At sixty-six years of age, one might reasonably say, “Oh, enough growth already,” but there has to be growth and change, because life is growth and change.*
Anne Lamott

The challenges and stimuli may
come from outside, but if we have
grown, it is because we have
made it so.

You are welcome to print and colour this doodle whilst you reflect on your growings.

*Anne Lamott’s Dusk Night Dawn.

Inspiration far more often comes during the work than before it, because the largest part of the job of the artist is to listen to the work and to where it tells him to go.*
Madeleine L’Engle

Inspiration is for amateurs.  The rest of us just show up and get to work.**
Chuck Close

Wouldn’t it be great to be
caught up in something inspiring,
And we can –
All we have to do it
turn up, be full alert, and
put in the work.

*Madeleine L’Engle’s Walking On Water;
**Mason Currey’s Daily Rituals.

Doodles can be called mindless drawing.  It’s one of the last places drawing still exists in a person who gave up on art long ago.  A place where one line can still follow another without plan.*
Lynda Barry

Doodling is great for
not trying to be tidy or
accurate or to
impress someone –
In fact, it can be used to
break the habit of these very things.

You are welcome to print this off and
complete it with some of your own lines.

*Lynda Barry’s What It Is.

Colouring is a
great way to slow down and
relax,
A healthy way to become
lost for a while.

I promise to put up some for
you to colour in.*

*I coloured this with pencils, though felt tips would be better.

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.  It will not lead you astray.*
Rumi

The sense of calling comes from the question, What is my responsibility here?**
David Brooks

The lights turned on for me when I realised
there was a responsibility that was mine and
mine alone –
And I love it.^

*Elle Luna’s The Crossroads of Should and Must;
**David Brooks’ The Second Mountain;
^If I can help you find your responsibility, let me know: geoffrey@thinsilence.org.

Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith … Sometimes I think it is my mission to bring faith to the faithless, and doubt to the faithful.*
Paul Tillich

Avoid certainty,
Be open to possibility.

*Brian McLaren’s Faith After Doubt.

Learning that we are not our thoughts, that our thinking isn’t an accurate narration of the world around us, other people, and ourselves, is liberating.*
Beth Pickens

A helpful way to distance ourselves from all the thoughts
in our head, is to
write them down;
If you haven’t got the time for this,
Try saying them in the third person. –
This can work in seconds.**

*Beth Pickens’ Make Your Art No Matter What;
**Thank you to Ethan Kross’ Chatter for this.

On the personal side, as slaves to speed, we start to lose sight of family members, especially children, or those who are ill or infirm, who are not flying through the world as quickly or determinedly as we are.  Just as seriously, we begin to leave behind the parts of our own selves that limp a little, the vulnerabilities that actually give us colour and character.*
David Whyte

Slow down,
Be you,
All of you,
Fully present …
Breathe.

When was the last time this was you?

*David Whyte’s Crossing the Unknown Sea.

There’s often doubt.  Giving someone the benefit of that doubt enables us to move forward, and that requires us to realise that our doubt might be unfounded.  Systems that assume goodwill create possibility, connection and utility far easier than those that don’t.*
Seth Godin

Doubt is more often experienced
at the beginning of something
rather than the end; certainty can be
way more troublesome.

*Seth Godin’s blog: Assume goodwill.

Staying here isn’t
doing it – that’s what
doing, going, being different
is for.