writing : blog
There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. –Louis L’Amour In 1927, mathematician David Hilbert put the capstone on mathematics. Mathematics was done, he asserted in his proof theory. Less than five years later, in 1931, Kurt Gödel developed the incompleteness theorem, basically starting everything over again. So, in such a way,…
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Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t. -Richard Bach In 2008, I will stride confidently toward my mission—that thing that fills me with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it. This may or may not be the thing that I’ve always done. It may not…
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We were born to unite with our fellow men, and to join in community with the human race. -Cicero As this third year of 37days ends, I’ve spent this last week reading again the comments left on this site in 2007—and visiting the websites of their authors, as well as re-reading the hundreds of emails I’ve received from 37days readers…
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“Nothing is worth more than this day.” –Goethe In 2008, I am going to be here now. When you unpeel it, 37days is all about now, but I find I don’t live in now very often. I live in then, or when, or one day. I want, instead, to live in Now. This moment. What does that look like? I…
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“Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work.” – Flaubert In 2008, I’m going to keep all the scotch tape in my house in one drawer. A few months ago, I was slated for an important meeting with someone in town at 2:00 p.m. Since everything is only six minutes…
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"Look to their positive intent, especially when they appear to have none." -Kare Anderson In 2008, I am going to assume positive intent. Assuming positive intent isn’t a new concept, but I think it has far-ranging implications. The conversation changes and opens up when we assume positive intent. It has the potential to revolutionize our lives. Truly. If I start…
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"Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age." – George Sand In 2008, I’m going to quiver more right here at home. Oh, my. Talking with the former poet laureate of the United States is a fine (if nerve wracking and completely terrifying and rattling) way to start one’s day. I’ve been suffering from a…
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As if the leaves from London weren’t enough. As if getting hotel clerks all over the world to paint pictures of flowers for me to receive on my arrival wasn’t enough. As if making lunches for my pregnant self and sending them by courier across D.C. to my office in Alexandria because he was worried about my vitamin intake wasn’t…
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Christmas Day is my father’s birthday. His death at fifty-three in 1980 is the fulcrum around which my life moves. Or perhaps that’s not exactly it. Perhaps it is a rivet on which things hinge. No, a grommet through which everything else is laced? Yes, since that would imply a hole, I think that’s it. Like Fermat’s last theorem, it…
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In 2008, I’m going to show up. Like magic. There are a handful of blogs I go to first when I see they’ve been updated in my bloglines reader. One is Dave Pollard’s "How to Save the World." This week, he pointed his readers to a blog entry by Jan Lemen called "Show Up Like Magic," a phrase that immediately…
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Patti Digh is the author of six books, including bestsellers Life is a Verb and Creative is a Verb. She travels the world teaching others about mindfulness: to live fully, love well, let go deeply, and make a difference. Patti's comments have appeared on PBS and in The New York Times, Fortune, the Wall Street Journal, the London Financial Times, and many other international publications. She writes a thank you note every morning.
