We are narrative creatures, and we need narrative nourishment-nar... by N.D. Wilson

We are narrative creatures, and we need narrative nourishment-nar rative catechisms.

N.D. Wilson

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Categorized in : Needs Narrative Catechism

The truth is that a life well lived is always lived on a rising s... by N.D. Wilson

The truth is that a life well lived is always lived on a rising scale of difficulty.

scales truth-is rising

Writer's block — so what? Write something bad. Just throw it in the trash can when you're done, you're always improving. That kind of writing is like doing a bunch of push-ups. Every individual push-up is not the important thing. On Tuesday you're going to think, "Is it really important that I do it today?" No, but the collective impact is. If you write every day, you will improve.

block writing thinking

We're all carnies, though some people are in denial. They want to be above it all, above the mayhem of laughter and people and lights and animals and the dark sadness that lurks in the coners and beneath the rides and in the trailers after hours. So they ride teh Ferris wheel, and at the top, they think they've left it all behind They've ascended to a place where they can take things seriously. Where they can be taken seriously.

laughter sadness taken

Living is the same thing as dying. Living well is the same thing... by N.D. Wilson

Living is the same thing as dying. Living well is the same thing as dying for others.

live-well wells dying

Spring is worth the wait. Life is worth the death. by N.D. Wilson

Spring is worth the wait. Life is worth the death.

life-is waiting spring

Every four years, I'll watch figure skating, but I'm no closer to... by N.D. Wilson

Every four years, I'll watch figure skating, but I'm no closer to buying tights.

skating watches years

Do not slip into writing for the mind and the mind alone. In other words, do not play merely upon our ability to reason. And do not focus only on visuals. Write for the whole person.

focus play writing

I am here to paint you a picture of the world I see by N.D. Wilson

I am here to paint you a picture of the world I see

paint world

After three years down here, I've not learned too much. But one thing I do know is that our bellies aren't big enough for revenge. It turns sour and eats you up. We'll get out, but we'll get out for the sun, the moon, and mothers, not for small-souled enemies, though we'll deal with them when we get there.

moon revenge mother

Self-loathing and self-worship can easily be the same thing. You hate the small sack of fluids and resentments that you are, and you would go to any length, and betray anything and anyone, to preserve it.

loathing hate self

But God never seems capable of moderation by N.D. Wilson

But God never seems capable of moderation

moderation capable seems

I've watched goldfish make babies, and ants execute earwigs. I've seen a fly deliver live young while having its head eaten by a mantis. And I had a golden retriever behave like one.

golden-retrievers goldfish baby

Tom had traveled around the sun eleven times when the delivery truck brought his mother's newest fridge, but a number doesn't really describe his age.

age mother numbers

The world is R-rated, and no one's checking IDs by N.D. Wilson

The world is R-rated, and no one's checking IDs

world

Columbus was the first to come to the east. Vikings don't count, and neither do all the people who were standing on the beaches and waving when he got here.

east beach people

Mumbling priests swinging stick cans on their chains and even witch doctors conjuring up curses with a well-buried elephant tooth have a better sense of their places in the world. They know this universe is brimming with magic, with life and riddles and ironies. They know that the world might eat them, and no encyclopedia could stop it.

doctors magic elephants

What I say is, don't go playing unless you can win. Only sit down to chess with idiots, only kick a dog what's dead already, and don't love a lady unless she loves you first.

dog winning love-you

Horace smiled. "Always breakfast like a man condemned. One never... by N.D. Wilson

Horace smiled. "Always breakfast like a man condemned. One never knows that a day may bring."

may men breakfast

Tragedy isn't an easy thing to kill. It takes more than a turtle. Tragedy must be destroyed by someone willing to be swallowed by it, willing to be broken, torn out of the flesh, but able to return to it. Someone must be able to shatter the tragic from within and exit into comedy, able to rip a hole so wide that a train of souls, a parade, could follow after, banging drums and throwing candy as they strolled into the sun.

turtles rip broken

Descartes, the Frenchman, had little trouble knowing that he exis... by N.D. Wilson

Descartes, the Frenchman, had little trouble knowing that he existed.

knowing trouble littles