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Listening is a special art.

Mari Evans

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/mari-evans

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Spend your Sunday like a poet. 

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You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones.

Saint Augustine (via northernmade)

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What a great concept -- who do you turn to for advice?

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“Nobody really knows what he or she is doing.”

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This morning, the singer released "Track 3"—eight seconds of silence. Was it a mistake, or a super-profound commentary on the contemporary condition?

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(A manifesto of sorts.)

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Oh my God, what if you wake up some day, and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It’s going to break your heart. Don’t let this happen.

Anne Lamott (via mycoldsummer)

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(via Gabriel García Márquez — 1982 Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech)

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Life Advice from Harper Lee 

From Letters of Note: 

A young fan of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ named Jeremy wrote to Harper Lee in 2006, and asked for a signed photo. He didn’t get one, but instead received this lovely piece of advice from the author that is far more precious. 

Harper Lee announced today - on her 88th birthday — that ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ will now be released as an audiobook and e-book. 

Happy Birthday, Harper! 

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Moleskine is very good at telling stories. The question is whether people are interested in hearing this new one. The company’s revenue continues to grow each year. Customers remain willing to buy Moleskine notebooks. They are also willing to engage with the brand online—but only to a point.

Adrienne Raphel on Moleskine’s foray into the digital world: http://nyr.kr/1mcX11z (via newyorker)

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Forgiveness. The ability to forgive oneself. Stop here for a few breaths and think about this, because it is the key to making art and very possibly the key to finding any semblance of happiness in life. Every time I have set out to translate the book (or story, or hopelessly long essay) that exists in such brilliant detail on the big screen of my limbic system onto a piece of paper (which, let’s face it, was once a towering tree crowned with leaves and a home to birds), I grieve for my own lack of talent and intelligence. Every. Single. Time. Were I smarter, more gifted, I could pin down a closer facsimile of the wonders I see. I believe that, more than anything else, this grief of constantly having to face down our own inadequacies is what keeps people from being writers. Forgiveness, therefore, is key. I can’t write the book I want to write, but I can and will write the book I am capable of writing. Again and again throughout the course of my life I will forgive myself.

In her beautiful meditation on the writing life, Ann Patchett adds to our ongoing archive of wisdom on writing. Pair with Patchett’s advice to graduates on writing and life. (via explore-blog)

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What a great story, and ad -- (via J. Crew's Hand-Written Ad Is Customer Service Perfection - PSFK)

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Hemingway on how to become a good writer.

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via www.farnamstreetblog.com You should really sign up for the weekly email.

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(via Patterson Hood: The Southern Springsteen | Garden and Gun)