“A man cannot become wise until he has weathered/ his share of winters in this world” – from The Wanderer, trans. RM Liuzza
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Though the wind-chill was still below zero this morning, little February is coming to an end and taking winter with it. Spring is just 20 days away.
After spending months burying ourselves in winter-smelling wool and salt-stained boots, it is almost time for our timid limbs to see the sun again. For most people, the start of spring means new starts and fresh sheets, open windows and painted toenails, outdoor runs and picnics. The ancient symbolism of renewal is lost on no-one. How could it be?
Spring also means space. We can open up our homes to the universe and step out from under our winter layers. Of course, this means our minds are opened in the spring as well. Warmth allows our thoughts to bubble and expand past the boundaries of our selves and mingle in the air between us all. Maybe it’s science. Do our thoughts have a boiling point?
With space, too, comes a need to explore it.
Here are just a few quotes to feed our blooming wanderlust. We should always keep looking for things that make us want to expand, make us want to erase our borders.
We don’t all need to pick up and live out of a backpack for six months, or burn our savings on the side of the highway, or even take a different route to class. The point of the few quotes below is just to get us thinking. It is an exercise in beginning to sort out what YOU think is important. It’s a way to jumpstart a spring cleaning of the mind!
If you want to share more, feel free to do that here!
- “Houses are full of things that gather dust” – Kerouac
- “Unbeing dead isn’t being alive” – e.e. cummings
- “Then he didn’t get the book of magic tricks he wanted for his birthday and he got a pair of pants and a shirt instead. So there you have it, Mr. Jonas. That’s why he’s dying.” – Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine
- “To be running breathlessly, but not yet arrived, is itself delightful, a suspended moment of living hope” – Anne Carson
- “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing the lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain!” – Kerouac
Here comes spring – it’s time to get ready!
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