I am hugely motivated and inspired by words. When I was five years old (yes, that's right!), I made a book in kindergarten, weaving the cover out of paper strips. It's slightly smaller than A6. And, at the tender age of 5, I decided that I would put one poem or saying per year into it - one per page - until the pages ran out. I realised that the end of the book would take me to the ripe old age of 25, which, of course, appeared ancient. At some point around the age of 14, English appeared in these sayings, or not. At the age of 18, I realised one saying was not enough to capture the mood of a year, so I wrote down more - 4, 5 sometimes - but I always stuck to one page. Looking back, I can watch myself grow up, from the first two years, where my Mum helped me find a quote (leading to quite old-fashioned proverbs), through teenage rebellion, into adulthood. Amongst other things, the book made me focus - what was this year about? With my birthday in October, I wouldn't even attempt to leave a quote until the following summer - what if my life was about to change radically, and the year would forever be eternalised with a quote that was no longer relevant? Through the quotes, I can track when I was grateful for things going well, when I was keeping myself psyched up to keep on fighting when things were rough, when I felt I was in need of cheering myself up, or when I was feeling contemplative. I would write down bits of poems, full poems, random sentences from books. If it meant something to me, it would go in.
And now, I'm on the hunt for words again. Words that mean something, that inspire, keep us going, motivate us, remind us of what we have, who we are, and what could be if only we went and got it. And I shall turn them into jewellery. On commission, or to buy. I have more ideas than there are hours in the day, but I have just listed the first one in my etsy shop. The quote is by Victor Hugo:
Be like the bird that, pausing on her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels
them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.
So, ladies (and gents), let us keep singing, for we all have wings!
My question to you is this: Which words motivate you? What saying/poem/random phrase reminds you to get out of bed, face the day with a smile on your face...and keep on singing?
I hope you're all having a good day!
Words and language in general are very important to me. After all I studied Linguistics at University. I'm fascinated by the power of language and how you can present or twist the truth by a careful re arrangement of letters. I even chose as one of the readings at our wedding my favourite line from St John's Gospel : "In the beginning was the word...".
ReplyDeleteMy motivational words come in the form of song lyrics but they are too private to reveal here! (i'm a secretive old so and so...!)
I know what you mean, Mary - you'll notice that the post doesn't actually quote any of my quotes from the book, lol. Although the Nietzsche quote below is one of them - added to the book when I was 18 and moving to London to become a world-famous opera singer, lol!
ReplyDeleteI love quotes and here are two of my favourites:
ReplyDeleteThe past can't be changed and the future is far from guaranteed, so it's better to concentrate instead on the here and now.
“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.”
- Mary Anne Radmacher
But today my quote of the day would be this:
"Life has to be a little nuts sometimes. Otherwise it's just a bunch of Thursdays strung together. "
They're lovely, thank you :o) And that middle one...oooh, I'd know just what to do with it!
ReplyDeleteWell, I herewith hand it over to you ;o)
ReplyDelete