Writing is, of course, a solitary occupation. But for many writers, myself included, it's through writing that we make certain vital connections. Elizabeth Berg More Quotes by Elizabeth Berg More Quotes From Elizabeth Berg I remember once when we were moving, driving across country, and it was raining so hard, the windshield wipers going fast and squeaking, and then: nothing. It stopped. I looked out the window ahead of me and it was clear. I looked out the back and there was the rain, still going. Nobody said anything, but there it was, a near miracle, a rain line, a way of seeing just where something starts, when usually you are just in the middle of it before you notice it. That's how it feels to me now, to not want to be like (that) anymore. I see the line. Elizabeth Berg rain country moving *We give so little when it's in us always to give so much more. It's bothering to listen with an open heart to someone who smells bad. It's hard. Elizabeth Berg smell heart giving It is never about how good your voice is; it is only about feeling the urge to sing, and then having the courage to do it with the voice you are given. Elizabeth Berg given voice feelings It seems like people are all the time making themselves themselves, but they don't really know it. You can only have true vision when you look behind. A person can slide so fast into being something they never really intended. I wonder if you can truly resurrect your own self. Elizabeth Berg vision self people He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the good place, and a heart-shaped leaf lay trapped in the hollow if his throat as though it were planned, though of course it was so perfect it couldn't have been planned. Elizabeth Berg dating white heart One thing I have always been is too short. It's adorable when you're in junior high. After that, it's a pain in the ass for the rest of your life. Elizabeth Berg juniors adorable pain It will happen when you're not looking for it. Love likes to take you by surprise. Elizabeth Berg surprise likes happens As far as I'm concerned, the most important thing you need when inventing characters is empathy. Elizabeth Berg empathy important character There are people who have never studied writing who are capable of being writers. I know this because I am an example. I was a part-time registered nurse, a wife, and a mother when I began publishing. I'd taken no classes, had no experience, no knowledge of the publishing world, no agent, no contacts ... Take the risk to let all that is in you, out. Escape into the open. Elizabeth Berg taken mother writing I like to listen to sad music when I’m sad. It seems honest. It makes me cry, and sometimes a good cry is the only thing that can make you feel better. Elizabeth Berg sad-music honest feel-better Do you think that people ever really do believe they will die, that the world will just go along as always without them? I wonder if we aren't all a little surprised at the moment of crossover, if we don't look back over our shoulders saying, Now hold on. Elizabeth Berg believe people thinking Well, most women are full to the brim, that's all...We are, most of us, ready to explode, especially when our children are small and we are so weary with the demands for love and attention and the kind of service that makes you feel you should be wearing a uniform with "Mommy" embroidered over the left breast, over the heart...If a stranger had come up to me and said, "Do you want to talk about it? I have time to listen," I think I might have burst into tears at the relief of it. Elizabeth Berg heart children thinking ...in my head, a person who was out walking and walking in the dark comes to a little house with a light on. Waits at the door for a moment, and then goes in finds such a welcome that she stays. Elizabeth Berg light dark doors As a writer, you should have a sticky soul; the act of continually taking things in should be as much a part of you as your hair color. Elizabeth Berg color should-have writing I hate banana bread. It's too suspicious-looking. I always thought the cooked banana looked like insect legs. Elizabeth Berg legs hate bread The truth is, we usually only show our unhappiness to another woman. I suppose this is one of our problems. And yet it is also one of our strengths. Elizabeth Berg truth-is unhappiness problem Well, anyway, her death changed our lives for the better, because it brought a kind of awareness, a specific sense of purpose and appreciation we hadn't had before. Would I trade that in order to have her back? In a fraction of a millisecond. But I won't ever have her back. So I have taken this, as her great gift to us. But. Do I block her out? Never. Do I think of her? Always. In some part of my brain, I think of her every single moment of every single day. Elizabeth Berg block taken appreciation We are assumed to be rather hopeless - swallowed up by incorrect notions, divorced from the original genius with which we are born, lost within days of living this distracting life. Elizabeth Berg origin-of-life hopeless genius The heart of myself has always been something just wanting so bad. I have had an empty center, black as a basement, but also knowing about light and waiting. Young as I am, I know now that everything is about to come. Jimmy will be the place for me to learn the real happiness. He will be my Joy School. My joy. Mine. Elizabeth Berg real heart happiness Sometimes I try to remember things my mother told me about the awful way he was raised. But why does he have to keep on going? Why would you take something bad out of your mouth and hand it to another, saying, Here, eat this? Elizabeth Berg mother father hands
