Saturday, July 7, 2012

Signposts and Guides for the Creative Life



I love a good quote.  I find them on little scraps of paper all over the house, tucked into books, scribbled on programs, left in the car on the backs of wrappers.  A friend and I were recently talking about our mutual addiction to them and she keeps a notebook dedicated only to these pearls of wisdom.  I’d like to get so organized.

I’m thinking that offering some of the ones I’ve come across might be of interest to followers of this blog.  And maybe, in return, they will be so kind as to share some of their favorites. 


 So here is my first offering.

 “Consider every path, carefully testing it in whichever way you feel necessary, then ask yourself, but only yourself, one question: ‘Does this path have heart?’  The path that has heart will uplift you, ease your burden and bring you joy.  The path with no heart will make you stumble, it will break your spirit, and finally cause you to look upon your life with anger and bitterness.”  Carlos Casteneda

Does this resonate with your experience as it does with mine?  If so, how did you learn this?


10 comments:

  1. That's beautiful Becky! Thanks for sharing. I have a board on pinterest that's just inspirational quotes. :)

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  2. Definitely resonates with my journey... Love it. I'm very excited to see these posts.

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  3. Very thought provoking Becky.
    I look forward to seeing more!
    I don't know if this quote fits, but I find it inspiring. I have it posted in my studio and on the Pinterest board where I post my work.
    "Every job is a self portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence."
    Author unknown.

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  4. I have been on a journey of identifying the difference between what brings me enjoyable satisfaction and what puts me into a space of pure joy. As in what truly lights my light within and causes the song of my soul to sing. Because they are different energies. Lots of things give me satisfaction and provide me a good feeling of accomplishment I can be proud of. However, far fewer things put me in a pure place of passion and joy.

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  5. I love that quote, Debi! It will go in my book.

    And this is an important topic to consider - the difference between "enjoyable satisfaction and a space of pure joy". The one seems so much less vibrant, of course. And yet, do we want to/need to/can we live in the heights? Regardless of our answers, it seems to me valuable to pay attention to the question.

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  6. Very nice, Becky. Thanks. I would eagerly embrace enjoyable satisfaction, but I don't think I could live constantly in pure joy, because living there constantly would seem to diminish it.

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  7. Becky, so glad for the start of this series. I began following your personal blog a little while ago, and I have already found several of your posts there thought-provoking and moving, so I know we are in for a treat here.

    I like quotes but I wouldn't say that I collect them (far too disorganized for that :-) ). I find that often I need more than words alone to have the force to change my thinking and my actions. Examples of others or stories seen/heard, or personal experiences seem to have more power. Though, without a doubt, words too can contribute to changing lives, but, often, not words alone...

    I'm going to go a bit off topic and share a quotation from a book rather than an inspirational quote. The quotation I'll share is one I came across yesterday, and its poignancy has a rather limited scope, but one that's relevant to me now. I'm on Cape Cod with my family now. It's a place I have been to several times, and after all these times, it still has a pull, a magic of sorts. I can't exactly describe or define it, and it isn't a sensation shared by all. I was reading "The Outermost House", quintessential Cape.Cod reading, and this line resonated with me: "There is no harshness in the landscape line, no hard Northern brightness or brusque revelation; there is always reserve and mystery, always something beyond, on earth and sea something which nature, honoring, conceals." I wonder if this resonates with others who have experienced CC.

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  8. That line evokes the Cape so well - can almost smell and feel the air; and done with such an economy of words!

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  9. I have those little scraps tucked into things all over the house too Becky. It's fun to come across them unexpectedly and enjoy them all over again. However I do like the idea of putting them in a book.
    I have a few tacked over my work desk and the one I am looking at now is "Inspiration comes of working everyday." Charles Baudelaire I placed it there to remind me to go and sit at my drawing table and to do something joyfully creative for myself....

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  10. Castenada is one of the most important teachers of my life. I have tried to walk the path of the heart since I read this quote 35 years ago. Thanks.

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