10 QOTD reimagined
The internet is home to a lot of quotes. And as much as they can get repetitive and mundane, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I love capturing a good caption. But that’s half the problem; finding a good one; and what do I mean by a good one? I mean a statement that when you read it for the first time, it feels as if it was something you knew all along or… it resonates with you really strongly.
Here I wanted to share a small selection of some of my favourite quotes because they all mean something to me, aren’t throw away statements and genuinely have a deeper implication to help shift perspectives.
And then right at the end I’ve actually shared a further collection of some of my favourite quotes, in their raw form so underlined in books I’ve read or found floating on the internet.
1.
There’s something there in us that we don't want to experience, and we never do experience, because we're so quick to act.
Pema Chodran
Taken from Chodran’s book When things fall apart, this pretty much sums up the first half of my life; my teens and twenties. After a traumatic experience in my mid-twenties, I went on to unpack and write about the very point this quote is making (this body of work is currently sitting on my shared drive). In modern, cliche terminology it will be called ‘becoming woke’. Up until ‘becoming woke’ you’re walking around on auto-pilot often dismissing or suppressing parts of yourself; sometimes knowingly but most of the time actually unknowingly. This is because you’ve never really learned how to listen to yourself or how to be self-aware or emotionally intelligent. And sometimes this self neglect is intentional because sub-consciously we may not know how to handle ourselves if certain things surfaced. But when that day comes, it quite literally feels like a fog has been lifted and you can see things clearly for the very first time and how you relate to yourself and your surroundings changes.
2.
To be aware of your senses and express them is an act of devotion, of loving self care.
And this changes the way you live.
Anonymous
I came across this quote in an article (which I now wish I took note of to reference) at a time when I was ready to hear it, and needed to hear it. Whilst growing up there was a period in time when I thought someone, somewhere has all the answers; your parents, your teachers, your director, the CEO, the doctor, the personal trainer etc. All these people are the very best in their fields, there job is to know what you don’t know and impart that knowledge to you. To cut a long story short, whilst of course there is some truth in this, in reality I discovered that actually very, very few people know what to do and how to act - that including the prestigious CEO or the renowned medical practitioner. They have tools that you don’t, sure, but even these are gained from learning and experience which anyone else can also acquire, not just from talent alone. This quote resonated so strongly with me because I understood it was telling me to listen to myself; to be attentive to the information my senses pick up, enjoy them, live by what they are telling me and translate them into my truth.
3.
Lightness for me is when being profound allows you to fly high.
Franca Sozzani
Italian Vogue’s late editor, Franca Sozzani, was quite the visionary (right next to Diana Vreeland, her video ‘The eye has to travel’ which I’ve linked in ‘Stuff I like’ - scroll down and you can watch it - and biography ‘Empress of Fashion’ are truly great pieces of work to watch and read). Like most things, fashion can become repetitive if not injected with fresh perspectives and Franca was at the forefront of making this happen. She repeatedly pushed boundaries in her work, often blurring the lines between fashion, politics and wider societal issues at large, which would naturally get a lot of push back from her team, the press and the public. In her documentary, Franca: Chaos & Creation (another fantastic watch by the way currently, available to stream on Netflix), she explained what she meant by this quote; amidst all the objections and chaos that surrounds her, she always approached life with a light heart and didn’t take things too seriously. That’s not to say she was undermining the reality of the situations at hand, but by being detached and light hearted, enabled her to keep pushing forward uncensored, representing and advocating for the perspectives that are often ignored and might otherwise cause a stir, without the heaviness of it all weighing her down. All too often we can get weighed down in certain situations and second guess ourselves thinking maybe we shouldn't have said that, or done that. Whilst there is a time in place for this kind of reflection, for the most part you don't want to paralyze yourself so you can't continue to move forward and act according to what you think is right. A light-hearted detatched approach to heavy situations can help you be nimble and agile when dealing with them.
4.
If something bought me enjoyment in that moment, I would say yes.
Nausheen Shah
I used to think if you don’t like doing something, it’s your job to force yourself to do it anyway. Whilst there’s some truth in that where reaching your goals are concerned (we all have to do tasks we don’t like in order to achieve a desired result), that doesn’t mean we should be forcing ourselves to pursue things that don’t excite us, simply because we think we should be pursuing them. Nausheen Shah, is a Pakistani / Persian descent fashion designer, stylist, journalist and creative consultant. In her podcast with interior designer and creative director, Athena Calderone, she shared how she went from being in medicine, to law to fashion all by simply following what excited her as opposed to pre-mediating her choices. Sometimes it’s useful to work backward from a goal to know what steps to take. However, often our goals might change, we may not even know what they are or know what steps to take to achieve them. Listening to how you feel when opportunity presents itself is the best way to make decisions; all those small decisions that bring you joy, eventually lead you to exactly what you would have wanted to be doing all along, but just may have never realised it.
5.
If people injured thee, grieve not;
because neither rest nor grief come from people.
Be aware that the contrasts of friend and foe are from God,
because the hearts of both are in His keeping.
