Writing the Parachute

On a lovely little blog called Sage Said So by poet Sage Cohen, I found a quote that describes a writer's process in a way I find profound and terribly relevant.

From poet William Stafford:

"I have woven a parachute out of everything broken."

And a heavy dose of profundity from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet:


And a woman spoke, saying, Tell us of Pain.

And he said:

Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding.

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain.

And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy;

And you would accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.

And you would watch with serenity through the winters of your grief.