If we have no peace, it’s because we have forgotten that we belong to each other

I'm a little bit of a hoarder. I tend to save books I think will be really meaningful. I want to be in the right mindset to read them, to savor them. Last night before bed I finally started to read the book Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. These letters were exactly what the book is called, letters to a young poet. Rilke wrote advice to a young man who first wrote to him. The book is magnificent and the following passage struck a chord in my heart. Rilke is advising the young man on how to be a writer.

"Pretend you are the very first man and then write what you see and experience, what you love and lose. Do not write love poems, at least at first; they present the greatest challenge. It requires great, fully ripened power to produce something personal, something unique, when there are so many good and sometimes even brilliant renditions in great numbers. Beware of general themes. Cling to those that your everyday life offers you. Write about your sorrows, your wishes, your passing thoughts, your belief in anything beautiful. Describe all that with fervent, quiet, and humble sincerity. In order to express yourself, use things in your surroundings, the scenes of your dreams, and the subjects of your memory."

This passage reminds me of a scene in Little Women, when the professor is advising Jo on what to write. He says "Write what you know" I find that simple sentence very powerful. That is exactly what blogs are. They are the random things that make up a person's life. So I am taking Rilke's and the professor's advice. I am going to write what I know. All I can wish for is that it comes across on the screen.

Right now I am...

Believing: In the beauty of the individual person

Wishing: For more skill and knowledge

Seeing: Nature's beauty

Thankful for: Wonderful family and friends