Although the arrow is shot from the bow,
Wise men look at the archer!Saadi, Sage advice
When I first read this, my heart literally swelled. Everything about this was just perfect. Saadi was a Persian poet and this extract was taken from one of his pieces of work, Sage Advice. Having read a lot of fiction during my youth and under-grad, I actually completely outgrew the genre and only ever read non-fiction now but may occasionally dabble in some poetry. (If I must be honest, I started to think reading made up stories to be such a waste of time because I was no longer into ‘escaping’ and entering a new world, but would rather be reading something insightful I can learn from. But I of course believe fiction is powerful and has its own place).
We’ve all been in situations where people have wronged us, angered us and ill wishers have made us feel bad, so this different perspective on how to view those people was so refreshing and reassuring. The ability to accept and blindly trust in a higher purpose that what’s happening to you might actually be the right thing for you, and what’s moving away from you is wrong for you, can be the only way to keep you at peace.
6.
Self discipline is not self-suppression.
Suppression is when you resist and fight against your desires.
Self discipline is when your highest desire rules your lesser desires,
not through resistance, but through loving action.David Deida
I love, love, LOVE David Deida’s work. He’s an acquired taste as his work revolves around sexual and spiritual growth in men and women. I’ve read nearly all his books (I promise they are not as cheesy as they might come across). Dear Lover which was written about women, was literally like my life story; so much of what was said were things I felt I knew all along but just wasn’t conscious of, similarly to the book Women who run with wolves (another phenomenal read which resonated so strongly with me). Whilst there are a plethora of quotes I can pull from Deida’s work, I chose this one because at the time it made sense of something which is often misunderstood. That being, the difference between discipline and suppression; they can appear to be the same but are far from it. Suppresion is when you don’t allow yourself to acknowledge your own desires, disicipline is when you create a hierarchy and prioritise which desires to pursue, as you can’t pursue everything at the same time.
7.
Having a depth to anything you do is a value.
Francesca Amfitheatrof
As a Marketer, there is the constant quest to ‘add value’ to your customers. Like with most other things that have been repeated to death (‘content is king’, ‘enhancing customer experience’ etc) you kind of get a bit stumped on what exactly else could this ‘value’ be? Especially as in this day and age marketing can be just so much noise and smoke and mirrors. When I stumbled across this quote by jewellery designer Francesca Amfitheatrof (most famously known for her work at Tiffany’s & Co and Louis Vuitton) something just clicked. As someone who does think deeply and is constantly looking for the nuances, it can sometimes feel as if you’re on this endless hunt for the pot of gold. But Francesca here reinforces that it’s that very depth and care you put into what you do which has the potential to set you apart. And you know… it eventually shows. Someone who operates authentically and with passion comes across starkly different from someone who operates in an in-authentic, touch-and-go fashion.
8.
There’s a slowness.
I like time to think things over.
That’s how to spot the strongest work.Walter Vanhaerents
I’ll be the first to share that in this fast paced world, I like to make decisions carefully. Whilst I can commercially see the value in being ‘the first’ to market and ‘the first’ to do things, that’s also implying that whatever you ‘first’ put forward or do, it is relevant and will make an impact. What is the point of racing ahead if you’ve got nothing worthwhile to show for it? That’s not to say fast decisions can’t be well considered, but it’s important to feel your way into a decision to ensure it’s right and makes sense. And people might try to force you to rush that decision making process, but ultimately you need to go by your watch. And if it’s none of the above, at least ensure that it’s a decision you want to bet on.
9.
Do you remember what Oscar Wilde said?
‘Before Turner, there was no fog in London’.
Artists enable us to see the world, it’s in their nature.Pierre Bergé
This quote comes from Letters to Yves by Pierre Bergé; co-founder of YSL, Yves’ business partner and life partner. The letters compiled in this book were written shortly after Yves’ death and alludes to Turner’s painting which first introduced the idea of fog in London, which then went on to inspire many cultural references of London being foggy, and there’s a distinct reason why this quote made an impression on me. A realist may look at the world as it is and operates within all its rules and therefore, the realist’s expectations on what is possible for them will be limited to what’s currently available to them. However, a dreamer, innovator or entrepreneur will see things how they want them to be, what they want from it and embark on manifesting this vision. And the beauty is, once it has been manifested, it does become the new ‘real’ and transitions over into becoming a new truth. Point being, don’t let someone rain on your parade. If what you wish to create is out of the norm, once you’ve materialised other people will acknowledge it and re-use it so it might very well eventually become the norm. And your vision is what helped initiate that.
10.
Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but nothing should own you
Imam Ali
Another great caption to hit hard at a very old-school, controlling ideology and that being; material things make you a bad person so better to be impoverished and be a good person. It is true material wealth and power can have a catastrophic impact on people, but you then have to ask yourself did that person really have a good character to begin with? Or did materialism just help unfold what was already there beneath the surface? It’s more entertaining (and profitable) to read stories of powerful people who are corrupt than powerful people who are doing good. And even if there aren’t many of the latter, who said you can’t be the first? I also alluded to this in Lessons from my mother where you absolutely can get to a point when you can enjoy things without personally feeling attached to them or effecting your identity. And I can assure you, anyone who makes you feel bad for enjoying your expensive car or condo, which you worked hard to attain, isn’t of good character themselves (that’s a red flag for resentment, jealousy and defense mechanism). There does end up being a slightly different dynamic to it if you acquired these through your family or any other effortless means other than your own doing. But even then, penalising people for having been born into good fortune is just as self righteous as making yourself out to be humble and non-materialistic for not having good fortune.
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