Ideas do not belong to people.  Ideas live in the world as we do.  We discover certain ideas at certain times.*
M. C. Richards

*M. C. Richards’ Centering.

Being of an reasonable sort appears to require limitation. Perhaps that is because Being requires Becoming, as well as mere static existence – and to become is to become something more, or at least something different.*
Jordan Peterson

*Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life.

It’s more important, I think, that we listen deeply to our stories and then see where it leads. And that’s the piece. If we all do our part … Whatever our part is. Just do one thing. That’s all we have to do.
Simone Campbell

Your ikigai is at the intersection of what you are good at and what you love doing.**
Héctor Garcia

It is likely that
meeting the needs of others will be
the most meaningful thing that we do in our
lives.

One thing that dreamwhispering conversations
with hundreds of people has impressed upon me is how
everyone has competency and passion in something –
And that’s enough,
More than enough to begin.

It’s really about believing in what we discover about ourselves,
So that we can put the pieces together into
a story that brings us joy and serves
others –
Your meaningful
isn’t far away.

Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet
immensity of you own presence. …
Respond to the call of your gift and
the courage to follow its path.^

*Krista Tippett’s Becoming Wise;
**Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method;
^John O’Donohue’s Benedictus: For Presence.

Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.*
Robert Bresson

What the world asks of you is courage. Courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure as you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty. You alone have the tools to craft the vehicle that carries us on our search for reality, our best effort to make sense out of the anarchy of existence.**
Robert McKee

Mainstream is in trouble,
Those at the centre of our major stories have
lost the plot,
We need your outsider story –
It has always been so:
Story is metaphor for life,
and life is conflict.
That is its nature.**

You see things differently –
Just examine your values – and when your seeing is
wrapped in your unique mix of talents
and goodness,
You have found your courage and
selflessness.

A good place to begin making this visible is to
write it down;
Another thing is to begin
dreamwhispering.

May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you
In worth and self respect,
That you may live with the dignity
That presides in your soul.^

*Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method;
**Robert McKee‘s newsletter: Why Audiences Need Our Stories;
John O’Donohue’s Benedictus: A Blessing of Angels.

What do Drawing Singing Dancing MUSIC MAKING Handwriting Playing Storywriting Acting Remembering and even Dreaming all have in common? THEY COME ABOUT WHEN A CERTAIN PERSON in a CERTAIN PLACE in a CERTAIN TIME arranges CERTAIN UNCERTAINTIES INTO A CERTAIN FORM.*
Lynda Barry

In a significant organisation … each person is a vital component, adding human insight, care, and commitment to the work at hand. In this environment, there’s no room for someone who is simply compliant.**
Seth Godin

When it comes to doing the
heart and soul thing you must do,
There’s probably been a time when those observing
have believed this to be
the wrong thing in
the wrong place at
the wrong time, making you
the wrong person.

I happened to be reading a bible story^ about
a woman – whom some deemed to be a sinner – gatecrashing
a meal in honour of Jesus and enacting a host’s
footwashing ceremony by
using her own tears and perfumed ointment;
in the eyes of others,
There was nothing right about this, and yet
this woman and her story is remembered
two thousand years later.

Some of the most important contributions have come
from outsiders, for whom
there is no right time, but only
now for bringing their contribution.

We don’t need to begin as dramatically as the woman
in our story, but firstly find small ways of not complying
and build from there.

You already have permission because
you are here.

The fourth and most important function of myth, [Joseph] Campbell says, is to “foster the centring and unfolding of the individual in integrity” with the self (the microcosm); the culture (the mesocosm); the universe (the macrocosm) ; and the pan-cosmic unity, the ultimate creative Mystery, which is “both beyond and within himself and all things.”^^

*Lynda Barry’s What It Is;
**Seth Godin’s The Song of Significance;
^Luke7:36-39;
^^Jean Houston’s A Mythic Life.

May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places
Where your life is domesticated and safe,
Take you to the territories of true otherness
Where all that is awkward in you
Can fall into its own rhythm.**
John O’Donohue

Mindfulness is the process of waking up to see what’s right in front of us.^
Ryder Carroll

Our longing marks where the path forks;
We cannot see our new path only because as yet
it lies untrodden.

*Apologies for the title; I’ve never used the word “bifurcate” before, and thought it would be fun;
**John O’Donohue’s Benedictus: A Blessing of Angels;
^Ryder Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method.

Devote the backhalf of your life to serving others with your wisdom. Get old sharing the thing you believe are most important.*
Arthur Brooks

You have something that
will make a difference to at least
one other person.

This thing to give is your delight, but
you know it’s not for everyone,
And you’re alive to the moment when you meet the one.

*Arthur Brooks’ From Strength to Strength.

When you are young, you have raw smarts; when you are old, you have wisdom.  When you are young, you can generate lots of facts; when you are old, you know what they mean and how to use them.*
Arthur Brooks

After each episode of flow a person becomes more of a unique individual, less predictable, possessed of rarer skills.**
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

My Thin|Silence blog has emerged from a
slow journey in the same direction;
Approaching retirement, I now have
a better idea
of the contribution I want to make.

I hope that I am coming into
my wisdom,
The life that is borne of all
the experiences of failure and success (a lot of failure),
Of exploring and discovery.

“This is it” moments in life have only
opened more episodes, further
series of possibility,
Moving horizons in
an expanding universe.

It is never too late and
you are never too old,
And to spend time curating all that you have
gathered through your many years will
lead you into more.

*Arthur Brooks; From Strength to Strength;
**Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s Flow.

dilettante (/ˌdɪlɪˈtanti,ˌdɪlɪˈtanteɪ/)

mid 18th century: from Italian, ‘person loving the arts’, from dilettare ‘to delight’, from Latin delectare .

You were made and set here to give voice to this, your own astonishment.*
Annie Dillard

What is your unwaning delight,
Your perpetual astonishment?

You must not let anything take these from you, or
become some obstacle to them.

Do not tell yourself,
Someday, I will find the time for them.

Now is the time, you are where they meet –
We’re here waiting for the magic.

*Rob Walker’s blog The Art of Noticing: Olfactory Work.

Wandering thoughts end up in unexpected places.