The Magic, Miracles and Joy of an Artist: A Favorite Quote

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

A Favorite Quote

I would like to share with you one of my very favorite quotes:

The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars...
~Jack Kerouac

I sometimes feel like that. Occasionally, I well up with feelings so strong that I feel I will explode. It can be brought on by something as simple as stepping into a room showing an art exhibit of something I like. It can be as simple as walking alone in the snow on a brisk dark night, the anticipation of getting together with old friends for an evening of good conversation, standing at the edge of the ocean staring out at the unknown beneath all that water, the magic of Christmas Eve, hearing a powerful group sing the Hallelujah Chorus, every single time I hear Kirk Franklin sing the gospel song "Why We Sing", and when I just recently received a video clip of a 12-year-old schoolgirl singing "Ave Maria" while auditioning for American Idol, I was immediately engulfed in goosebumps and tears of joy filled my eyes. You know the feeling you get when you are at a theater - the play is over and everyone stands and yells and claps and whistles? I love those feelings! They make you feel good inside, glad to be alive, and you forget about the evils of the world and you are just happy to BE. I think if you have ever felt this way, you understand what I'm saying. I just know there are wonderful things in this world that make me mad, desirous and burning with emotion.
Anyone else feel this way?

1 comment:

suzi whitaker said...: I love that quote!!! I know exactly what you mean, I feel that way a lot. Sometimes, something so simply wonderful will bring me to tears! And I realize how glad I am to be alive!; February 19, 2009 at 9:36 AM

For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come!

I AM A "SEARCHER"

"I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter. We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.

For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves."

~ James Kavanaugh

I am THE LOVERS Tarot Card

Motive, power, and action, arising from Inspiration and Impulse. THE LOVERS represents intuition and inspiration. Very often a choice needs to be made. Originally, this card was just called LOVE. And that's acually more apt than "LOVERS." Love follows in this sequence of growth and maturity. And, coming after the Emperor, who is about control, it is a radical change in perspective. LOVE is a force that makes you choose and decide for reasons you often can't understand; it makes you surrender control to a higher power. And that is what this card is all about. Finding something or someone who is so much a part of yourself, so perfectly attuned to you and you to them, that you cannot, dare not resist. This card indicates that you have or will come across a person, a career, challenge, or thing that you will fall in love with. You will know instinctively that you must have this, even if it means diverging from your chosen path. No matter the difficulties, without it you will never be complete.