If you hold close to nature, to what is simple in it, to the small things people hardly see and which all of a sudden can become great and immeasurable; if you have this love for what is slight, and quite unassumingly, as a servant, seek to win the confidence of what seems poor – then everything will grow easier, more unified and somehow more conciliatory, not perhaps in the intellect, which, amazed, remains a step behind, but in your deepest consciousness, watchfulness and knowledge.
I LOVE this ode to the word perhaps. It is so elegant, and spacious, and forgiving, and wise, and full of possibility. This perhaps theme is very empowering for anyone on a path of growth. 7 little letters that when put together contain the whole of open-mindedness.
What a fascinating and engaging practice with these mixtapes. Connecting the dots through your snippets of photos through words searched and ideas captured is such a compelling way to digest all that you've taken in throughout the journey of your photo collection. I am particularly inspired and intrigued by the practice of taking notes through life, as a way to process the life, as well as to fuel the writing.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing this feedback, Nicole! "A way to process the life, as well as to fuel the writing." You‘re describing what I seem to be after: metabolizing experience into possibility ✨
What a wonderful piece. Your creativity is inspiring.
You really made me ponder the word 'perhaps.' Such a lovely word. What's fascinating is that 'perhaps' makes us slow down and pay attention. It demands nothing from us except our contemplation. It invites us into a world of possibility rather than one of predetermined conclusions. It feels like the opposite of what the world—the media, our workplaces, all the obligations of daily life—demands of us.
Perhaps I'll spend a few extra minutes writing in my journal today, simply contemplating.
What I love about this essay is how it makes me see the word "perhaps" in a new light. I'd probably dismiss it as a filler word if I was just thinking about it, but here I see how much weight it can have in a sentence and how differently it can be applied. I'd never think it would show up in so many different places either. I'm a huge fan of this format and look forward to any other mixtapes you put together!
This is gorgeous and inspiring. I love how it moves as memories do, connected by something small, but when you focus on that connection, it's not only the word, perhaps, but a rhythm and shape, a tone of knowing and questioning at the same time.
Sorry Heather, I couldn’t reply earlier. I loved the way you refer to memory here. In fact, I just talked to a friend about how we can access memories and the tone they still carry for us, almost like rooms we enter, and where we can take another look and reframe/integrate certain things.
Another friend wrote in her book manuscript: “Little golden nuggets people gifted me along the way. And I put them in my pocket."
I absolutely loved this little glimpse into your phone and your brain ◡̈ Your endless curiosity and depth of reading are some of my favorite things about you. I love how the word “perhaps” carried you in so many different directions. Of all these beautiful lines, I think my favorite is “the blue of distance.”
“The blue of distance”…yes, and "being rich loss." I feel we have a few of the same questions and resonances we are tracking, which makes exchanging our ideas about writing and living so nourishing! 🩶
Brigitte, in a piece built on 'perhaps', what strikes me most is how often we abandon that openness when reading others. Perhaps that is why we miss the very thing 'perhaps' was meant to protect. The possibility that we might be wrong, and that the other person might still have something to teach us.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing these thoughts with me, Shams. What you describe can happen, or, at least in my experience, the opposite: that I recognize my own possibility in others’ words, that I often grant an openness to others and recognize I should grant to myself too…perhaps!?
The word conspiracy comes to mind as I read this exquisitely spacious piece..."Perhaps our experiences, even the mistakes, detours, and oddnesses that once felt like wrong turns, were all necessary for a more mature and integrated version of ourselves to emerge. Perhaps becoming is then also a matter of retracing, and sometimes reinterpreting, the path we’ve already traveled, and where it leads from here." There is a lovely synchrony, a breathing together, with these writers you have been reading; we join you in savoring the potential in each idea, even the probability, that emerges from each 'perhaps,' as you give us each instance twice, in image and then again in text, so that we can take it in, and let it go... take it in, and let it go...as we walk with you "through this “constellation..." I love this, Brigitte. More please!
