All Shall Be Well

The Three Desires of Julian of Norwich

Sometimes I do a bit a research just for the fun of it. This morning, a tweet from Liz Burns sent me on my merry way:

I discovered that this quote is attributed to Julian of Norwich, a 14th-15th century Christian mystic. Her visions while seriously ill led her to write Revelations of Divine Love (ca. 1393), purportedly the first book composed in the English language by a woman. Despite living in a time of turmoil, punctuated by peasant revolts and outbreaks of the Black Death, Julian believed in a merciful and loving deity. She claimed that her famous "All will be well..." was spoken directly to her by God.


The lines were incorporated into T. S. Eliot's Little Gidding (1941-42):

"Whatever we inherit from the fortunate
We have taken from the defeated
What they had to leave us—a symbol:
A symbol perfected in death.
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
By the purification of the motive
In the ground of our beseeching."

In more recent times, Julian's words appear in an amazing variety of song lyrics:

Pete Townshend (from The Iron Man: The Musical, 1989)


Anderson Peterson (from The Far Country, 2005)


A more traditional rendition by OHRWURM Folk Orchestra (c. 2012)


And for Easter, from the Oremus Hymnal (1984)
All shall be well! Lift every voice on high;"Death has no more dominion but shall die."

Poetry, song lyrics, even the title of a murder mystery...Julian of Norwich's words live on. Tracking down the source of this quote, and its modern manifestations, was a lovely little task for a Monday morning.

Thanks for the inspiration, Liz!

"ALL SHALL BE WELL" By Leo Reynolds

Inspiration for 2012

I've noticed that many of my online friends are posting inspirational quotes on this, the last day of 2011.

With that example in front of me, I've selected some guiding thoughts and reminders for 2012:

Pay Attention to the Story

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5762598591/

"There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story." -Linda Hogan

The Poetry of the Earth is Never Dead

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5719341693/

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." -John Keats

The Fair Adventure of Tomorrow

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5782250450/

"The day shall not be up so soon as I, To try the fair adventure of tomorrow." -William Shakespeare

In My Own Time

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/6056551063/

"Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time." -Deborah Chaskin

The Dance of Life

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/6033860528/

“The journey between who you once were, and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.”- Barbara De Angelis

WHEN I AM AMONG TREES

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmcordell/5215544196/

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."
-Mary Oliver

Eyes to See

"I have eyes to see now what I have never seen before." -Anonymous

The above quote was written in the late 1870s by a correspondence student of American chemist and educator, Ellen H. Richards. The student was learning through the Society to Encourage Studies at Home, founded in 1873 by Anna Eliot Ticknor.

Paul C, of quoteflections, has issued an invitation:

For the month of June could anyone so inclined go on an interesting personal journey for good quotations and include some reflections?...You could select one a day, or skip some days and do twenty...or ten for the month. It is entirely up to you.

Since these are our final, crazy weeks of school here in upstate New York, I've decided that weekly quote/reflections would best fit my schedule.

The anonymous quote I've chosen appeals to me for a few reasons.

It was written by a correspondence student, a female who chose to further her education in a non-traditional manner. If this woman were alive today, I am certain that she would be exploring the rich diversity of digital learning opportunities, just as I am.

These words might also describe my growing love affair with photography. I've been contributing a daily photo to two Flickr groups, 365/2009 and 2009/365, and my attention to detail and appreciation of the world around me has increased exponentially.

I now have "eyes to see."

"Me, Myself, and Eye" by Clearly Ambiguous

Paul Newman: In His Own Words

On acting and life:

"Study your craft and know who you are and what's special about you. Find out what everyone does on a film set, ask questions and listen. Make sure you live life, which means don't do things where you court celebrity, and give something positive back to our society." -Paul Newman, advice to a young actor

On being in the food business:

"When I realized I was going to have to be a whore, to put my face on the label, I decided that the only way I could do it was to give away all the money we make. Over the years, that ethical stance has given us a 30 per cent boost. One in three customers buys my products because all the profits go to good causes and the rest buy the stuff because it is good."

"Once you've seen your face on a bottle of salad dressing. it's hard to take yourself seriously."

*Double H Ranch is our local Hole in the Wall Camp

On judging a person:

"A man can only be judged by his actions, and not by his good intentions or his beliefs."

His legacy:

"I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried - who tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn't complacent, who doesn't cop out."

Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008)

"Image: Paul newman from exodus trailer2.jpeg" from Wikipedia Commons

"Newman's Own organics" from Newman's Own website

"Hole in the Wall Camps logo" and "Double H Ranch logo" from the Hole in the Wall Camps website

Destined for le top

'I always knew,' Miss Piggy once told TV Guide, 'that I was destined for le top.'

She has it all: fame, fortune, sex appeal, and a cute green boyfriend. What life and career lessons can we learn from that porker extraordinaire, Miss Piggy?

Live life according to your own rules:
Miss Piggy refused to be defined by her gender or species. Don't be a prisoner of your job description.

Determination can take you anywhere:
An unlikely candidate for super-stardom, Miss Piggy chose to ignore skeptics and blaze her own path. Don't let others slow you down.

Work with what you're given:
Big became beautiful for the Divine Miss P. Turn liabilities into assets: exploit your uniqueness.

Always leave 'em wanting more:
There was a hint of mystery, that undefinable "something" that set Miss Piggy apart. She didn't feel compelled to reveal all (thank goodness!) and neither should you.

Additional words of wisdom from Miss Piggy:

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.”

“Only time can heal your broken heart just as only time can heal his arms and legs.”

“Never eat anything you can't lift.”

“Never purchase beauty products in a hardware store.”



"The Muppet Show - Miss Piggy" TV Image

In the Purple of Emperors

“He wrapped himself in quotations- as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of Emperors.”-Rudyard Kipling

I have no gift for clever or pithy sayings but appreciate that aptitude in others. Therefore, I use my skill at online research to locate appropriate quotes for my blog postings.

Clay Burell has suggested that I archive my collection of famous sayings on quotiki. Unfortunately, none of my submissions are showing up on the site yet. So for the time being, Journeys will have to serve as my quotation cache.

Literary luminaries seem to be divided on the question of citing other authors. Anatole France advised, “When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it.” Samuel Johnson firmly believed that “Every quotation contributes something to the stability or enlargement of the language.” Pierre Bayle flatly stated, “There is not less wit nor less invention in applying rightly a thought one finds in a book, than in being the first author of that thought.”

Not every author agreed with this philosophy. Dorothy L. Sayers' fictional detective, Lord Peter Whimsey, scornfully observed, “A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought.” W. Somerset Maugham "compliments" a female acquaintance by commenting that “She had a pretty gift for quotation, which is a serviceable substitute for wit.” (I'm glad he's not around to read this blog!)

Ralph Waldo Emerson evidently couldn't decide whether or not he approved of this tendency to quote others. On the one hand, he warned writers, "I hate quotation. Tell me what you know." Yet he also said, "Next to the originator of a good sentence is the first quoter of it."

Sophocles believed that “A short saying oft contains much wisdom.” My feelings exactly.

“The wisdom of the wise and the experience of the ages is preserved into perpetuity by a nation's proverbs, fables, folk sayings and quotations.”-William Feather

“I didn't really say everything I said.”-Yogi Berra