monthly quote recap (& a few thoughts on blogging...)

As I always do this time of year, I'm taking a look over the past year in quotes. This year (at the beginning of April) my blog turns four. In that time my life has drastically changed, I've learned so much, and shifted my focus here multiple times. 

I know that blogging is kinda over- everyone's quitting and using their time to focus on things like Instagram or podcasting or whatever else is out there that I don't even know about yet... But I love this space. I still take the time to read my favorite blogs and I don't want to only read things that I can quickly scroll past (much as I do love Instagram...). My posts here have become sporadic and a little disorganized- I have no semblance of a posting schedule and just post when I want to and when I have something to say. This means some months I post once and others I post three times in one week. 

And I'm okay with this. For now, I'm going to keep showing up in this space because it's still a valuable creative outlet for me, regardless of whether the trend is shifting away from blogging. I've got a few plans this year to reshape several things (including this space) but for now, it's not going anywhere.

And now that that's been said- on to my year of quotes! (you can see past recaps and quotes here)

April: "do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt

May: "always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder."

-EB White

June: "things are what they are and whatever will be will be"

- from the book The 100 Year Old Man who Climbed out the Window and Disappeared

July: "mothers carry their babies not for 9 months but for eternity"

- Elder Holland

August: "joy comes to us in ordinary moments. we risk missing out when we get too busy chasing down the extraordinary."

-Brene Brown

September: "now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good." 

- John Steinbeck (East of Eden)

October: "all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." 

JRR Tolkien (The Fellowship of the Ring)

November: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming..."

- Theodore Roosevelt

December: "there is no need to be perfect to inspire others...Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfections."

-Robert Tew

January: "Instructions for living a life. 

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it."
- Mary Oliver

February: "what's coming will come and we'll meet it when it does" 

-Hagrid (from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

March: "Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit... it is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions..."

-Ira Glass

As always you guys are more than welcome to share monthly quotes on your own blogs (and even do a little recap post if you'd like once you've collected some!) Please make sure to leave a comment here if you do share so that I can find your post!