I just entered the word "conspiracy" in my photos and…haha, no, we don’t want to go there (now). Rather, how ravishing it is that you felt this—because that it mirrors my own experience:
"There is a lovely synchrony, a breathing together, with these writers you have been reading; we join you in savoring the potential in each idea, even the probability, that emerges from each 'perhaps,'…"
There’s so much potential we sense, and start to believe in, when we look closer at the (our) constellations of resonances!
This is an excellent essay and really made me think of the word 'perhaps'. I do love the format and how you weave quotes, pictures and your own words together for a beautiful tapestry of thought.
As for poetry, I'm sure my daughter could point you to some good stuff. Xx. Come on over!
Brigitte, it took me two passes through this to understand just how rich it is. It’s remarkable in so many ways: that you’ve stored all of these bits and pieces of brilliance on your phone; that every one of them represents some big or small piece of your own psyche (like how characters in dreams represent some aspect of ourselves according to one school of dream-interpretation thought); that you are such a voracious reader; and that it occurred to you to search on one word through *all* of this info.
I’m blown away by this, and by your mind and your creativity. It’s such a brilliant idea. Your phone must have expanded storage to hold everything you’re interested in.
Brigitte, you have such an extraordinary ability to dive deep ... in *any* direction. This is one notable example.
Perhaps…;) Thank you, dear Larry!
If you hold close to nature, to what is simple in it, to the small things people hardly see and which all of a sudden can become great and immeasurable; if you have this love for what is slight, and quite unassumingly, as a servant, seek to win the confidence of what seems poor – then everything will grow easier, more unified and somehow more conciliatory, not perhaps in the intellect, which, amazed, remains a step behind, but in your deepest consciousness, watchfulness and knowledge.
- Rainer Maria Rilke
This is so lovely. Thank you, Donal.
I ran a search for 'perhaps' and that was the most recent result.
Ohhhh—delightful!!! And it fits so perfectly in the spirit of perhaps.
I LOVE this ode to the word perhaps. It is so elegant, and spacious, and forgiving, and wise, and full of possibility. This perhaps theme is very empowering for anyone on a path of growth. 7 little letters that when put together contain the whole of open-mindedness.
What a beautiful comment, Rick. Means very much to me.
"7 little letters that when put together contain the whole of open-mindedness." 🩶
What a fascinating and engaging practice with these mixtapes. Connecting the dots through your snippets of photos through words searched and ideas captured is such a compelling way to digest all that you've taken in throughout the journey of your photo collection. I am particularly inspired and intrigued by the practice of taking notes through life, as a way to process the life, as well as to fuel the writing.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing this feedback, Nicole! "A way to process the life, as well as to fuel the writing." You‘re describing what I seem to be after: metabolizing experience into possibility ✨
What a wonderful piece. Your creativity is inspiring.
You really made me ponder the word 'perhaps.' Such a lovely word. What's fascinating is that 'perhaps' makes us slow down and pay attention. It demands nothing from us except our contemplation. It invites us into a world of possibility rather than one of predetermined conclusions. It feels like the opposite of what the world—the media, our workplaces, all the obligations of daily life—demands of us.
Perhaps I'll spend a few extra minutes writing in my journal today, simply contemplating.
What a beautiful reflection on this little ambiguous word—whose strength, and possibility, may lie in exactly this ambiguity! Thank you, Elizabeth.
love this! looking forward to the next one. now excuse me while I listen to that podcast.
Lovely ✨
This treatment is like a completely unique form of artwork—a beautiful expression of who you are. Thank you for sharing this!
Means a lot coming from you, thank you!
What I love about this essay is how it makes me see the word "perhaps" in a new light. I'd probably dismiss it as a filler word if I was just thinking about it, but here I see how much weight it can have in a sentence and how differently it can be applied. I'd never think it would show up in so many different places either. I'm a huge fan of this format and look forward to any other mixtapes you put together!
Thank you Michelle! 🙃 You helped me push myself to go deeper "and in” on this.
