It is finally starting to feel like fall here, which is good considering it is almost October. As we roll into autumn with its shorter days and dark, sometimes dreary nights, it is good to remember this quote by Emerson:

“A cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

It reminds me to not be cynical, which is an oh-so-easy trap to fall into these days. No one likes a cynic and cynicism has no place in living life fully or being able to create new art. It is tempting to be cynical especially as we grow older, but I think that’s why we need to remind ourselves that we have a choice not to be cynical. We have the power to not ruin other people’s days with caustic comments that “chill and dishearten.”

I am especially reminded of the need to be open to new experiences and life as it comes when I start teaching a new group of freshmen, which I do almost every fall. Most are bright-eyed and start the term with wonder tinged with some trepidation. But there’s always one or two who wear their cynicism on their sleeves as if it were a good thing, a mark of maturity. They declare that they already know everything there is to know about life. I nod and carry on with class. But, if I’m very lucky, by the end of the term I’ve been able to help them find a crack in their cynicism so they have the possibility of being open to learning and changing and growing. It doesn’t always work, but it keeps me from being cynical about teaching.

So all I’m saying is don’t be cynical. Be open to the wonder that is inherent in life and use that to motivate you, inspire you, and move you to create whatever beauty you were put on this earth to make. I hope you have a lovely weekend. 🙂

The sound of wind through autumn leaves always reminds me of paper and paper is one of my favorite things. I suppose that might sound weird, but it is true. I love paper– Notebook paper, newspaper, origami paper, handmade paper with bits of flowers embedded in the weave, and perhaps most of all, I love paper in books.

One of the books I’ve recently read was Chip Kidd’s Judge This. It is, of course, a wonderful book, funny, insightful, and full of beautiful design examples. But the one thing that stood out most for me was the sentence I’ve written in calligraphy for this week.

“Paper does not die, because it’s already dead and resurrected.” Chip Kidd

I read this line and squealed. It is just so perfect and conveys my feelings about paper, too. Paper is forever. When I curl up at night in bed to read, I love the feel of a book’s paper in my hands. Computers and digital documents make my work easier and communication faster, but my love will always be for paper things. [Also, I love that Chip Kidd is also a fan of binder clips.]

While this week’s quote might not be as universally inspirational as some of the others I’ve used in my calligraphy practice, it is inspirational to me (and I hope some others, too). Perhaps it has made you smile, too, or at least think about paper in a different way than you had before. 🙂

Time is just flying by now that we are in September, so I thought this quote from Emily Dickinson was rather appropriate.

“To live is startling it leaves little time for anything else.” Emily Dickinson

Sometimes living does seem so startling that there doesn’t seem to be time to do anything but hold on tight and hope we make it through the week. This last week was rather like that for me. When I have weeks like that, I have to remind myself to take time to pause, breathe, and remember that not every week can be incredibly productive and that sometimes just living is enough.

So I’m doubly grateful for a three-day weekend so I can rest, kick a bit of a cold that I picked up somewhere, and get back to creating. I’m also rather happy by how the calligraphy turned out. I remembered to put my traveling calligraphy pen in my bag so I’m ready for all occasions that necessitate some fancy writing.

I hope that if your life is startling this weekend, it is startling in a positive, joyful way. I’ll be back with some more calligraphy and thoughts on books and writing soon. I hope you have a lovely day. 🙂

I’ve been reading through a book of quotes I purchased years ago and came across a number of quotes from Churchill, so I thought sharing this one that I had on my door last week made sense.

“The price of greatness is responsibility” Winston Churchill

This quote is a reminder to me about taking responsibility in all areas of my life. I like the idea of responsible greatness. That if we achieve greatness, we then have a greater responsibility to use are greatness to help. There are many ways to be great, but if we don’t help each other, acknowledge one another’s humanity, and strive always for generosity then we are not really, truly great. I think of this a lot when I’m teaching, not because I think I’ve achieved greatness (I always have more to learn when it comes to teaching), but because I have a great responsibility to the students I teach. It is a responsibility I take very seriously. I have the responsibility to provide a space for them to expand their knowledge, to facilitate their learning, and to demonstrate that failure happens and it is what we do after we fail that shows us what we can be in our lives.

So I leave you with Churchill reminding us of our responsibility, no matter where we fall on the path to greatness. It is especially important for those who are in positions of power to remember their responsibilities and not let the love of power cloud their work.

I’ll be posting again soon about some more books I’m reading and looking forward to read as we head through this sixth month of the year during our race around the sun. 🙂