My week in words

Source: Crosscrafter.com

Right, so following the trend of nowadays bloggers who all seem to have a recurrent section called: ‘My week in Instagram’ I decided to launch a similar section called: ‘My week in words’.

Reasons:

1)      I mean words were, are and will always be in fashion, right? People might get bored of Instagram, but they’ll still have to use words, so I reckon my section will prove to be pretty timeless.

2)      I have an old iPhone which takes about a year to take snaps, so my week in Instagram would be rather scarce. People will go like: ‘Oh, I see, you’ve only had a plate of pasta all week. How boring is that!?’ or ‘Isn’t she wearing any make-up?’, so since I am a book worm and a bit of a ‘spiritualist’ and I read a lot, it’s the only thing I can confidently share with the world without feeling like a total trend follower.

3)      I love words!

So here we go, some of the wisdom I accumulated this week and think you’d love too!

Things that made me laugh:

‘Lighter Shades of Grey’, by Cassandra Parkin



‘Are you gay, Mr Grey?”
“I cringe, mortified. Crap. Why didn’t I employ some kind of filter before I read this straight out?”

Hell if I know, Ana. Maybe you’re related to Ron Burgundy?

“Perhaps I’ve spent too long in the company of my literary romantic heroes, and consequently my ideals and expectations are far too high.”

Mr Rochester was rude, sarcastic and frequently cruel. Mr Darcy was rude and socially awkward. Alec D’Urberville was a rapist, and Angel Clare ran for the hills as soon as he found out he wasn’t marrying a virgin. Heathcliff was a psychopath.

“Would you like a bag?”

…”Please, Anastasia.” His tongue caresses my name, and my heart once again is frantic.

In pronouncing the name “Anastasia”, the tongue stays entirely behind the teeth and is not visible at all. In order to accept the premise that Christian is, indeed, caressing Anastasia’s name with his tongue, I am forced to conclude that he is licking her name-badge.

Things that made me think:

The world’s poorest president (BBC News)

‘The Uruguayan leader made a similar point when he addressed the Rio+20 summit in June this year: "We've been talking all afternoon about sustainable development. To get the masses out of poverty.

"But what are we thinking? Do we want the model of development and consumption of the rich countries? I ask you now: what would happen to this planet if Indians would have the same proportion of cars per household than Germans? How much oxygen would we have left?

"Does this planet have enough resources so seven or eight billion can have the same level of consumption and waste that today is seen in rich societies? It is this level of hyper-consumption that is harming our planet."

Things that calmed me down when my mind was talking too much:

Eckhart Tolle – Various Lectures (mostly paraphrased)

‘Often you only have a relationship with your mind. Not with another person. You think you marry another person but you’re actually married to your mind.’

‘A great spiritual teacher visited a very ill patient, who was suffering. The spiritual teacher asked: 'What is your problem? Why are you so sad? I don’t see any problem in this room.'

To which the woman answered: 'I’ll show you where the problem is!' and removed the covers to reveal the fact that one of her legs was swollen and looked abnormal in comparison to the other leg.

To which the teacher answered:

'I see what the problem is now. The problem is that you expect  both your legs to be equal in size!'

To which the woman laughed for the very first time in a very long time.’

‘The mind is fearful of real relationships.’

‘Many achievements come from deep inner pace, as a result of it. As long as you don’t make external achievements your purpose.’

Things that made me go ‘Yeah!’:

Will Smith:

‘In life you don’t need a Plan B. Plan B distracts from Plan A!’

‘My greatest fear is fear. I have fear of fear!’

Things about writing:

Gotham Writers’ Workshop: Writing Fiction

On the role of the writer: ‘The great Anton Chekov said (…) that the fiction writer does not need to solve a problem so much as state the problem correctly.

(…) You just have to shine your flashlight on some aspect of life and let the reader see what’s there.’

On beginnings: ‘Think of yourself as a guest who has just arrived at a party. You wish to make a strong impression. You can strangle the hostess. That should do it.’

On editing: ‘A Tennessee Williams said to Gore Vidal after Vidal finished editing one of his short stories: ‘You have corrected all my faults, and they’re all I have!’

Until next week. Stay inspired!