“The most successful givers aren’t doing it because they are being told to. They do it because doing it is fun. It gives them joy.”
– Seth Godin
(This sums up our CreativeMornings Clubs hosts)
Givers
What Are We To Do
“I suppose,
is to hope the world
keeps its balance;
what we are to do, however,
with our hearts
waiting and watching—truly
I do not know.”
– Mary Oliver
Make Differently
“The ultimate, hidden truth of the world is that it is something that we make, and could just as easily make differently.”
― David Graeber
Bravery
“No one ever tells you that bravery feels like fear.”
– Mary Kate Teske
When Asked To Do A Project..
“Whenever I get asked to do a project, I always think of it as an opportunity to promote my values.”
– Rick Owens
I think the same thing when I give a talk, like this last weekend, at WECode Harvard.
Destruction and Renewal
“Destruction and renewal are part of the same cycle. Indigenous knowledge has always understood this. It’s not about avoiding collapse-it’s about preparing for regeneration.”
– Mellisa K.Nelson
A Confession Of Character
“People do not seem to realize that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Just So You Know
Just so you know–
everything in the entire
universe is always about love.
And when it is not about love,
it’s about the absence of love.
Hope this makes sense.
– Unknown
There Are A Hundred Paths
“There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But, who wants easier?”
– Mary Oliver
The Antidote to Doom
“The anditode to doom is curiosity.”
– Ezra Klein
Darkness Of The Womb
“What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb?
What if our America is not dead but a country that is waiting to be born?
What if the the story of America is one long labor?”
– Valarie Kaur
Notice
“I urge you to please notice when you are happy.”
– Kurt Vonnegut
Flourishing
“All flourishing is mutual.”
– Robin Wall Kimmerer
Nowhere to go but up
“It’s so freeing and beautiful in a way, to have a great failure. There’s nowhere to go but up.”
– David Lynch
Build A New Model
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
—Buckminster Fuller
Always Go To The Funeral
“Always go to the funeral” means that I have to do the right thing when I really, really don’t feel like it. I have to remind myself of it when I could make some small gesture, but I don’t really have to and I definitely don’t want to. I’m talking about those things that represent only inconvenience to me, but the world to the other guy. You know, the painfully under-attended birthday party. The hospital visit during happy hour. The Shiva call for one of my ex’s uncles. In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn’t been good versus evil. It’s hardly so epic. Most days, my real battle is doing good versus doing nothing.”
A beautiful read: Always Go To The Funeral, by Deirdre Sullivan
Community is…
“Community is what happens when you do what you love together.”
– Pete Davis
We Can Disagree
“We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and right to exist.”
– James Baldwin
Instrument of Cultural Change
“A talent for speaking differently, rather than for arguing well, is the chief instrument of cultural change.”
― Richard Rorty
(via Casper)
Everything is on Fire
“Everything is on fire,
but everyone I love is doing beautiful things
and trying to make life worth living,
and I know I don’t have to believe in everything,
but I believe in that.”
– Nikita Gill
Now we continue living a life of integrity, kindness and community, no matter the circumstances. Find the helpers. Connect hearts.
We Need To Rewild The Internet
“Rewilding the internet is more than a metaphor. It’s a framework and plan. It gives us fresh eyes for the wicked problem of extraction and control, and new means and allies to fix it. It recognizes that ending internet monopolies isn’t just an intellectual problem. It’s an emotional one. It answers questions like: How do we keep going when the monopolies have more money and power? How do we act collectively when they suborn our community spaces, funding and networks? And how do we communicate to our allies what fixing it will look and feel like?
Rewilding is a positive vision for the networks we want to live inside, and a shared story for how we get there. It grafts a new tree onto technology’s tired old stock.”
We Need To Rewild The Internet, by Maria Farrell and Robin Berjon
(Thank you Brendan)
Stop Trying To Be Cool
“Stop trying to be cool. Be nerdy and obsessive about the things you love. Enthusiasm will get you farther than indifference.”
I’ve lost all the poems from the night
And now that it is morning
I’ve lost all the poems from the night.I watched them leave,
pack their bags and go.No way to stop them,
I’m left alone, and with nothing to show,
but my empty page and motionless pen.Until this night, I will wait
for my dear poems return
carrying nothing but fate
and stars in their little briefcases.And as I sit
I would rather chat than
write them down,
because who am I
to trap them in this town?– Ella Joy