Today's Quote: Margaret Thatcher

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You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.
~ Margaret Thatcher

Today's Quote: Abraham Lincoln

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I am not bound to win, I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live up to the light I have.
~ Abraham Lincoln

Today's Quote: Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy Valentine's Day!

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You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

500 Reasons to Explore Poetry Anthologies

Sharing a review of IMPERFECT from the American Library Association's Booklist Online. The review is in a wonderful article by Sylvia Vardell called "Books and Authors: 500 Reasons to Explore Poetry Anthologies":

Professor Vardell says:

The poems and poets in these anthologies offer a range of poetic forms, subjects, and perspectives from which readers of all ages can take inspiration.

If you were to spend approximately $100 and order the poetry anthologies featured here, you would have access to 500 different poets who write for young people. 500! Who knew there were so many classic and contemporary poets to seek out and savor? The recent resurgence of the poetry anthology provides a valuable resource when it comes to celebrating diversity in literature. The editors of these current poetry collections have actively sought out many new poets, offering new perspectives on a variety of themes and topics. It’s also interesting to see the diverse forms that these anthologies can take: blending poetry, fiction, and nonfiction and providing cross-genre connections so important for teaching; maximizing the picture-book format with illustrations that can inspire each poet or provide a unifying theme for the poetry; or eschewing art and illustrations to focus on poetry exclusively.

Many of these outstanding new collections are the creations of new or small presses taking risks to reach poetry readers. And many new voices make their first appearance in a poetry collection or anthology. In sharing these poetry anthologies, we can provide opportunities to meet new writers, new poetic forms and styles, and new ways to approach themes and topics and perhaps inspire young readers to create their own collections of favorite poems.

Poetry for Older Readers

Imperfect: Poems about Mistakes: An Anthology for Middle Schoolers. Ed. by Tabatha Yeatts. 2018. History House, $11.99 (9780967915838). Gr. 5–8.

This slim volume, geared toward middle-graders, packs a lot of punch. Featuring 70 poems by 55 different poets, it includes many new poets, such as Linda Kulp Trout, Catherine Flynn, and Robert Schechter, alongside a handful of classic poets like Carl Sandburg, Kobayashi Issa, and Antonio Machado. There are even a selection of poems written by young people themselves (in sixth and seventh grade). The focus on making mistakes of all kinds is the “perfect” focus for an anthology aimed at tweens and teens, and the poets approach the topic from both serious and silly points of view. Extra resources at the back of the book offer helpful advice for the reader, including “Making Good Decisions: Brainstorming for Future You,” with very practical tips; “Apologizing Effectively,” with step-by-step guidance on making sincere apologies; and “Poem Forms You Can Try,” with options for poetry writing, including acrostic, diamante, double dactyl, and poems for two voices. Pithy quotes and minimal art are subtly placed throughout the poems, including the sketch of a crack (in the vase on the cover) on many pages, hinting at the “mending” of imperfection the Japanese call “kintsugi,” or “precious scars” or “golden repair,” a way to see the beauty in fixing what is broken. A lively blog dedicated to the book (MistakesAnthology.Blogspot.com) continues to offer insights and quotes, along with links to each of the poets with more poems to enjoy. Some of my favorite poems in this engaging collection include:

"Apology,” by Robert Schechter, with a multitude of synonyms for mistake;
“A Note from the Architect,” by Mary Lee Hahn, a spin on creating the Leaning Tower of Pisa;
“Sea Hunt,” by Steven K. Smith, a narrative poem about discovering one’s passion; and
“Stolen,” by Elizabeth Steinglass, a look at how shoplifting might make you feel.

Today's Quote: Proverbial Wisdom

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Your friend will swallow your mistakes, your enemy will present them on a plate.
~ Arabian proverb

Today's Quote: Golda Meir

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Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.
~ Golda Meir

Blackout Button

The road to success involves trying new things, trying again, making mistakes! This blackout button is by Adventure Awaits Us:

A blackout poetry collection on Pinterest -- inspiration to make your own!

Today's Quote: Henry David Thoreau

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Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Today's Quote: Thomas J. Watson

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Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It's quite simple, really: Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn't at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can.
~ Thomas J. Watson

Today's Quote: Diane Ackerman

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I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
~ Diane Ackerman

Today's Quote: Benjamin Franklin

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Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
~ Benjamin Franklin

Today's Quote: Buddha

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There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
~ Buddha

Perfectionism

Derek Thompson in The Agony of Perfectionism talks about worrying about "perfection" can keep you from being happy. There are too many choices. It is sort of like the grass being greener on the other side:

"The paradox of caring too much about having the perfect version of everything is that you wind up feel dissatisfied with all of it...

In short: The Internet doesn't have to make you miserable. But if you insist on comparing your choices and your life to every available alternative accessible through a Google search, it will.

...We don't know everything. We don't have everything. And that's okay."

Taylor Buckley also says:

Does anyone else get held back by their own perfectionism?

Do you find that you can’t adopt healthier ways of eating because you feel like you don’t have the time to go to the store, do all the planning, and make all the food?
Do you feel like you can’t start going to the gym until you have the perfect workout plan, clothes, body…?

So many times in our life we are held back by our own desire to have everything put together before we feel comfortable starting. In a way, that’s actually a really silly thought, the one that starts with, “I will do this when _____”. If we are always waiting until some magical when, then how will we ever actually start to do anything?

Can you tell when you are making good choices and good plans and when you are tripping yourself up? If you are feeling happy about your choices and actions, then keep doing what you're doing. If not, consider doing it differently. You can do it! Baby steps!