Quotes and Things, because life is too serious sometimes

Last week, I had a good conversation with a friend about, really, a weird version of meditation and making sure to take time to just not think. And while I haven't managed to do that yet, it somehow morphed into a whole thing about also being sure to not let yourself spiral into the it's-only-bad-thoughts-in-my-head thing, and to have some way to replace those icky-bits or to have a space, if you will, that you can turn to that helps battle that ick.

Which, when you say these kinds of things, my thoughts are as follows:

• Wouldn't that be nice?!
• How does one make a quiet space when there is no such thing in your house?!
• What kinds of good things are going to overpower the weird crap that crops up in my head?!
• So, a positive bits collection, like on Pinterest?
• Because Pinterest is terrible and I actually try and stay off of that as much as I can anymore. 
• So a space of my own?
• Like, uh, maybe written down?
• Because that I can totally do.

And that's how I, now, have a Field Notes notebook that is slowly getting filled up with quotes. 

Somehow, yes, that whole spiral of ideas ended up with writing things down, because how else would it end, really. 

It's nice paper, I'm using my fountain pens, in both black and orange ink, and I'm quite enjoying it. Probably because I'm not doing it as a Pinterest-mumbo-jumbo bit. I could easily find a bunch of "motivational" or "inspirational" quotes and collect them, but those do nothing for me. It's like saying "drink 8 glasses of water a day!" when, really, that's not a science thing, you get water from a lot of food that you eat anyway, and any beverage counts towards your hydration for the day (unless, you know, all you drink is coffee or something, because that doesn't really count as much as one may hope). Either way, things like that are a great thing to say, but sure as hell not really helpful - they don't give you the right push in the direction you need to be pushed in (or any push at all) and can actually make you feel worse for not living up to that standard. 

Plus, only motivational quotes?

No. Because I would rather have a good laugh and feel better than just have a swift kick in the rear. 

Both are important, for me, and I will take the time to write down all of that kind of stuff, because it makes me weirdly happy. 

So, first, I wanted to share the idea - get some good paper, a good pen (and, if a fountain pen, a color of ink that you love) and write cool things down. Be it in a notebook you already write in all the time, or a separate notebook, or whatever. Just write things down. If they strike you in any way, it is worth taking a minute or two to write. 

I also suggest writing it nicely. It doesn't have to be cursive or a fancy script or anything beyond just print that you took a little more time on. My handwriting is not nice. But the combination of trying to make sure there are no mistakes in my copy (because nobody wants strike-throughs in their nice notebooks) and using a fountain pen has meant that my handwriting is better. Not awesome, but better. Super legible, compared to some of my weird slanty bits that sometimes I can't even read later.

Secondly, I wanted to share some of the cool quotes I've found. Because they make me happy, and maybe you will enjoy some of them as well. 

I cannot, however, vouch for my sense of humor. It's a bit weird, I know. You may not laugh at the things I laugh at. I'm cool with that. And what I may find to be motivational may not mean anything to you. I'm cool with that as well. People are different from each other, that's a good thing. 

Also a note about my sources. I do my best, for myself, to write down where I got things from. Be it a Facebook post, an Instagram post, or something from Reddit. If it's a "real" quote, I'll put the person. If it's one of those horribly attributed Facebook posts, I'll write the Facebook page I got it from. If it's a Reddit thing, I'll write the username. Same if it's from Twitter or Instagram. 

On to the cool things that have been "said," though, right?

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"Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs"

   - Henry Ford

"Don't promise when you're happy, Don't reply when you're angry, and Don't decide when you're sad."

   - Ziad K Abdelnour

""What day is it?," asked Pooh.

"It's Monday," said Piglet.

"Fuck," said Pooh."

   - Facebook.com/soulseeds

""Bear with me," the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience.

""Bare with me" would be an invitation to undress."

   - Paul Brians

"Forget dancing like no one is watching. Dance like a toddler. They don't even care if there's music."

   - Facebook.com/fsensitivity

"The human body is 90% water so we're basically just cucumbers with anxiety.

- Science Person"

   - @beautyandbones

(There were some sciencey replies to this one on the original post, but I think getting into that subject would defeat the purpose, eh?)

"Listen. I wish I could tell you it gets better. But, it doesn't get better. You get better."

   - Joan Rivers

"A sheep in a field is never afraid of the earth imploding because it's a sheep and the world won't implode. Moral? Sheep doesn't know what to worry about, but things are probably going to be OK. Keep on sheepin' on."

   - Fikka

"HUG Life. Less thugs, mo hugs, y'all."

   - @jetpackjason

"There are times when my greatest accomplishment is just keeping my mouth shut."

   - Facebook.com/Purple Clover

"One day at a time is the secret to building momentum."

   - @schroedershenanigansin2nd

"The fact that I can give myself a papercut with a file folder, is exactly why I can NEVER own a Lightsaber."

   - @grimagination

"'Someday' is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you."

   - Timothy Ferriss

"You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be someone who hates peaches."

   - Dita Von Teese

"And what's the Internet without the rick-roll?"

   - Linus Torvalds

"Some people have told me that they don't think a fat penguin really embodies the grace of Linux, which just tells me they have never seen an angry penguin charging at them in excess of 100mph. They'd be a lot more careful about what they said if they had."

   - Linus Torvalds

(The penguin in question is of course the Linux "mascot", which is a cartoony penguin that is adorable. It's name is Tux, which is my dog's name. This is not a coincidence.)

"It is not how much we 'have' but how much we 'enjoy,' that makes happiness."

   - C.H. Spurgeon

"We are playing D&D tomorrow and I am going to punch a wizard right in his neck."

   - @skullmandible

---

For now, we'll say that's good. 

This isn't all of the things in my notebook, and I'm still adding to it (of course, because there should be no reasonable way in which this should fill up a whole Field Notes book, even though they are rather small booklets).

If you are interested, this could happen again - that is, sharing more of the weird things that make me feel better about life that I've saved away. If not, that's cool. 

And if you have any awesome quotes, "motivational" or otherwise, please share them below! 

~Havok

P.S. As I said, attribution was something I tried to do, but not something I necessarily fussed over. The point is the sentiment, not trying to actually "collect" quotes to sound smart. But to have something to read, for myself, as a pick-me-up. And when I need a pick-me-up, I'm not going to care whether something was on Twitter or whether something was from a book, or anything like that. But in the sense of being a decent human being, I did write down sources for myself, and those are the same sources I've posted here.