A Little Sumptin Sumptin'

"An intellectual is someone who says a simple thing in a difficult way;

An artist is someone who says a difficult thing in a simple way."

-Charles Bukowski

"Language and magic. Where is the connection?  Think about it this way: 

When we form letters to write words, we create something out of nothing,

so that the still air or the empty space on a page fills with meaning,

as if a wizard created a blizzard out of a clear blue sky.

-Roy Peter Clark, The Glamour af Grammar

On Working

Nothing worth anything comes very easily.

Work is one of those things.

Like, really though, who do you know has a job that they love and just fell into it easily and effortlessly?

Not very many people, I am sure.

I just worked a ten hour day and when I came home, took a long, hot bath.

When I got out of the bath, I fell asleep easier than a baby on a car ride.

Like the water in the tub, I was drained!

The LAST thing I wanted to do was wake up and write my daily blog, 

but somehow, in an act of fate, I had left my interior light on in my car and my roommate noticed.  

He woke me mid-slumber to shut it off and now that I am awake, 

I figured it a supreme opportunity to get this written.

I'm sure we've all been here before - 

So tired we crashed out with our bedroom light still on...

Cranky and sleepy like a little toddler, but we don't have that excuse any more...

Awoken abruptly by an outside force, when we surely could have slept for a day straight.

Yeah, that was me just a few minutes ago.  

And now that I am up and had to sit in front of the computer searching for a topic to blog about, 

nothing felt more natural.

So I looked up these quotes on work and I hope you enjoy: 

“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.”

-Richard David Bach, writer

“Start by doing what's necessary, then what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

-Saint Francis Assisi 

“Nobody's a natural. You work hard to get good and then work to get better. It's hard to stay on top.”

-Paul Coffey

“Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her homework.”

-Thomas Edison

“If there is no wind, row.”

Latin proverb

GOOOOOD NIGHT!

Fun for Friday

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” 
- Steve Jobs

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.” - Dr. Seuss

 "Kind hearts are the gardens,

Kind thoughts are the roots, 

Kind words are the flowers, 

Kind deeds are the fruits,

Take care of your garden 

And keep out the weeds, 

Fill it with sunshine,

Kind words and kind deeds"

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Dr. Seuss Quote of the Day

One of my favorite childhood authors and greatest influences is Dr. Seuss-
Something he said is ringing true to me in my life these days and I wanted to share here with you. If you are a writer or any kind of creative individual, you may find this true as well.

Seuss said,

"You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room."

On becoming a writer, NY Times (May 21, 1986)

Sounds boring and lonely, but one thing is for sure:

It is the only way to harness my creative energies, to revisit old ideas without being interrupted and most importantly, to avoid the noise of others who cannot see, feel or trust the instincts that come to a creative individual while in their quiet time.

I've had many people critique my ideas along the way and I think Dr. Seuss nails it right on the head! You learn the most from your experiences and finding what's right for you is an individual journey.

Happy Thursday!

xOx,
Ms. Panda

Words of Love (by myself and others)

"Many men (women) go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after."
--Henry David Thoreau

"Your vision will become clear when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams.  Who looks inside, awakens."
--Carl Gustav Jung

"Love is but the discovery of ourselves and the delight in the recognition."
--Alexander Smith

"We are like sculptors, constantly carving out of others the image we long for, need, love or desire, often against reality, against their benefit, and always, in the end, a disappointment, because it does not fit them."
--Anais Nin

"She took her pattern of life from men but she was not a masculine woman.  She demanded the freedom to change, to evolve, to grow.  She was not a feminist at all but struggling against the feminine side of herself in order to maintain her integrity as an individual."
--Anais Nin

On Lillith:
"an independent woman can only represent a fundamental disruption of a divinely ordered state of affairs."
--John Phillips

"Love cannot exist in peace, it will always come accompanied by agonies, ecstacies, intense joys and profound sadnesses."
--Paulo Cohelo

"Think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course."
Kahlil Gibran

"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet."
--Plato

Here's my latest love poem :)

"Of Course One can never under estimate the Power of Love, for Love is the Essence of all Creation."
--sua

"If "love" makes you crazy, it is not love.  True love drives you absolutely sane."
--Alan Cohen

"Love is a canvas furnished by Nature and embroidered by imagination."
--Voltaire

"If you have it (love), you don't need to have anything else, and if you do't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have."
--Sir James M. Barrie

"If you cannot inspire a woman with love of you, fill her above the brim with love of herself;  all that runs over will be yours."
--Charles Caleb Colton

For more thoughts on love:
Read some of my original  Love Haikus and yesterday's Long Distance Relationship in Haiku post.