Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Stew, Brew, and Chew

Claudia said, “But, Mrs. Frankweiler, you should want to learn one new thing every day. We did even at the Museum.”

“No,” I answered, “I don’t agree with that. I think you should learn, of course, and some days you must learn a great deal. But you should also have days when you allow what is already in you to swell up inside of you until it touches everything. And you can feel it inside of you. If you never take time out to let that happen, then you just accumulate facts, and they begin to rattle around inside of you. You can make noise with them, but never really feel anything with them. It’s hollow.”
~ E.L. Konigsburg (From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler)


Today, take some time to absorb all that you've learned recently - stew and brew and chew on it until it's been fully digested and stored away.

Share one important thing you've learned in the past few weeks.

29 comments:

Diane said...

Wonderful passage. Better way to swell up other than my gut.... :O)

Jonathon Arntson said...

I have learned to stop fighting myself and just chill out. That's how I am able to be writing again.

Vicki Rocho said...

great quote...hmmm, what have I learned? I think the biggest is to KEEP learning to trust myself. Yup. I know it, I just gotta DO it more

Martina Boone said...

I don't know that this is brand new knowledge, but I learned just how strong and generous the writing community is. Look at WriteOnCon. Amazing.

Marissa

Unknown said...

After WriteOnCon I think we are in much need of a break :)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

You always find the best quotes, inspirational and true. I've recently learned there is more to me than I thought, and that taking a vacation was much needed.

Candyland said...

Things don't happen the way I want them to when I want them to.

Jessica Bell said...

That I chew and stew way too much! :o)

Are you a writer? Then you MUST enter this CONTEST!

storyqueen said...

I loved that book as a kid!

New thing I've learned...well, I guess I already knew it, but you just can't slow down time.

Jana said...

Thanks so much for that Shannon! Great post.

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

Brilliant message :)

Karen Harrington said...

Always check my children's pockets before tossing clothes into the wash. (Okay, that's not so profound...but a good lesson.) :)

Great post as always!

Carolina M. Valdez Schneider said...

Oh, excellent message as always. Recently, I've learned that I just can't do it all, that I must let some things go....

Patti Lacy said...

That I CAN learn new tricks though I'm an old dog.

Had to when a virus sickened my computer.

Yep, am now laptop and Windows XP semiliterate!

But my baby's fixed!
Yahoo!
Patti
www.pattilacy.com/blog

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I've learned not to underestimate or second-guess my audience!

Hannah said...

Pretty much everything in the Permission post at writeoncon. Love it all!!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss shannon! i always like what you say. for me i learned a pecan pie blizzard from dairy queen makes me feel lots better after i strike out 4 times in a row at my baseball game. :)
...smiles from lenny

Mr. O said...

Shannon,

You should call your husband.

Kelly Lyman said...

Oh- I like this. Great advice. I think I'll just do this!

Lindsay said...

Wonderful post.

What have I learnt? Loads from WriteOnCon...and also less is more. lol.

Raquel Byrnes said...

Sage advice. My daughter loved that book. I shall ruminate.

Tahereh said...

i love the reminder. thanks so much.

<3

Carolyn V. said...

Awesome reminder! I think the best thing I have learned in the last few weeks it that it's okay to take it slow. Even though I don't want to.

Terri Tiffany said...

What I've learned? That bitterness only hurts me.

Mary Aalgaard said...

I can do hard things.
I like the permission to just ruminate.

Tricia J. O'Brien said...

Oh, that made me think of a rattling gourd. What an excellent notion that we need let things swell and grow.
What I learned lately--I loved something Molly O'Neill said at WriteOnCon that we need to give ourselves permission to be where we are on the writing journey. That's been giving me a sense of peace.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Shannon -

Great quote!

After spending three days at a writers conference, I need to sit back and digest the information.

Blessings,
Susan :)

Stephanie Thornton said...

I plan to do this for the next few weeks. I've received some major feedback and my brain needs some time to process. Otherwise it might explode. And that would be messy.

Karen and Gerard said...

Thanks for popping over from the BBQ blog party. I like your blog you have for your class--very cool! Also noticed you liked "The Hunger Games" and are now reading "Mockingjay." I am on the waiting list for that at the library.

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