
The Great 38
I make these lists year by year of the lessons I’ve learned and the truths that I’ve found. I make them in order to track my age and forge an alliance with myself. This little annual inventory is taken from a year of scribbling my thoughts down:
- There is always a bird singing somewhere. Always.
- Creativity takes courage. No additional skills are required.
- Pandora never had a box. She had a jar.
- Interrogate your ego often. It should never be bigger than your dreams.
- Tuesdays and Thursdays are the worst traffic days.
- BBC Radio 4 Podcasts are best played on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- There is always a way to give thanks and something/someone to be grateful for.
- Cynicism is lazy.
- Love Yourself and the universe will follow suit.
- Defiance Disorder: it’s a thing, look it up.
- Some people write to remember, I write to understand.
- My Orion is a Lady.
- Screw shame and the guilt it rode in on.
- The sea is always right.
- If you need an illustrated font to remind you to ‘Be Kind’ you are in big trouble.
- Trust Yourself, it’s all true.
- Shame’s trusted companion will always be regret. They come and go together. Be prepared.
- Re-read the words that changed you. Know who you are.
- There are no straight lines in nature. The concept is manmade just like perfection.
- We really are the stuff of stars.
- John and Abigail Adams had a remarkable and profound relationship.
- Trust your gut. Intuition only speaks when it has something to say.
- Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it. Forgive.
- I am an apt pupil, at ease in solitude. I am not a social creature but I do love people and that’s OKAY. (This one took a long time to figure out)
- Patience is Paramount.
- Be a detective. If something thrills your soul, dig in deep. Find out everything you can. Curiosity is its own reward.
- 38 years in and I am still astonished by the everyday assumptions we all make. Don’t assume anything about anyone ever. When people speak to you, listen completely, don’t let a preconception do the talking. The story, integrity, and beauty of a person will speak in the details.
- Shyness and insecurity, while all well and good, are not the same as quiet and contemplative.
- Take in the sunrise when you can.
- Write it all down, draw it all out. Legacy and expression are not reserved for an idol class. Everyone should write a memoir as far as I’m concerned.
- The sounds of a tapping keystroke, rushing water, and my daughter singing will always center me. Listen to your day.
- Cater to your imagination. Give it a safe space to grow up and run around in. Let it do the building.
- Everyone has his or her own personal battles. Anatidaephobia: A person suffering from this condition feels that somewhere in the world, a duck or a goose is watching him/her (not attacking or touching, simply watching the individual).
- Fear mongers in the dark, flock to the light.
- Look up, look up, look up, the sky is waiting for you.
- Embrace change, it is a reliable constant. Make use of it.
- Confront the Bear.
- When you give, give freely.
Note: My notes are personal truths. A collection of the reminders I write to myself and my Bird.