It’s unfortunate and I really wish I wouldn’t have to say this, but I really like human beings who have suffered. They’re kinder.
-Emma Thompson
What She Said, November 29: Dawn Gehde
What She Said, November 28: Anne Lamott
Hope is not about proving anything. It’s about choosing to believe this one thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at us.
– Anne Lamott
What She Said, November 27: Elizabeth Gilbert
In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.
― Elizabeth Gilbert
What She Said, November 26: Wendy White Goddard (2018)
So lucky to have our grown children with us today, finishing up the Thanksgiving prep, graciously sharing hosting duties, and almost making it through the day before succumbing to well-earned naps. Now we are packing up leftovers for their coolers and preparing to send them on their way. They have other responsibilities: pets to care for, jobs to do tomorrow, friends to check in on. But they come home to the lake when they can, and we are grateful for it.
-Wendy White Goddard, 2018
Endings . . . and Beginnings
While most people think about food this time of year, I contemplate the end of the world.
What She Said, November 25: Mary Oliver
Praying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
― Mary Oliver
What She Said, November 24: Julia Reed
If you die and nobody brings food, it’s a sign that you weren’t very nice.
– Julia Reed
What She Said, November 23: Sue Taylor Lilley
Happiness is a virtue.
– Sue Taylor Lilley
What She Said, November 22: Louise Gluck
I think here I will leave you. it has come to seem there is no perfect ending. Indeed, there are infinite endings. Or perhaps, once one begins, there are only endings. –Louise Gluck
What She Said, November 21: Martha Gellhorn
I had a sudden notion of why history is such a mess: humans do not live long enough. We only learn from experience and have no time to use it in a continuous and sensible way. –Martha Gellhorn
