My old writing desk needed a good sort, a good project for a chilly autumn day. Amazing what you can learn from this exercise. While cleaning out the little cubbies I came across some scribbled bits of wisdom I recorded here and there from years ago. I thought I’d share some…
- Sometimes the only clear way forward is looking backward. Unknown
- Freedom is what you do with what’s happened to you. Jean-Paul Sartre
- Bloom where you’re planted. St. Francis de Sales
- We don’t have to live great lives, we just have to understand and survive the ones we’ve got- Andre Dubu
- Above all, have fun- Julia Child
This is something I wrote a year ago on a loose slip of paper. I have no recollection of doing so…
If I were a brick in a hearth I wouldn’t have to wake up and wonder what the meaning of life was day after day. I would know that I had a valuable part to play in the structure of things, surrounded by other bricks, joined by latticed gray mortar. There I would remain day after day, year after year, warmed by the woodstove in winter, giving back my heat to the home.
I would watch the comings and goings of family, the bustle in the kitchen, cooking of meals, washing of dishes, the banter of daily life, the barking of the dog, the scamper of kittens.
But freedom would be wanting from my determined place on a wall
So I am not a brick in a hearth
Just a human trying to find her way.
By Alanna Pass 
One of my favorites, as I ‘stew’ over my life, is one everybody quotes – but I still like it! “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates.
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Ah yes good one, Cathy! (I think I might have an over examined life sometimes, however).
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Haha…. Me too!
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Julia Child came up with some good ideas to quote. I have on a plaque in my kitchen: “Life is the proper binge.” That one tamped down my whiney nature during Covid isolation.
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That’s a good one. I’m going to put it into use right now.
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I like that quote, but also the sweet picture of a human against the bricks. I want to hug her.
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I made that kitchen goddess years ago and she has kept me company as I go about my business in the kitchen. Thanks for noticing her!
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Reblogged this on The Reluctant Poet.
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Especially love what you wrote, Alanna!
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Thank you Becky!
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Those scribblings are treasures. When each of my parents died, I was blessed to find slips of papers they had put in books and it was like visiting them again. These are wonderful notes, thanks so much for sharing.
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Oh, you’re welcome. How precious that you found those notes from your parents. There’s some thing about hand written notes that capture such an essence.
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