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When Women Were Birds
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice | Terry Tempest Williams
225 posts | 99 read | 1 reading | 266 to read
The beloved author of Refuge returns with a work that explodes and startles, illuminates and celebratesTerry Tempest Williams's mother told her: "I am leaving you all my journals, but you must promise me you won't look at them until after I'm gone."Readers of Williams's iconic and unconventional memoir, Refuge, well remember that mother. She was one of a large Mormon clan in northern Utah who developed cancer as a result of the nuclear testing in nearby Nevada. It was a shock to Williams to discover that her mother had kept journals. But not as much of a shock as what she found when the time came to read them. "They were exactly where she said they would be: three shelves of beautiful cloth-bound books . . . I opened the first journal. It was empty. I opened the second journal. It was empty. I opened the third. It too was empty . . . Shelf after shelf after shelf, all of my mother's journals were blank." What did Williams's mother mean by that? In fifty-four chapters that unfold like a series of yoga poses, each with its own logic and beauty, Williams creates a lyrical and caring meditation of the mystery of her mother's journals. When Women Were Birds is a kaleidoscope that keeps turning around the question "What does it mean to have a voice?"
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OrangeMooseReads
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It‘s been rough mentally for me lately as it has been for many. Just trying to get through the days without breaking down. With all of that reading has been tough for me. I‘ve been slowly working my way through the tagged book. It‘s good and I enjoy it when I do get to it.
Mostly I‘ve been listening to a podcast ‘Southern Gothic‘. I listen for the majority of the day while I work.
Drink your water, take your meds, and hold the line.

review
Cosmos_Moon_River
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Pickpick

Beautiful book written of love and for self and nature. I could feel this book in my soul. Loved it.

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Cosmos_Moon_River
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Cosmos_Moon_River
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“Women blessed with death-eyes are fearless.”

There are so many good quotes in this book! Beautiful and ingenious.

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Cosmos_Moon_River
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“Who wants to be a goddess when we can be human? Perfection is a flaw disguised as control.”

Bklover What a great quote! 3w
Cosmos_Moon_River @Bklover yes! It is so good! 3w
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Cosmos_Moon_River
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What beautiful words 😭

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Cosmos_Moon_River
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After nearly losing my mother earlier this year and my father‘s passing this month, I picked up this book and it is really hitting. Just 25 pages in, I want to get a copy for every mother and everyone I know who has a mother.

Librarybelle ❤️❤️❤️ 1mo
Ruthiella ❤️❤️❤️ 1mo
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BookmarkTavern
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Pickpick

Interweaving stories of life as an environmentalist and activist, with memories of dealing with the grief of losing her mother, Williams has created a classic for years to come.

I‘ve always loved the way Williams writes. It‘s so evocative and grounded, even while taking flight. It‘s a tough read, and a little slow to start, but so worth it. Her writing was a staple of my English degree. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

BookmarkTavern #Roll100 @PuddleJumper CW 👇🏻 (edited) 5mo
BookmarkTavern General warning throughout for discussions of parent death and breast cancer; specific warnings for XXVII, discussions of childbirth and abortion; XXXI, threatened assault; LIV suicide attempt, stroke, brain tumor, brief mentions of eating disorders and suicide 5mo
PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 5mo
See All 7 Comments
Clare-Dragonfly OK, I try not to comment on people‘s spelling if I‘m not asked, but I genuinely can‘t figure out what autocorrect was going for with “Acura it‘s.” 5mo
BookmarkTavern @Clare-Dragonfly LOL oh my gosh, I didn‘t even notice that! I meant activist. Fixed it now! 😅😅 5mo
Clare-Dragonfly That makes so much more sense 😂 5mo
Cosmos_Moon_River Okay, this was already on my TBR, but now I have to get it and read… I always used to dream of being a bird when I was a kid and told my mom I was one before I was born. I‘m more intrigued by your review. 5mo
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lil1inblue
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Eggs Excellent 👌🏼 8mo
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CuriousG
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I came across a post from @Tkimsal about 30 book recommendations in 30 days and I'm loving the idea of sharing favourites that I recommend often. So glad I saw your post Tony!

