I was recently speaking with a friend who shared that, like me, she doesn’t write resolutions for the new year. Instead, she chooses a word that she hopes to incorporate more into her actions and routines. Up until our conversation I hadn’t thought very deeply about if I wanted to do something similar.
In the past, I’ve adopted different rituals to welcome the new year. I’ve made resolutions, “in and out” lists, “more and less” lists, and chosen a word a la my previously mentioned friend. There have been years where I haven’t done anything at all. Some of these practices have been more helpful than others. This year, I’m choosing a quote that I can reflect on throughout the year.
About ten years ago I started a google doc titled “Quotes I love.” It is now 28 pages long and I add to it semi-regularly. It has become an interesting artifact of quotes that I needed at various times throughout my life. Even if a quote doesn’t necessarily resonate with me currently, I don’t edit the doc because I recognize that I may need that quote again in the future. Language, words, and the complexities they hold are sacred to me and I love nothing more than reading or hearing a perfect sentence.
It is in this spirit that I offer you with a list of ten quotes.
Maybe you’ll find one that speaks to you, inspires you, challenges you, or encourages you. You might find this entire exercise cringey. That’s fine too. Take anything you find helpful and keep it moving.
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.' -Mary Anne Radmacher
When we get our spiritual house in order, we’ll be dead. This goes on. You arrive at enough certainty to be able to make your way, but it is making it in darkness. —Flannery O'Connor
No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself. When you let go of the frantic search for validation, you find yourself exactly where you are meant to be, with the tools you need to go forward. It is from this place of quiet assurance that the most beautiful things emerge. —Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
It would seem that, quite possibly, the ultimate measure of health in any community might well reside in our ability to stand in awe at what folks have to carry rather than in judgment at how they carry it. —Fr. Gregory Boyle, Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship
I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I cannot transform into something marvelous, I let go. —Anais Nin
Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone. It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new. —Ursula K. Le Guin
Let me hold the door for you. I may have never walked in your shoes, but I can see your soles are worn, your strength is torn under the weight of a story I have never lived before. Let me hold the door for you. After all you’ve walked through, it’s the least I can do. —Morgan Harper Nichols
If we extend our idea of family beyond the individual to the wider world of creatures and ecosystems, we can begin to ask what we want for them. From them. We can begin to see ourselves in relation. Acknowledging and reckoning with death—with the limit on our existence, with the fact that we are temporary—can reframe what it means to live. What do we want to leave behind? What do we want to support, maintain, in the limited time we are here? —Jenn Shapland
Now I know that true love consists in bearing all my neighbors' defects, in not being surprised by mistakes but by being encouraged by the smallest of virtues. —St. Thérèse of Lisieux
I've survived a lot of things and I'll probably survive this. -J.D. Salinger
Links To Click On When You’re Bored At Work
This article validated my belief that honeycrisp apples have gotten worse during my lifetime!
If you are like me and loved Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and have anxiously been waiting for your library hold of her new book to arrive, you will appreciate this interview between Kimmerer and author Jenny Odell.
An incredible reflection on MLK Jr. by Dr. Cornel West from 2018.
In 2017 when I returned to the US, I began volunteering with immigrant justice groups. This Deportation Defense Manual is a helpful primer on protecting immigrants and knowing their rights. Even if you don’t often knowingly interact with immigrant communities, now is the time to get involved to prepare for the next four years since it is our duty to welcome the stranger.
A short reflection: Always Go To The Funeral by Deirdre Sullivan from 2005.
An interesting account of Hisaye Yamamoto’s friendship with Dorothy Day. I had never heard of Hisaye Yamamoto until this article and now I want to read her short stories.
Things That Are Bringing Me Joy
Celebrating five years of marriage with my beloved.
My new, gorgeous, large (much to my mother’s dismay) tattoo that is healing and settling in nicely.
Snow!
When my dog contentedly lays in a sunspot.
A Christmas cookie-exchange party a friend and I threw in December.
At Cole Arthur Riley’s suggestion, I’ve been (very slowly) reading The Salt Eaters by Toni Cade Bambara. If you’re a word person like me then you should read it.
Bad Bunny’s new album.
Reflecting on all the incredible art I was lucky enough to experience in 2024.
Lastly, An Ask
If you’re reading this you’re probably aware that I spent two very formative years serving as an international lay missioner in Guatemala. I am on the board of the organization I served with, Franciscan Mission Service. In addition to their overseas program, FMS has a domestic program where DC Service Corps members volunteer at various non-profits to work with marginalized people. These young volunteers live in community where they pray, cook meals, attend formation sessions, and experience the highs and lows of post-college life together. Their home, Casa San Salvador, has seen better days. (I lived there for a period and can tell you about once while I was in the chapel part of the ceiling caved in because of water damage from the bathroom above it.) In particular, their bathroom showers need work. If you are inclined to support this wonderful organization, please donate and in the comment section you can write “Shower repairs.” Feel free to mention my name as well. I know a lot of folks do their charitable giving around the holidays, but if you’re able to help know that it will very much be appreciated!
Peace,
Maeve