We can all use a bit of comfort these days, right? Since we’re social-distancing to decrease the spread of COVID-19, many people are without the comfort of in-person company, hugs, and laughter. What to do? I invite you to take the next ten minutes to read this and you may feel better.
Listen to good voices
The following quotes (inspiring, comforting, fun, joyful, interesting) comfort me, so I thought they might put more ease in your heart today, bring comfort to your soul. If nothing else, they may give you things to think about that you might not otherwise consider.
As a writer, I am comforted by the fine work of these writers (below), and thankful I can keep working at writing, too. Some days, it feels harder than usual to focus on my work in the midst of these ghastly times.
Your turn
If you have any comforting words that you want to share—like quotes, poems, descriptions of beautiful things—let me hear from you. Submit them in the Comments section of this post for all to enjoy.
From The Book of Qualities by J. Ruth Gendler
♥ “Courage has roots. She sleeps on a futon on the floor and lives close to the ground. Courage looks you straight in the eye. She is not impressed with powertrippers, and she knows first aid. Courage is not afraid to weep and she is not afraid to pray, even when she is not sure who she is praying to. When Courage walks, it is clear that she has made the journey from loneliness to solitude.”
From Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
♥ “He threw himself into the dance, clapping his hands, leaping and pirouetting in the air, falling on to his knees, leaping again with his legs tucked up—it was as if he were made of rubber.”
♥ “The sea was azure blue, the waves were flecked with foam, the sea-going fortresses were dancing in the harbour, and flags of many colours were flapping from every mast. You could smell the partridges roasting and the red mullet on the grill …”
♥ “When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage!”
From Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
♥ ” … Ghandi’s passivity was not weakness at all. It meant focusing on an ultimate goal and refusing to divert energy to unnecessary skirmishes along the way. Restraint, Gandhi believed, was one of his greatest assets.”
From The Big Rock Candy Mountain by Wallace Stegner
♥ “The summer cottage nestled back in a bay in the tall cedars and pines on the east slope of the Big Rock Candy Mountain. The water in front, beyond the strip of gravelly beach, was in the mornings clear emerald, and sometimes at moonset clear gold.”
From Sand and Form by Kahlil Gibran
♥ “A sense of humor is a sense of proportion.”
♥ “All those who have lived in the past live with us now. Surely none of us would be an ungracious host.”
From Journal of a Solitude by May Sarton
♥ “October 5th. I woke to the meadow bright silver with frost, and brilliant sunlight through yellow leaves over the barn. What would I do without this calming open space to rest my eyes on?”
♥ “April 21st. … I do not think it is the business of a poet to become a guru. It is his [or her] business to write poetry, and to do that he must remain open and vulnerable.”
Now it’s your turn. See you in the Comments section.
Thanks for reading. Stay safe. Please when you go out, wear a mask.
Your writer on the wing,
Charlene
Peggy Lantz
“Tense? Frustrated? Discouraged? … This may be the time to visit my friendly psychiatrist, Old Doc Log. You’ll find him patient , willing to listen. And his price is right. His procedures are beautifully simple; the results, impressive. … when I’ve had it up to here, I head for the nearest patch of wild. Doc Log has branch offices wherever there’s a rock to sit on, a tree to lean against, waves lapping a shore, a rippling stream.” Meet My Psychiatrist, by Les Blacklock
Charlene Edge
Very cool, Peg. Thanks for sharing with us!
Linda Goddard
Here are two quotes I place on the first page of my course syllabus:
“. . . only kindness makes sense anymore, . . . only kindness that ties your shoes/and
sends you out into the day . . ./ only kindness that raises its head/from the crowd of the
world . . ./ and then goes with you every where/ like a shadow or a friend.”
From “Kindness,” by Naomi Shihab Nye
“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its life believing it is
stupid.”
Charlene Edge
Lovely! Appreciate your quotes, Linda. Right on!
Steve
An artist is present. And from this stillness comes brilliance.
Holiday, Ryan. Stillness Is the Key (p. 28). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
“If you wish to improve,” Epictetus once said, “be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters.”
Holiday, Ryan. Stillness Is the Key (p. 31). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Charlene, thanks for this lovely post.