It’s so easy to see the “big things” in front of you: ideas and concepts that you take at face value or are obvious enough that you can immediately identify or respond to them without thinking.

       – me

"Trees look strong compared with the wild reeds in the field.
But when the storm comes the trees are uprooted, whereas
the wild reeds, while moved back and forth by the wind,
remain rooted and are standing up again when the storm has
calmed down.

"Flexibility is a great virtue.  When we cling to our own
positions and are not willing to let our hearts be moved
back and forth a little by the ideas or actions of others,
we may easily be broken.   Being like wild reeds does not
mean being wishy-washy.  It means moving a little with the
winds of the time while remaining solidly anchored in the
ground.   A humorless, intense, opinionated rigidity about
current issues might cause these issues to break our spirits
and make us bitter people.  Let's be flexible while being
deeply rooted."

		- Henri Nouwen, _Bread for the Journey_, Entry for March 16

“To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much
interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves
by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations.  True
listeners no longer have an inner need to make their
presence known.   They are free to receive, to welcome, to
accept.

“Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while
waiting for a chance to respond.  Listening is paying full
attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings.
 The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to
start feeling accepted, start taking their words more
seriously and discovering their own true selves.  Listening
is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite
strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner
selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.”

    – Henri Nouwen, _Bread for the Journey_, entry for March 11

Je crois qu’il faut écouter un peu plus… (I think I need to listen a bit more…)

"There is much emphasis on notoriety and fame in our society.
Our newspapers and television keep giving us the message:
What counts is to be known, praised, and admired, whether
you are a writer, an actor, a musician, or a politician.

"Still, real greatness is often hidden, humble, simple, and
unobtrusive. It is not easy to trust ourselves and our
actions without public affirmation. We must have strong
self-confidence combined with deep humility. Some of the
greatest works of art and the most important works of peace
were created by people who had no need for the limelight.
They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they
did it with great patience, perseverance, and love."

	- Henri Nouwen, _Bread for the Journey_, Entry for February 25

“I get to work in a job that I love, but I have always worked at a job that I loved. I loved it
just as much when I thought it was a big deal to make $1,000. I urge you to work in jobs
that you love. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like
because you think it will look good on your resume. I was with a fellow at Harvard the
other day who was taking me over to talk. He was 28 and he was telling me all that he
had done in life, which was terrific. And then I said, ‘What will you do next?’ ‘Well,’
he said, ‘Maybe after I get my MBA I will go to work for a consulting firm because it
will look good on my resume.’ I said, ‘Look, you are 28 and you have been doing all
these things, you have a resume 10 times than anybody I have ever seen. Isn’t that a little
like saving up sex for your old age?’

“There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you
love. You will jump out of bed in the morning.”

"Often we want to be somewhere other than where we are, or
even to be someone other than who we are. We tend to compare
ourselves constantly with others and wonder why we are not
as rich, as intelligent, as simple, as generous, or as
saintly as they are. Such comparisons make us feel guilty,
ashamed, or jealous. It is very important to realize that
our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are. We
are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life
what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete
context of the here and now.

"We will never find our vocations by trying to figure out
whether we are better or worse than others. We are good
enough to do what we are called to do. Be yourself!"

	- Henri Nouwen, _Bread for the Journey_, Entry for January 17

“You have to see the world with your own eyes.”

       – T.S., earlier in the night at the Tea Spot

To everyone, Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year!

Some would argue that I am a little late, however isn’t Christmas 12 days?

—–

And
now for some haiku that I came up with on the train Thursday morning…
Haha, it’s not mind blowing or anything like that, but I just wanted to
document it here…

“en pensant”

Quand on fait, on pense
Même quand on veut faire, on pense
Quand on peut, on pense

Translation: “thinking”
When we do, we think
Even when we want to do, we think
When we can, we think

I must supplement this period of procrastination by wishing you all a happy, safe, and (if you’re in the New York City metropolitan area or some other rained-out area) dry Thanksgiving weekend

Ok, time to go back to homework.. take care, everyone.

Finger Eleven, “One Thing”

Restless tonight
‘Cause I wasted the light
Between both these times
I drew a really thin line
It’s nothing I planned
And not that I can
But you should be mine
Across that line

[Chorus:]
If I traded it all
If I gave it all away for one thing
Just for one thing
If I sorted it out
If I knew all about this one thing
Wouldn’t that be something

I promise I might
Not walk on by
Maybe next time
But not this time

Even though I know
I don’t want to know
Yeah I guess I know
I just hate how it sounds

[Chorus x2]

Even though I know
I don’t want to know
Yeah I guess I know
I just hate how it sounds

Even though I know
I don’t want to know
Yeah I guess I know
I just hate how it sounds

[Chorus x3]