"I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken
that there could be no real joy again,
that at best there might eventually be a little contentment.
Everyone wanted me to get help and rejoin life,
pick up the pieces and move on,
and I tried to,
I wanted to,
but I just had to lie in the mud
with my arms wrapped around myself,
eyes closed,
grieving,
until I didn’t have to anymore."
— Anne Lamott
(Operating Instructions:
A Journal of My Son's First Year)
"It's funny:
I always imagined when I was a kid
that adults had some kind of inner toolbox
full of shiny tools:
the saw of discernment,
the hammer of wisdom,
the sandpaper of patience.
But then when I grew up I found that
life handed you these rusty bent old tools -
friendships, prayer, conscience,
honesty - and said
'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'.
And mostly,
against all odds,
they do. "
— Anne Lamott
(Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith)
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