An extract from 'Words To Live By' Vol 1
By Simon Lawrence
Nearly all of today I've been sitting in the saloon of my tiny floating home. At times the sun erupts through my high windows, then a rush of wind nudges me, stretching my lines hard against the cleats on the pontoon... then there's a brief shower, followed by another burst of sunshine... it seems the pattern of the day.
I haven't written for a day or two, so I searched amongst my paper clippings for a quote I found recently by Robert Louis Stevenson… So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no-one is useless while he has a friend!
What seems such a simple and obvious sentiment really has a great depth of meaning to us all, it emphasises the greatest thing we can have in life and that is love and friendship.
They have always been a great encouragement to me, especially in the quiet, concentrated mind of a writer, we can feel alone at times, and that thing called social media can be a great comfort too. I know it gets a lot of criticism… but it is like assembling nearly everyone I know, sitting with you all over coffee, listening to your woes and your enthusiasms… laughing with you or helping you through a tough time. We all have those, we all get over them eventually too… and it is good that we are reminded that we can help our friends and our family, sometimes strangers too, in what seems to be a fundamentally struggling world.
Of course it only appears that way at times, really it is not. When we are feeling strong and happy, then to share this with others is the greatest inspiration… giving a little of ourselves, rather than just for ourselves.
We do not really live unless we have our friends around us, like definite walls against the winds of the world.
Here is my ovation to you all... x
By Simon Lawrence
Nearly all of today I've been sitting in the saloon of my tiny floating home. At times the sun erupts through my high windows, then a rush of wind nudges me, stretching my lines hard against the cleats on the pontoon... then there's a brief shower, followed by another burst of sunshine... it seems the pattern of the day.
I haven't written for a day or two, so I searched amongst my paper clippings for a quote I found recently by Robert Louis Stevenson… So long as we love, we serve; so long as we are loved by others, I should say that we are almost indispensable; and no-one is useless while he has a friend!
What seems such a simple and obvious sentiment really has a great depth of meaning to us all, it emphasises the greatest thing we can have in life and that is love and friendship.
They have always been a great encouragement to me, especially in the quiet, concentrated mind of a writer, we can feel alone at times, and that thing called social media can be a great comfort too. I know it gets a lot of criticism… but it is like assembling nearly everyone I know, sitting with you all over coffee, listening to your woes and your enthusiasms… laughing with you or helping you through a tough time. We all have those, we all get over them eventually too… and it is good that we are reminded that we can help our friends and our family, sometimes strangers too, in what seems to be a fundamentally struggling world.
Of course it only appears that way at times, really it is not. When we are feeling strong and happy, then to share this with others is the greatest inspiration… giving a little of ourselves, rather than just for ourselves.
We do not really live unless we have our friends around us, like definite walls against the winds of the world.
Here is my ovation to you all... x