The Well
Last
month I spent a glorious week at the Highlights Foundation, learning from the
miraculous Patti Gauch. I can’t say enough about
her dedication, gentleness, fierceness, knowledge, and vision.
One
of her many bits of advice for the writers in attendance involved filling the well. The apparently
unrelated quotes in this post, all connect to that magical week, all come from
insightful women of note, & I hope they will make their way into your
wells, bubble around in there, blend with what’s already there, mingle,
fraternize, ferment, and grow.
“What
a richly colored strong warm coat
is
woven when love is the warp & work is the woof.”
-Marge
Piercy
“Every
bit of new truth discovered is revolutionary to what was believed before.”
-Margaret
Lee Runbeck
“I
think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal.
But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up
inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside of you.
If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts,
and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them,
but never really feel anything with them.”
-E.L.
Konigsburg
“The
greatest sign of success for a teacher…is to be able to say, “The children are
now working as if I did not exist.”
-Maria
Montessori
“If
I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the
christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the
world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout
life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom & disenchantment of
later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the
alienation from the sources of our strength.”
-Rachel
Carson
Readers,
I hope you’ll leave a note in the comments section regarding any of these that
you’d like to pour into your well.
Big thanks to the folks at the Highlights Foundation, the
unparalleled Patti
Gauch, my fellow
attendees, & this week’s source: Rosalie Maggio’s The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women.
"Filling the well" is something Julia Cameron talks about in The Artist's Way". It's why I don't believe in writing every day. You need time for your brain to "lie fallow" and just take in stuff, not always be putting it out. Walking by the bay, reading, talking with friends, listening to music. They all fill the well. And most of us need to do more of it.
ReplyDeleteThese are great well-filling quotes!
Well said, Anne. Love that book and Cameron is so right. Sometimes you have to move away to see what's in front of you. Please don't anyone write that down. Sounds ridiculous but you know what I mean. On a side note I just re-read Bel Kaufman's ultimate guide to teaching, Up the Down Staircase, for the third or fourth time, and boy does it still ring true. Did you know she died at 103 and continued teaching a class at Hunter College until 92? Now that's a role model for teaching. Great inspirational quotes, Charlie.
ReplyDeleteAhoy Anne & Paul,
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by. May your wells ferment in productive ways.
"Filling the well", yes, good idea. My well is particularly dry just now. All of these quotes are wonderful. I especially like Rachel Carson. Thank you for an inspiring start to my Saturday.
ReplyDeleteHey Christine - I'm glad Ms Carson' thoughts might help fill your well. May other unexpected bits here & there contribute to your well, also.
ReplyDelete