#sol18 . I Am A Collector of Words

Today's Writing Quote: To write means more than putting pretty words on a page; the act of writing is to share a part of your soul with the world.





I am a collector of quotes. Of words. Other people's words. I save them everywhere my notebooks, random slips of paper, Pinterest. Truth be told, I have four different boards on Pinterest where I save words that touch my soul. I have poetic words, quotes, book quotes and writing quotes.

My love of other people's words began in ninth grade when my social studies teacher started class every day with a quote. We wrote the quote in our notebook, along with the author. The notebook was graded quarterly. If we were absent, it was our responsibility to get the quote we missed from a friend.

I don't remember him writing the quote on the board so it would be easier to write down. I just remember him standing in the door frame, arms crossed, saying the quote in whole once, in phrases once, and then again in whole. No repeats. Listen and get it.

I wish I could say I still had the notebook, but it is long gone, along with many of the memories of that time. But one quote stayed with me throughout the years. This one from Albert Camus. At the time, I loved it because I hated winter and loved summer and wanted to keep "summer me" around all the time.

I still like it for that.

But as I grew as a person it also said that I survived. I handled whatever life had to throw at me. It reminds me to find the JOY, the happiness, the good, when all around me seems to be going to hell.

As I wrote this post and looked for images to go along with it, I found what I think is the original quote (I'm going to investigate a little more). And I smiled. Because this is the quote I will hang on to for the rest of my life.