Quotes

The time it has taken to come full circle and back to Q for Quotes has been interesting especially when it started out as a Q is for the Questions I have about Our Way out of this Global Pandemic. Now I see that is more a journal entry until I am able to unpack the ruminations and anxieties. It may be ready for next year’s A – Z Blogging Challenge when we’re well and truly on the other side of COVID-19.

Quotes are something I’ve used since my earliest memories of reading and being able to write. As I found meaningful words and verses of poetry that gelled, I jotted them in journals and bits of paper. Sometimes they became affirmations for personal development or a mantra for difficult times.

I was a prodigious reader and filled books with quotes I found between the covers of innumerable good reads. Mid-1970s I travelled and always had a book in my backpack. I have always preferred “bricks” to shorter reads and found myself engrossed by authors that challenged my preconceived notions. Like James Michener, Leon Uris and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. They opened my eyes to the fact that South Africa was not the only economy to flourish on the back of racism and exploitation. I transcribed swathes from Solzhenitsyn particularly.

For a time I kept a travel journal that were interspersed with these copied paragraphs and reflections about the countries I visited. It would have been an interesting read. Probably still would be. If only to quote the reflections of a young adult immersed in the cultural richness of countries visited while simultaneously finding a different world view to that of her homeland.

I am curious about you. Do you write down things that spark joy, motivate you perhaps or inspire you to be a better person. Maybe you’ve found a quote that has changed your perception of its author. I’m curious …

Gratitude Moments:

• For the realisation that a late post is not a failed post
• For quotes of others that inspire and motivate me
• For readers who stop to read my blog and pause to comment