Quotes From "When Women Were Birds: Fiftyfour Variations On Voice" By Terry Tempest Williams

Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated. Terry Tempest Williams

The nature of living and loving is the act of reciprocity. As women, we are told that to be the guest is to receive. We are told that to be the host is to give. But what if it is the reverse? What if it is the guest who gives to the host and it is the host who receives from the guest each time she sets her table to welcome and feed those she loves? To be the guest and the host simultaneously is to imagine a mutual exchange of gifts predicated on respect and joy. If we could adopt this truth, perhaps we as women would be less likely to become martyrs. Terry Tempest Williams

When it comes to words, rather than using our own voice, authentic and unpracticed, we steal someone else's to shield our fear. Terry Tempest Williams

It is not possible to satisfy women, " a friend said. "We are disturbed if we have children too young. Disturbed if we have then later. Disturbed if we don't have children at all. Terry Tempest Williams

There are two important days in a woman's life: the day she is born and the day she finds out why. Terry Tempest Williams

Women piece together their lives from the scraps left over for them. Terry Tempest Williams

Words are much stronger than I am. Terry Tempest Williams

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. Terry Tempest Williams

My mother's journals are a shadow play with mine. I am a woman wedded to words. Words cast a shadow. Without a shadow there is no depth. Without a shadow there is no substance. If we have no shadow, it means we are invisible. As long as I have a shadow, I am alive. Terry Tempest Williams

To be read. To be heard. To be seen. I want to be read, I want to be heard. I don't need to be seen. To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters. Writing also requires an aching curiosity leading you to discover, uncover, what is gnawing at your bones. Words have a weight to them. How you choose to present them and to whom is a matter of style and choice. Terry Tempest Williams

To withhold words is power. But to share our words with others, openly and honestly, is also power. Terry Tempest Williams

There is comfort in keeping what is sacred inside us not as a secret, but as a prayer. Terry Tempest Williams

Most of all, differences of opinion are opportunities for learning. Terry Tempest Williams

A shadow is never created in darkness. It is born of light. We can be blind to it and blinded by it. Our shadow asks us to look at what we don't want to see. If we refuse to face our shadow, it will project itself on someone else so we have no choice but to engage. Terry Tempest Williams

A shadow is never created in darkness. It is born of light. We can be blind to it and blinded by it. Our shadow asks us to look at what we don’t want to see Terry Tempest Williams

When I said, “I am my mother, but I’m not, ” I was saying my path would be my own. Terry Tempest Williams

I have found what I need most to heal a broken bond is time together–the very thing I avoid is the thing most desired. Terry Tempest Williams

Silence introduced in a society that worships noise is like the Moon exposing the night. Behind darkness is our fear. Within silence our voice dwells. What is required from both is that we be still. We focus. We listen. We see and we hear. The unexpected emerges. Terry Tempest Williams

When silence is a choice, it is an unnerving presence. When silence is imposed, it is censorship. Terry Tempest Williams

The unexpected action of deep listening can create a space of transformation capable of shattering complacency and despair. Terry Tempest Williams

To write, ” Marguerite Duras remarked, “is also not to speak. It is to keep silent. It is to howl noiselessly. Terry Tempest Williams

There is an art to writing, and it is not always disclosure. The act itself can be beautiful, revelatory, and private. Terry Tempest Williams

When I look in the mirror, I see a woman with secrets. When we don’t listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And we abandon our souls because we are afraid if we don’t, others will abandon us. Terry Tempest Williams

What is evolution if not creative adaptation and the progression of our own souls? Terry Tempest Williams

Choosing with integrity means finding ways to speak up that honor your reality, the reality of others, and your willingness to meet in the center of that large field. It’s hard sometimes. Terry Tempest Williams

Respect is primary. Terry Tempest Williams

Listening over and over to the voices through a family of instruments allowed us to recognize and appreciate the dignity and uniqueness of each living thing in the meadow and forest. Terry Tempest Williams

If so, then it was also here where I came to know I can survive what hurts. I believed in my capacity to stand back up and run into the waves again and again, no matter the risk. Terry Tempest Williams

Here is the world. It is not a safe place, but however frightening and bewildering life may become, we can survive our fears, grab them by the wolf ’s tail as Peter did, and make peace with the world. Terry Tempest Williams

Agitation gives birth to creation. Terry Tempest Williams

But harboring regrets is making love to the past, and there is no movement here. Terry Tempest Williams

Did I have the courage to forge a path Terry Tempest Williams

We mask our needs as the needs of others. Terry Tempest Williams

WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES when we go against our instincts? What are the consequences of not speaking out? What are the consequences of guilt, shame, and doubt? Terry Tempest Williams

Beauty is transformed over time, and not without destruction. Terry Tempest Williams

For far too long we have been seduced into walking a path that did not lead us to ourselves. For far too long we have said yes when we wanted to say no. And for far too long we have said no when we desperately wanted to say yes.. .. When we don't listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls. And we abandon our souls because we are afraid if we don't, others will abandon us. Terry Tempest Williams

Water is nothing if not ingemination, an encore to the tenacity of life. Terry Tempest Williams

Each of us has one. Each voice is distinct and has something to say. Each voice deserves to be heard. But it requires the act of listening. Terry Tempest Williams

My voice is born repeatedly in the fields of uncertainty. Terry Tempest Williams

My grandmother simply shook her head and said, "You know what you saw. The bird doesn't need to be counted, and neither do you. Terry Tempest Williams

Can you be inside and outside at the same time? I think this is where I live. I think this is where most women live. I know this is where writers live. Inside to write. Outside to glean. Terry Tempest Williams

A pencil is a wand and a weapon. Be careful. Protect yourself. It can be glorious. Terry Tempest Williams

Conversation is the vehicle for change. We test our ideas. We hear our own voice in a concert with another. And inside those pauses of listening, we approach new territories of thought. A good argument, call it a discussion, frees us. Words fly out of our mouths like threatened birds. Once released, they may never return. If they do, they have chosen home and the bird-worms are calmed into an ars poetica. Terry Tempest Williams

Not everything is meant for all to hear. Terry Tempest Williams

Finding one’s voice is a process of finding one’s passion. Terry Tempest Williams

We know the quality of another’s heart through her voice. Terry Tempest Williams

Once you know that you have a voice, ” Louis said, “it’s no longer the voice that matters, but what is behind the voice. Terry Tempest Williams