Jonathan Safran Foer

I'm currently reading a book by the Jonathan Safran Foer and came across a quote that I found to be so beautifully, and often sadly, true. Mr. Foer is an American author best known for his Everything is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, the latter of which I'm reading right now.


" . . . . She wants to know if I love her, that's all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there."

I have read and reread that statement so many times since I first came across it this week in my nightly reading. How often do we all just want to hear the phrase "I love you" from whomever we are with? While actions do truly speak louder than words, we still crave the latter.

I know I like to hear it. Though I prefer the actions. The little things. . .

Napoleon Hill

Napoleon Hill was an American author of the personal-growth literature (ie, that now HUGE self help section at the book store!). He was once advisor to FDR during the Depression Years. And he has many famous quotes that pertain to empowerment, will power, success, positive thinking. All those good things!

I feel this particular quote pertains to SO many people in my life lately, including myself.

"Don't wait. The time will never be just right."

I know I am guilty of this, so it's not meant to be aimed at any one person. However, if you're reading this and think I might be talking about you, you are probably right! I can't tell you how many conversations I have had in the last month or so that involve a need and desire to change something, but conclude with some sort of "someday" scenario. Admittedly, I am completely guilty of this on many fronts. Mostly my reason for pushing things back lately is money. I'm either too poor or can't take off the time from my survival jobs to do whatever it is. And those are real reasons to postpone, oh, say, going on a yoga retreat to Costa Rica. I am taking baby steps as much as I can within the financial and time constraints I find myself living in. Not for the yoga retreat at this moment, but at least at ways of saving more money, spending less and such. I'm starting a new job in the hopes I can earn more and it will take less time to do so. That kind of thing.

And I think we can all make little changes like that. Because it will never be the perfect time to do something, to go somewhere, to talk to somebody, etc. The list goes on and on. But you have to make a choice to take baby steps too. It won't happen unless you make it happen.

Nike may have put it more simply with their "Just Do It" campaign, but I prefer to quote Mr. Hill!

Anatole France

Anatole France was a poet, journalist, and novelist. He once won the Nobel Prize for Literature. . . and get ready for this. . . he was French. Original last name, huh? Ha! This man has some amazing quotes from his various publications. Thank you, Wikipedia and the Google for teaching me that!

"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy, for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another."

This quote's pure, simple beauty truly brings me to tears. Maybe that's because of some of the changes in my life lately, maybe it's still simply effects of my breakup, or maybe it's the honesty in the statement itself. That quote is art to me. THAT is why I love quotes.

Moving forward is so hard. Whether it's switching careers, ending a relationship, moving, graduating, getting married, having a kid, whatever. . . ALL of those things have hope in them. But they also all have loss. Because those epic events signify the end of something that probably wasn't just a fleeting moment. It's a celebration and a mourning both at once.

I mourn the celebration. I celebrate the loss.

I'm confused even as I write that! And yet I know it's the simple truth.

US Post Office inscription in Washington, D.C.

I like mail. I've always liked mail. I like getting it. I like sending it. There is something romantic and exciting about getting mail.  The anticipation of opening up the mailbox to see what treasures and surprises await is one of life's simple pleasures for me.

"Messenger of sympathy and love, servant of parted friends, consoler of the lonely, bond of the scattered family, enlarger of the common life." 

That's what is inscribed on the US Post Office in D.C. How beautiful is that?!

Do I send sympathy cards? Yup. Do I send cards to friends? Yup. Do I send cards saying that I just miss you and love you? Yes, depending on who you are. Do I send mail to my family? All the time. Is my life made better every time I get my InStyle, Time Out NY or Family Circle Magazines? Yes, it is! Talk about enlarging the common life!

If only bills didn't come in the mail. I scold my postman when he leaves me bills. I say "no bills, please. Try another mailbox!" And yet he still gives them to me, the jerk.

Notice the lovely inscription says nothing about bill delivery.

