the better
instagram.comZen can essentially be reduced to three things.
Everything changes;
everything is interconnected;
pay attention to it.
Flaubert famously said, “Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.”
I learned about pathological demand avoidance, a pattern of behavior that is still up for debate in the ASD world but that for me represented a seismic OS update. It explained why I would unfailingly refuse to do something when asked, and why a demand or request would trigger an overwhelming sense of panic and certitude that I would only disappoint
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