It was so fun to work together on this! Also, I have to add a comment that I love the little cassette tapes you incorporated. Such a delightful touch!
This is gorgeous and inspiring. I love how it moves as memories do, connected by something small, but when you focus on that connection, it's not only the word, perhaps, but a rhythm and shape, a tone of knowing and questioning at the same time.
Sorry Heather, I couldn’t reply earlier. I loved the way you refer to memory here. In fact, I just talked to a friend about how we can access memories and the tone they still carry for us, almost like rooms we enter, and where we can take another look and reframe/integrate certain things.
Another friend wrote in her book manuscript: “Little golden nuggets people gifted me along the way. And I put them in my pocket."
I absolutely loved this little glimpse into your phone and your brain ◡̈ Your endless curiosity and depth of reading are some of my favorite things about you. I love how the word “perhaps” carried you in so many different directions. Of all these beautiful lines, I think my favorite is “the blue of distance.”
More of these, please!!
“The blue of distance”…yes, and "being rich loss." I feel we have a few of the same questions and resonances we are tracking, which makes exchanging our ideas about writing and living so nourishing! 🩶
I agree ◡̈
Well, don’t think I’ll be thinking of anything else for the rest of the day.
Thanks.
I guess 🤣😉. Seriously though, this was great.
Thank you Henny!!!
Brigitte, in a piece built on 'perhaps', what strikes me most is how often we abandon that openness when reading others. Perhaps that is why we miss the very thing 'perhaps' was meant to protect. The possibility that we might be wrong, and that the other person might still have something to teach us.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing these thoughts with me, Shams. What you describe can happen, or, at least in my experience, the opposite: that I recognize my own possibility in others’ words, that I often grant an openness to others and recognize I should grant to myself too…perhaps!?
Brigitte, that is the humility behind it—to give others what you forget to give yourself. Perhaps that is the deeper lesson.
The word conspiracy comes to mind as I read this exquisitely spacious piece..."Perhaps our experiences, even the mistakes, detours, and oddnesses that once felt like wrong turns, were all necessary for a more mature and integrated version of ourselves to emerge. Perhaps becoming is then also a matter of retracing, and sometimes reinterpreting, the path we’ve already traveled, and where it leads from here." There is a lovely synchrony, a breathing together, with these writers you have been reading; we join you in savoring the potential in each idea, even the probability, that emerges from each 'perhaps,' as you give us each instance twice, in image and then again in text, so that we can take it in, and let it go... take it in, and let it go...as we walk with you "through this “constellation..." I love this, Brigitte. More please!
I just entered the word "conspiracy" in my photos and…haha, no, we don’t want to go there (now). Rather, how ravishing it is that you felt this—because that it mirrors my own experience:
"There is a lovely synchrony, a breathing together, with these writers you have been reading; we join you in savoring the potential in each idea, even the probability, that emerges from each 'perhaps,'…"
There’s so much potential we sense, and start to believe in, when we look closer at the (our) constellations of resonances!
Thank you so much, Alden!
This is an excellent essay and really made me think of the word 'perhaps'. I do love the format and how you weave quotes, pictures and your own words together for a beautiful tapestry of thought.
As for poetry, I'm sure my daughter could point you to some good stuff. Xx. Come on over!
I will check out your daughter’s webinar on WH…idk how I’ve missed it before. Also, you are one of my poetry inspirations, Dana!
Thank you. You honour me with your words.
I love this mix tape format. Eager to read more of them.
Delia—thank you! I will publish more of these in the future :)
Brigitte, it took me two passes through this to understand just how rich it is. It’s remarkable in so many ways: that you’ve stored all of these bits and pieces of brilliance on your phone; that every one of them represents some big or small piece of your own psyche (like how characters in dreams represent some aspect of ourselves according to one school of dream-interpretation thought); that you are such a voracious reader; and that it occurred to you to search on one word through *all* of this info.
I’m blown away by this, and by your mind and your creativity. It’s such a brilliant idea. Your phone must have expanded storage to hold everything you’re interested in.