Lucy Maud Montgomery

Lucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian author best known for writing the series, Anne of Green Gables. One of my personal faves - I mean, Anne was a stubborn, driven redhead!

"Worrying helps you some. It seems as if you are doing something when you're worrying."

Lately, I've been doing a lot of worrying. Mostly about money, which goes hand in hand with career. Particularly when I've chosen a career that no longer seems to make me any money. And I'm not sure how much of that is a sign of the times, my age range, dumb luck, and how much is fate trying to tell me something. So I worry. I don't just worry. I am doing my best to forge ahead. The problem with forging ahead, though, is that it takes some money to do that. And, so, then I'm back to worrying. It's a fun cycle, let me tell you.

I guess for me, though, if I didn't worry a little bit, I probably wouldn't do anything to change my circumstances. I'm an actor, so a lot of what I do used to be driven by insecurities. Wanting people to like me, wanting to entertain and get that oh-so-coveted applause. Now I work to pay my bills. So my drive to be successful, whether as an actor, or in any survival job I have comes from my anxiety about paying for my life. It's not that I don't enjoy working in any job, but I've found my reasons for working change a bit as I've aged and have other responsibilities.

I wish I just felt a little more secure so my "worrying" wouldn't be quite so often, or so much.

But. . . . if worrying could burn some calories, then I'd be ok with the status quo!

Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav has many names on the internet. Here's what I know for sure: he lived in the late 18th and early 19th century; he was Jewish; his religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God in normal conversation "as you would with a best friend." The second, I realize is a "duh" but it had to be said.

"If you won't be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?"

Wise words. I'm always trying (key word being trying) to be better than I was before. Aren't we all? I hope we all are. We all want to learn, grow, not make the same mistakes twice, etc. There is a similar Gandhi quote (or I'm pretty sure it's Gandhi) that says something to the effect of "if you aren't growing, you're dying."

Any life, any relationship, any career. . . the second you think you know it all, that there is nothing else to learn or improve upon, you might as well stop.  Give up. Quit. Cuz you are useless if you truly believe you, or your relationship, or your career is perfect. There is NO SUCH THING. Perfect is fictional.

I think the Rabbi was onto that concept. Or maybe ahead of his time. Status quo can be so boring. "Maintaining" alone. . . what's the point? Constantly at least try to improve. Try to learn. Try to grow.

There is always room for improvement in this world.

Ernest Gaines

Ernest Gaines is an American author who grew up on an old slave quarters on a Louisiana plantation. His most famous work is probably A Lesson Before Daying. He has split most of his time between San Francisco and Louisiana since the mid-1980's. Two places that couldn't be more different in many ways.

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?"

I promise I will stop posting only gay-themed comments after this. I just found so many good ones after the exciting news of lay weekend here in NYC. 

This quote is SO scarily true. Even when it comes to the news and movies. R rated movies = nudity of any kind over violence. Violence can be PG-13. And violence on the news is completely ok, but sexual comments or nudity are completely forbidden. It just makes no sense! Sexuality and nudity are beautiful. And hopefully, something we all love and enjoy throughout our lives. Violence, well, let's hope that is NOT something we all experience in our lives.

A gun is something we make toy versions of for kids, for crying out loud . . . but I don't see us making a Barbie and Barbie or Ken and Ken. At least not yet.

I admit, I do still notice two men holding hands walking by me. But it doesn't bother me. I just notice it. To my credit, I absolutely notice guns as well - on soldiers, police, or security checkpoints. And I truly feel uncomfortable around them. So I guess it says something about me that two men walking down the street holding hands only causes me to glance, while the other makes me grimace. 

Then again, these days, anybody holding hands and being in love has my envy and admiration! 

I do think society is changing. Too slowly perhaps, but changing. And someday, hopefully we can at least be comfortable with people and things that might be "different" from us. Or at least appreciate that, guns should be listed on that "different" list too, no? Let's shift at least to that! 

I'm for hand holding over gun holding. Any day of the week!