Let us allow our wild spirits to roam unfettered and unbound. Let us roar and howl and voice our deepest yearnings without caring what others will think about us.*
Keri Smith

Success is the product of daily habits – not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.
James Clear

Of all things, it was his brother’s betrayal that
set Joseph^ upon a path to astonishing accomplishment that
he could not have imagined:
It can sometimes be the actions of others that
let loose our wild spirit –
This is how it was for me;
Criticised and betrayed,
I both came upon and make a path that
brings greater fulfilment and
joy,
Though it has not been all at once –
I walk a slow journey in the same direction –
Nor am I roaring and howling:
Quite the opposite – I prefer hidden and quiet.

I hope you find your wild:
You don’t have to wait
for the criticism and betrayal.

*Keri Smith’s The Wander Society;
**James Clear’s Atomic Habits;
^Genesis 37.

From the beginning I have believed the world an amazing place, full of marvels, unheard of, not-yet-experienced.*
M. C. Richards

I’ve come to understand, a common feature of all aspects of spirituality is a loss of self, a letting go, a willingness to embrace something outside of ourselves, a willingness to listen rather than talk, a recognition that we are small and the cosmos is large.**
Alan Lightman

At the centre of everything,
The stillness and the being –
I am small and
the universe so big.

Oh my!

*M. C. Richards’ Centering;
**Alan Lightman’s The Transcendent Brain.

Plenty of people are “masters” of their universe while lacking the most important power there is … power over their own actions and choices.*
Ryan Holiday

Time that has passed is certainly irrecoverable, but what has happened within that time is unassailable and inviolable. Passing time is therefore not only a thief, but a trustee.**
Viktor Frankl.

Here is wisdom:
To see and understand all that time holds as trustee
for us, rather than as thief;
Everything focuses differently when we find
or make our purpose,
Riches of understanding and knowledge available
for the present,
For the benefit of others,
For beauty and joy.

Towards this,
It may be worth wasting a little time,
To slow down and take a closer look
at the greater story within.^

*Ryan Holiday’s Discipline is Destiny;
**Viktor Frankl’s The Doctor and the Soul;
^This is what dreamwhispering is about; get in touch for support with this.

Secret #2 is more important: Generosity.  It is much easier and more effective to come up with good ideas for someone else, much easier to bring a posture of insight and care on behalf of someone else.*
Seth Godin

*Seth Godin’s blog: Two simple secrets to good ideas.

How old do you have to be to make a bad drawing?*
Lynda Barry

Don’t listen to the naysayers –
Keep on doodling;
Today’s my 65th birthday and
I’m going to keep on doodling.

*Lynda Barry’s Making Comics.

So, to further our kinship relationship with the instinctual nature, it assists greatly if we understand stories as though we were inside of them, rather than as though they are outside of us. We enter a story through the door of inner hearing.*
Clarissa Pinkola Estés

You can probably find someone to do the job, play the parts, wear the uniform, show up mostly on time, and even smile now and then. But someone who can do the job AND CARES about the job…that’s a lot harder to find.**
Gabe Anderson

The inside story is your story,
It’s a wild story because it connects with who you are
and who you are becoming;
It’s a story of obsession, and
needs to be,
Else you’ll experience “story-creep” –
The thing that happens when you say “yes” to
too many things and too many people:
Trying to please everyone,
they end up pleasing no one.
To try to do everything
is to ensure you’ll do
nothing.^

The difficult part isn’t identifying the story –
Though this is hard enough because of what you’ll be handed
from all directions –
No, the difficult part is figuring out how to be focused on your story,
Every day, no matter what:
Your practice, your liturgy, your rituals.

In many cases, the real talent is being obsessed with the thing. What are you willing to focus on so wholeheartedly that you are happy to ignore nearly everything else?^^

*Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run With the Wolves;
**Gabe Anderson’s blog: Who Do You Want For the Job?;
^Ryan Holiday’s Discipline is Destiny;
^^James Clear’s 3-2-1 newsletter: The secret to creativity, how our challenges shape us, and the value of bad workouts.

We are only as much as what we give to others.*
gapingvoid

No-one was sent into the world without being given the infinite possibilities of the heart.**
John O’Donohue

Those who have, probably haven’t,
And those who haven’t, probably have;
The generous heart is a
generative heart –
It all begins here,
The brain hears, interprets, and fills in the gaps:
To be courageous is to live from one’s heart.

*gapingvoid’s blog: Compassion Wins;
**John O’Donohue’s Divine Beauty.

When all is lost, something wild will find you.*
Patrick Ness

What if, in our 60s, we weren’t fretting about leaving a legacy but beginning one.**
David Sinclair

… and maybe it’s just beginning;
My favourite words from a psalm declare:
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made …
In your book were written all the days that were formed for me,
when none of them as yet existed^ –
I hold this for every person,
Their wildness, if you like,
Fearful and wonderful,
More than a force of nature,
Perhaps finally doing what
they have always wanted to.

The days don’t degrade,
Each holding possibility for us
to pour our wildness into,
Removing the unnecessary,
Pruned back for fruitfulness.^^

*Jonathan Hoban’s Walk With Your Wolf;
**David Sinclair’s Lifespan;
^Psalm 139: 14,16;
^^Drop me a line to find out more about dreamwhispering.

What I will say is that I can’t remember a time in my adult life where I haven’t worked every day, and sometimes at a furious pace. I’ve just kept ploughing on, really, and that’s part of what you do as an artist. And I have a genuine love for the process of making things.*
Nick Cave

Always and forever, the reward is the work. It is a joy itself. It is torture and also heaven – sweaty, wonderful salvation.**
Ryan Holiday

The best way to prepare for the work is
to do the work,
And the best work we can do
is the kind that nothing and no-one will be able to take from us,
Not even retirement or unemployment;
For we are artists and workers, not because others have told us,
But because we must.

*Nick Cave and Seán O’Hagan’s Faith, Hope and Carnage;
**Ryan Holiday’s Discipline is Destiny.

We do not win our depth and our inner form and our texture of being without the fire. Ordeal by fire. There is no substitute for transformation of the body.*
M. C. Richards

Great writers look deeply for the eternal, unchanging truths of what it means to be a human being. Truth that makes the most difference in our lives, truth that brings us into the deepest contact with reality.**
Robert McKee

We do not become our best self by ease but by difficulty,
When our reality disintegrates before a greater reality, and
we choose not to discount or hide from or ignore this,
And we face the pain,
Then everything,
Including ourselves, becomes
greater.

*M. C. Richards’ Centering;
**Robert McKee‘s newsletter: Are You An Honest Writer?