Why Read and Write

"Despite every advancement, language remains the defining nexus of our humanity; it is where our knowledge and hope lie. It is the precondition of human tenderness, mightier than the sword but also infinitely more subtle and ultimately more urgent. Remember that writing things down makes them real; that it is nearly impossible to hate anyone whose story you know; and, most of all, that even in our post-postmodern era, writing has a moral purpose. With twenty-six shapes arranged in varying patterns, we can tell every story known to mankind, and make up all the new ones—indeed, we can do so in most of the world’s known tongues. If you can give language to experiences previously starved for it, you can make the world a better place." 


-Andrew Solomon

Wins, Loses, and Burnout

"The nurse is in that room day in and day out. You give a piece of yourself to that child. But intimacy has its dangers. You have to be able to set it aside. You can't come in on your days off. You have to be able to go home at the end of the day and have a glass of wine, or go rock climbing, or visit with friends. If you can't go home and rebuild, you'll burn out. You won't be able to handle the losses if your just surviving off the wins. Because the losses are severe. you were allowed into that child's life at their most intimate time, and you were trusted. And that is a gift. And even in death, you learned something from that child that made you a better person and a better nurse."

-Humans of New York

Both

both.
i want to stay.
i want to leave.
i am three oceans away from my soul.

-lost

nayyirah waheed

Schooled

"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go."

-Tennessee Williams

Burdens and Callings

"I believe in callings. They come as Aces, like the clouds parting, the gift bestowed from above. But I also believe that callings require you to reorient your life and cut away anything extraneous. They are burdens as much as they are gifts."

 Jessa Crisspin book, The Creative Tarot.

Two for Twenty

"I call that trading two for twenty...I'm trading two possibly uncomfortable years for twenty value-driven years."

-Jess Lively

Getting Schooled 2015-2016

"Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."

-Terry Pratchett