Daily Jots

Thought of the Day:
“With love and patience, nothing is impossible.”
Daisaku Ikeda
Thinking Outside of the Box:
I have never understood the meaning of the word, “can’t.” It is a foreign word to me. It doesn’t wash when my kids use it as an excuse, it doesn’t work when someone fixing something says it, and I don’t like to hear it … well, anywhere, now that I think about it.
I have always believed that there is a way to do anything that you are determined to do. It may take some jury-rigging, it may take some serious out-of-the-box thinking, and …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights.”
Hamilton Wright Mabie
Thinking Outside of the Box:
“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days of auld lang syne?
“And days of auld lang syne, my dear,
And days of auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now.”
Unknown
Thinking Outside of the Box:
Everyone is thinking about resolutions right now. Which ones to make, which ones to rationalize around so they don’t have to be made, but it all narrows down to something. Making resolutions means looking into the past. “I need to change this,” or “I need to stop …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“As the season of believing seems to wind down let me gently remind you that many dreams still wait in the wings. Many authentic sparks must be fanned before passion performs her perfect work in you. Throw another log on the fire.”
Sarah Ban Breathnach
Thinking Outside of the Box:
Do you ever have problems with creativity? I do. We all do. Any author who tells you that they don’t, is lying. There are days when ideas just “t’ain’t” gonna happen. This whole week has felt that way; since Madelyn, my parrot passed away on …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“The answers you get depend upon the questions you ask.”
Thomas Kuhn
Thinking Outside of the Box:
I had several reactions to that quote. One, I must confess, must have come from my baser personality, because I couldn’t help the thought that ran through my mind: That sounds like a perfect justification for a lie by omission. To many people, that is exactly the rationale they use for telling a partial truth. And in some instances, I suppose it is even appropriate. Telling someone their new outfit is really nice when it is the most hideous …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
Mary Anne Radmacher
Thinking Outside of the Box:
I found this quote when I was thinking about how hard it is at times to get motivated to do something that seems a little too big to do, at least at the moment. Sometimes, it isn’t the swashbuckling hero that wins the battle at the end of the day – not always anyway. On those days when you are tired, don’t feel quite like …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“All voices of depression and despair, existential philosophy, capitalism and punk rock – don’t they all come down to this:
I am alone.
All messages of hope and inspiration, great artists, transcendental philosophers and mystic poets, socialism, the world’s great religions – all carry the message:
I am part of something larger than my own mind.”
E. M. Forster
Thinking Outside of the Box:
It seems appropriate, today especially, to have this quote drop into my lap. Things are changing and for the good because whenever we connect with someone else in a collaborative effort, we do become …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“Fiction is love and hate and agreement and conflict and common adventure, not lonely musings on have-beens and might-have-beens.”
Arlo Guthrie, Jr.
Thinking Outside of the Box:
This month, and each November, aspiring and experienced authors alike, commit to a project that probably makes them wish they could BE committed. November is National Novel Writing Month and the project is affectionately named NaNoWriMo. It is quite the activity for fiction writers. Think of the challenge of writing a novel, even a bad one (!), in 30 days. If you figure approximately 90,000 words, that is a …read more

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Thought of the Day:
“In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought.” Michael Crichton
Thinking Outside of the Box:
As a frequent commuter on the information highway, I often wonder how much I am actually learning. I go from site to site and fill my head with information that isn’t actually printed out in a book, isn’t in a larger context of something bigger that I am studying but is like a bunch of 3 X 5 cards someone dropped on the floor. And here I am sorting through …read more

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