But it was the singing that pulled me in and split me wide open. Anne Lamott More Quotes by Anne Lamott More Quotes From Anne Lamott In a library, you can find small miracles and truth, and you might find something that will make you laugh so hard that you will get shushed, in the friendliest way. I have found sanctuary in libraries my whole life, and there is sanctuary there now, from the war, from the storms of our families and our own minds. Libraries are like mountains or meadows or creeks: sacred space. So this afternoon, I'll walk to the library. Anne Lamott space laughing war The truth of my experience is that we are all a lot more alike than we are different. Anne Lamott different I don't know much, but I understand how entirely doomed I am without God. Anne Lamott without-god doomed god If we stay where we are, where we're stuck, where we're comfortable and safe, we die there... When nothing new can get in, that's death. Anne Lamott stuck dies safe Trying to reason with an addict was like trying to blow out a lightbulb. Anne Lamott blow reason trying If you always dreamed of writing a novel or a memoir, and you used to love to write, and were pretty good at it, will it break your heart if it turns out you never got around to it? If you wake up one day at eighty, will you feel nonchalant that something always took precedence over a daily commitment to discovering your creative spirit? If not--if this very thought fills you with regret--then what are you waiting for? Anne Lamott regret heart writing The miracle is that we are here, that no matter how undone we’ve been the night before, we wake up every morning and are still here. It is phenomenal just to be. Anne Lamott miracle morning night Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. Anne Lamott reading soul writing What fills us is real, sweet, dopey, funny life. Anne Lamott funny-life sweet life Expectations are resentments under construction. Anne Lamott resentment parenting expectations Radical self-care is quantum, and radiates out into the atmosphere, like a little fresh air. It is a huge gift to the world. When people respond by saying, “Well, isn’t she full of herself,” smile obliquely, like Mona Lisa, and make both of you a nice cup of tea. Anne Lamott nice self air I'm not going to change the way people think about me, but I can say you know what? I'm not going to carry that in my backpack. Anne Lamott people way thinking Age has given me the gift of me; it just gave me what I was always longing for, which was to get to be the woman I've already dreamt of being. Which is somebody who can do rest and do hard Anne Lamott wife hard-work age Sometimes this human stuff is slimy and pathetic...but better to feel it and talk about it and walk through it than to spend a lifetime being silently poisoned. Anne Lamott lifetime stuff sometimes Prayer means that, in some unique way, we believe we're invited into a relationship with someone who hears us when we speak in silence. Anne Lamott prayer mean believe I am a terrible and lazy Christian. I do not believe that the Bible is the literal word of God. I just skip about a third of it. I love the parts I love so much, but I find a lot of it just appalling. When a right-wing person quotes a passage in order to attack and stigmatize another person--or group of people--I just roll my eyes. Anne Lamott eye christian believe I'm human, you're human, let me greet your humanness. Let's be people together for a while. Anne Lamott let-me together people Grief, as I read somewhere once, is a lazy Susan. One day it is heavy and underwater, and the next day it spins and stops at loud and rageful, and the next day at wounded keening, and the next day numbness, silence. Anne Lamott numbness next-day grief Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it. Anne Lamott writing running fun It's incredibly touching when someone who seems so hopeless finds a few inches of light to stand in and makes everything work as well as possible. All of us lurch and fall, sit in the dirt, are helped to our feet, keep moving, feel like idiots, lose our balance, gain it, help others get back on their feet, and keep going. Anne Lamott helping-others fall moving
