our real work

Our real work
Wendell Berry, 1983

It may be that when we no longer know what to do
We have come to our real work,
And that when we no longer know which way to go
We have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

the following is all about reading

“If you think about it, the very best books are really just extremely long spells that turn you into a different person for the rest of your life.”

Franz Kafka: “If the book we are reading does not wake us, as with a fist hammering on our skulls, then why do we read it? Good God, we also would be happy if we had no books and such books that make us happy we could, if need be, write ourselves. What we must have are those books that come on us like ill fortune, like the death of one we love better than ourselves, like suicide. A book must be an ice axe to break the sea frozen inside us. What we need are books that hit us like a most painful misfortune, like the death of someone we loved more than we love ourselves, that make us feel as though we had been banished to the woods, far from any human presence, like a suicide. A book must be the ax for the frozen sea within us.

Man’s mind, stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimension. — Oliver Wendell Holmes

Alan Moore: There is some confusion as to what magic actually is. I think this can be cleared up if you just look at the very earliest descriptions of magic. Magic in its earliest form is often referred to as “the art”. I believe this is completely literal. I believe that magic is art and that art, whether it be writing, music, sculpture, or any other form is literally magic. Art is, like magic, the science of manipulating symbols, words, or images, to achieve changes in consciousness. The very language about magic seems to be talking as much about writing or art as it is about supernatural events.

I Opened A Book

Julia Donaldson

I opened a book and in I strode
Now nobody can find me.
I’ve left my chair, my house, my road,
My town and my world behind me.

I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
And dived in a bottomless ocean.

I opened a book and made some friends.
I shared their tears and laughter
And followed their road with its bumps and bends
To the happily ever after.

I finished my book and out I came.
The cloak can no longer hide me.
My chair and my house are just the same,
But I have a book inside me.

master a skill

Jerry Seinfeld: Because the only thing in life that’s really worth having is good skill. Good skill is the greatest possession. […] It was a very Zen Buddhist concept: Pursue mastery. That will fulfill your life. You will feel good. I know a lot of rich people. So do you. They don’t feel good, as you think they should and would. They’re miserable. Because, if they don’t master a skill, life is unfulfilling.

Jerry Seinfeld: What is mastery? At the heart of it, mastery is staying on the path.

Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you!

Robert Allen: There is no failure. Only feedback.

Robert Allen: Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.

Don’t let the opinions of the average man sway you. 
Dream, and he thinks you’re crazy. 
Succeed, and he thinks you’re lucky. 
Acquire wealth, and he thinks you’re greedy. 
Pay no attention. He simply doesn’t understand.