COMMONPLACE
“Clarity is freedom. Know what is important to you and it will grant you the freedom to ignore everything else.” – James Clear
“All sins are attempts to fill voids.” — Simone Weil, French Philosopher
“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” – Proverbs 17:28
“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” – Proverbs 18:2
“If God doesn’t soon bring judgment upon America, He’ll have to go back and apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah!” – Ruth Graham, wife of Evangelist Billy Graham
“If I am worth anything later, I am worth something now. For wheat is wheat, even if people think it is a grass in the beginning.” – Vincent van Gogh
“The secret of creative work is to make a lot and publish a little. Don’t underestimate the power of giving yourself permission to create junk. Most of what you create will be mediocre or bad. But that’s okay. You only have to show people the good stuff. Make 100 things, discard 90, and share the 10 best. Create, create, create. Edit, edit, edit.” – James Clear
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness; I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. Even if one were to walk for one’s health and it were constantly one station ahead—I would still say: Walk! Besides, it is also apparent that in walking one constantly gets as close to well-being as possible, even if one does not quite reach it—but by sitting still, and the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Health and salvation can be found only in motion… if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.” – Theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard
BOOK REPORT
BOOK: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
This book was the September read for Book Club, and I enjoyed it. When asked to give a brief synopsis at the meeting, I realized how complicated and intricate the story had become between the characters. It wasn’t about just one thing, and yet each story was connected by the common thread of mental illness.
BOOK: The Cabin at the End of the Train by Michael V. Ivanov
This quick read was recommended by a friend who had not read it but was interested after reading the positive reviews. It was a sweet story of human connection between strangers, leading to self-knowledge. Although predictable, it was a good reminder that sometimes we forget who and whose we are.
AUDIOBOOK: Foreskin’s Lament: A Memoir by Shalom Auslander
I can’t tell you why I bought this book, but I can tell you it was exactly what I needed to hear this month. I can’t recommend it to everyone because appreciating it requires a particular sense of humor (dark). It also requires a bit of knowledge of scripture and the Jewish faith. It was a horrifying tale of an Orthodox Jewish boy who was “religiously abused” as a child, but I haven’t laughed this hard with a book in a long time. Shalom’s ability to glean humor and sympathy at the same time is a gift.