(You know you’re a writer when you take a picture of the notes you’re scribbling down while at a writer’s conference because you think your pen looks hella sexy.)
I’ve had so much great input as of late, from a variety of sources, and have collected a smattering of quotes I’ve penned on whatever papered surface was in my midst. I wasn’t sure what I would do with these quotes, I was simply inspired to pen them down. In the interest of not containing these quotes on paper where only my eyes will glance upon them, I’ve decided to fashion this post and release them into the wild, where they belong.
Quotes from panelists during the Writing at Work conference, which took place at the University of Montana campus on Friday:
“You need to be ready to be rejected over and over and over. If one rejection email is going to crush you, you shouldn’t be a writer.”
“I can’t get too close to my hometown of Cut Bank, Montana – it’s population, elevation, and wind velocity are all the same number: 3,800.”
“Stick with your voice, we’re more capable than we think” and “Put in the time, even when you don’t want to.” – Pete Fromm
“Create occasions you have to rise to.”
“Find the joy in the work” and “I only learn things when I suck at it.” – Sarah Aswell (local comedian and comic writer)
“There’s often a crisis that precipitates inspiration.” – Editor of Beargrass Publications
“No woman writer thinks they have permission to write.”
Random quotes from random sources of inspiration (from songs to films; from books to videos on youtube; from articles to twitter posts):
“Keep your head up and your heart strong.” – song lyric, Ben Howard
“What poisons me is what poisons you.” – song lyric, The Barr Brothers (not realizing, I wrote this one down twice!)
“If you ask me where I live right now, where the real me is, I would say that there’s a quiet, gentle seat in the universe that seems to contain everything, and that’s where I am.” – Jim Carrey from the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
“Every time you open your mouth you learn something about yourself.” – Jim Carrey from the documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond
“The trouble is, you think you have time.” – Jack Kornfield
“To judge the claims of contemplatives, we have to build our own telescope.” – Sam Harris
“Compassion is the strongest force our heart has.” – Brother Phap Man
“Whatever you do in life, if you’re going to do it, give it everything you’ve got. Don’t just do it half-heartedly.” – Ajahn Brahm
“Our civilization, our culture, has been characterized by individualism. The individual wants to be free from the society, from the family. The individual does not think he or she needs to take refuge in the family or in the society, and thinks that he or she can be happy without a sangha. That is why we do not have solidity, we do not have harmony, we do not have the communication that we so need. The practice is, therefore, to grow some roots. The sangha is not a place to hide in order to avoid your responsibilities. The sangha is a place to practice for the transformation and the healing of self and society. When you are strong, you can be there in order to help society.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“You can’t control how other people receive your energy. Anything you do or say gets filtered through the lens of whatever they are going through at the moment, which is not about you. Just keep doing your thing with as much integrity and love as possible.” ~Nanea Hoffman
going outwords & inwords 