Words I Needed Last Week 7/17

Never surrender to the flow of time.

Nneka Julia

Jul 17, 2023

Words I saved, read, wrote down, and savored last week. From an artist’s responsibility, to being divinely aware, to the distilled essence of details, to the people in our lives that challenge us, shake our beliefs, and bring us home.

Photo taken by Nneka Julia in Peninsula Papagayo, Costa Rica on 35mm film.

Happy Monday, friends.
—Nneka

"I told them an artist's first responsibility was to himself. I said if he kept getting upset with what other people think he ought to do, he never would get too far, or he sure wouldn't last. I tried to make them see how I had worked all my life to play myself… They said they understood. I hope they did.”
—Miles Davis

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware…joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware. In this state of god-like awareness one sings; in this realm the world exists as poem.”
—Heny Miller

“Never surrender to the flow of time. Never put off what you have decided to do.
Cut away ruthlessly everything that is imaginary in your feelings.
[I must cut away the] illusion that time, of itself, will bring me courage and energy…. In fact, it is usually the contrary.”
—Simone Weil

**I heard someone say, “Do it raggedy” and it’s become my new motto.
Do it scared, do it tired, do it raggedy, do it now. The time will pass anyway.
Consistent, raggedy attempts will always amount to more than no attempts at all.

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy...that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist... The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.”
—Martha Graham

“Wisdom is the distilled essence of all of the details.”
—Neil deGrasse Tyson

“You are under no obligation to remain the same person you were a year ago, a month ago, or even a day ago. You are here to create yourself, continuously.”
—Richard Feynman

“There are going to be people in your life who change your trajectory. They’re going to walk into your life for a moment, a lifetime, or anytime in between. And they’re going to disrupt something in your life. They’ll challenge you, they’ll shake your beliefs, they’ll trigger you and then stand by you as you work through your healing. These people will teach you and be taught by you. You’ll dance and play. You’ll see the softer sides that others ‘don’t get to see. They’ll lay down markers on your life’s timeline. Markers that roar “I was here.” Pre me. Post me. They’re the life changers. The good type of change. Not the one that takes you away from yourself… but the one that brings you home. “
—Vienna Pharaon