My daughter gave me a book for my birthday. It was a collection by Liz Gray of the sayings of many well-known people and others I had not heard of. The title was:
You have breath for no more than 99 words. What would they be?
So of course I had to work on one of my own! I wanted to sum up the boundless joy and serendipity of my life and the burning anger that fuels what I do with it. It was tricky finding the right balance without being trite or egotistic. Here it is.
The magic of the moments, Mozart, Beethoven, the Beatles, birdsong: a child’s warm hand safe in mine, uncontrollable laughter, a glass of cool, clean water, shade on a hot day, warm comfort on a bitter one.
I am blessed, blessed – but each thankfulness comes burnished with bright rage that others live out their existence tarnished by the impact of greed, inhumanity or complacency offering little access to such everyday magic. So I write and raise my voice for those who are silenced and with many others create drops in the ocean that might one day become a wave.
