I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
Doris LessingRead
There is a great line of women stretching out behind you into the past, and you have to seek them out and find them in yourself and be conscious of them.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and understanding the legacy of women who have come before us.
Doris Lessing's quote suggests that every individual is connected to their ancestors and the experiences of those who came before them, particularly women. It encourages a conscious effort to reflect on this lineage, urging us to seek out the wisdom, struggles, and achievements of the women in our past, ultimately rediscovering them within ourselves.
In practice
During a women's empowerment seminar to illustrate the importance of recognizing our roots.
I am a person who continually destroys the possibilities of a future because of the numbers of alternative viewpoints I can focus on the present.
In the writing process, the more the story cooks, the better. The brain works for you even when you are at rest. I find dreams particularly useful. I myself think a great deal before I go to sleep and the details sometimes unfold in the dream.
Humanity's legacy of stories and storytelling is the most precious we have. All wisdom is in our stories and songs. A story is how we construct our experiences. At the very simplest, it can be: 'He/she was born, lived, died.' Probably that is the template of our stories - a beginning, middle, and end. This structure is in our minds.
The World War I, I'm a child of World War I. And I really know about the children of war. Because both my parents were both badly damaged by the war. My father, physically, and both mentally and emotionally. So, I know exactly what it's like to be brought up in an atmosphere of a continual harping on the war.
You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn't care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can't be a way of life - the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.
When a white man in Africa by accident looks into the eyes of a native and sees the human being (which it is the chief preoccupation to avoid), his sense of guilt, which he denies, fumes up in resentment and he brings down the whip.
All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination.
So many people trip in front of them because they're looking over there or up ahead.
Anxiety is sort of the opposite of ego. You're so sure you'll do everything wrong you're afraid to do anything at all. It results from over-motivation- leading to errors that lead to an underestimation of one's self. Work out your anxieties on paper and read. This calms the mind.
What could be worse than being born without sight? Being born with sight and no vision.
There is no substitute for talent. Industry and all its virtues are of no avail.
Whatever happens, do not lose hold of the two main ropes of life - hope and faith.
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