Day 1: I come back to this book over and over. It is such a thoughtful and soul nourishing read. It asks more questions than it answers, which is perfect. I have so many underlined passages that I can just flip through and find what I need any time I want. #30recsin30days

Tkimsal I‘m glad you liked the idea! I‘ll be watching your posts! 2y
dabbe Look at da sweetest pup! 🖤🐾🖤 2y
CuriousG @dabbe he is my best reading buddy! 😊 2y
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Ellohcin
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Chelsea.Poole Loved that book and that‘s an awesome mug! 3y
Ellohcin @Chelsea.Poole thank you! And I agree, it is a great book. 3y
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heyitsMacall
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Pickpick

“If ever there was a story without a shadow, it would be this: that we as women exist in direct sunlight only.”

Wow wow wow! This book was so beautiful!!! This was the first book I saved to my TBR when I got this app and it just became available through my library app. What a lovely look at the role of women and their relationship with nature and the world 💕

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CoffeeK8
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📖 When Women Were Birds & Wild Magic
💻 Lindy West/Martha Wells
📺 The West Wing
🎼 The White Stripes
🎧 We Will Rock You - Queen & Wrecking Ball - Interpol
#manicmonday #letterW

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CoffeeK8
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I‘m a day behind for my #7books7days so this is day number 2. This book is just moving.

CareBear My copy of this book has so many post-it tabs!! 💕 5y
CoffeeK8 @CareBear I bought this book for so many friends in the months after I read it for the first time 5y
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rather_be_reading
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This quote is really sticking with me.

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rather_be_reading

Last line: Each day I begin with the empty page.

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rather_be_reading

The world us already split open, and it is our destiny to heal it, each in our way, each in our own time,with the gifts that are ours.

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rather_be_reading

There are so many ways to change the sentences we have been given.

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What is time? sacred time, but the acceleration of consciousness?

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Do any of us ever fully understand the consequences of our actions?

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The body doesnt lie.

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rather_be_reading

Words cast a shadow. Without a shadow there is no depth. Without a shadow there is substance. If we have no shadow, it means we are invisible.

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rather_be_reading

Your voice is the wildest thing you own.

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rather_be_reading

When I want to see the furthest into my soul,I will write a senrence by hand and then write another sentence over it, follows by anotherm An entire paragraph eill live in one line, and no one else can read it. That is the point.

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rather_be_reading

Nature has a voice and it is often brutal without cause.

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rather_be_reading

Beauty is transformed over time, and not without destruction.

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rather_be_reading

Remember that you compliment each other not consume each other.

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What is positive and what is negative is not absolute.

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Nor does love have to be all or nothing. Neither does power.

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rather_be_reading

Life spirals in and then spirals out on any given day.

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We can change, and transform our own conditioning. We can choose to move like water rather than be molded like clay.

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Empty pages become possibilities.

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Love is power. Power is not love. Both can be brutal. Both dance with control. Both can be intoxicating,leaving us out of control.

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rather_be_reading

I forage for the deatils left, overlooked, discarded.

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rather_be_reading

The most beautiful words cannot be written, unfortunately.

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rather_be_reading

..my own voice continues to be found wherever I am being present and responding from my heart, moment by moment.

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rather_be_reading

Sorrow has a voice. It is a cold scream of silence turned inward.

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rather_be_reading

Weve been raised to question what we know, to discount and discredit the authority of our gut.

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When we dont listen to our intuition, we abandon our souls.

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rather_be_reading

Empower women, and you empower the community.

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We can no longer deny the destiny that is ours by becoming women who wait-- waiting to love, waiting to speak, waiting to act. This is not patience but pathology.

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rather_be_reading

Reading has not only changed my life but saved it. The right books picked at the right times...

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rather_be_reading

Perfection is a flaw disguised as control.

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I was borrowing a landscape until I found my own.

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Having children could wait. My desire to find my own voice in the world could not.

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rather_be_reading

...each woman must come to age herself-- she must find her true center alone.

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Finding ones voice is a process of finding ones passion.

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Literature was life, and reading became an open door to a world beyond the familiar.

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Silence leaves me alone in a place of feeling. It is not necessarily a place of comfort.

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Responsibility is not a garment they could shed.