Write to be understood. Speak to be heard. Read to grow.

One of the sweetest parts of being a parent is finding some memento from your kids’ past. My son Michael made this bookmark, probably in fourth grade. The thoughts are from his teacher and referred to a writing and reading program they’d just started.

It’d been pinned to a cork board in our kitchen for years; I’d seen it most every day. Then, yesterday, I saw it again, for the first time:

Write to be understood,

Speak to be heard,

Read to grow…

It’s really a simple mantra that covers, well, everything.

http://life20.tumblr.com/ Peter Fleckenstein

Everything. Immutable in themselves. Thank you sir for an amazing start to the day.
- Anonymous
  
  You’re welcome my friend. Glad to see someone else is up with the dawn.
  - http://life20.tumblr.com/ Peter Fleckenstein
    
    Dawn is the absolute best time of the day. The last two weeks have been monumental in so many ways for me. Today marks the end and the beginning of a life altering impact. Your writing this morning centered things for me my friend. A Sign. A Feeling. An Intuition. Call it what you will, the feeling remains the same.
    - Anonymous
      
      “I love the dark hours of my being.
      My mind deepens into them.
      There I can find, as in old letters,
      the days of my life, already lived,
      and held like a legend, and understood.” Rilke
      
      I think of that every time I watch the dawn. I’m glad you found that center.
    - http://terezan.tumblr.com/ Tereza
      
      Wish I could.
      
      Being a night owl in an early bird world makes you feel a bit like Pig Pen.
      
      I’ve long been jealous — truly jealous — of early birds.
http://kirklove.tumblr.com/ kirklove

“I saw it again, for the first time”

What a powerful gift we have to do that. Amazing when we allow ourselves that joy and unfortunate we don’t do it more often.
- http://terezan.tumblr.com/ Tereza
  
  I so agree.
  
  I just spent 2 days at the (awesome) Gamification Summit. But the real A-ha! was, I’ve heard this all before! It’s from all those books I’ve read. Jane Nelson’s seminal “Positive Parenting”, Harvey Karp’s “Happiest Toddler on the Block”, and “Playful Parenting”, etc etc. I can do this!!! The scenarios are different, the emotions are truly universal.
  - http://kirklove.tumblr.com/ kirklove
    
    Yup.
    
    Related, I just watched Happiest Toddler. Fascinating stuff Karp is doing. We have the book, too. Will dive into that.
http://www.bigbags.tumblr.com Bags

So, what are you reading?
- Anonymous
  
  *Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. * by Laurence Gonzales. Comes to me courtesy of Ben Saunders (www.bensaunders.com)
MICHAEL MCCAFFERTY

That quote is attributed to Lawrence Clark Powell
- Kevin Friedman
  
  Yeah, apparently he was a true lover of books and reading… and even somewhat of a futurist:
  
  “We are the children of a technological age. We have
  found streamlined ways of doing much of our routine work. Printing is no
  longer the only way of reproducing books. Reading them, however, has
  not changed.”
  - Anonymous
    
    Thanks to both of you…what a great quote.
- Anonymous
  
  Thanks for clarifying that. I had no idea.
http://www.charliecrystle.com Charlie Crystle

I’ve blogged since 1999, before it was called that. Hand-made crappy little app that served its purpose.Writing helps me clarify my thoughts. Since then, I’ve posted over a thousand times (not all at my blog), which one would hope would lead to clarity. Most of the time it does.Sharing those thoughts also might help others formulate their opinions, solve a problem, or learn something from my mistakes and successes. Sometimes the best stuff is in the comments, not the post itself, and I’m the one who’s learning.
- Anonymous
  
  This is the main reason I love writing.
- http://terezan.tumblr.com/ Tereza
  
  My life changed when I started writing.
  
  For example, I got to be friends with Charlie Crystle.
http://terezan.tumblr.com/ Tereza

How did you know I needed to hear that today?
- Kevin Friedman
  
  Don’t you know?!? It’s Jerry’s Jedi powers.
  - Kevin Friedman
    
    Any resemblance is purely coincidental.
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http://www.charliecrystle.com Charlie Crystle

dear jerry,

blog more.

love,

charlie
- Anonymous
  
  Everything in moderation, my friend. Write when I write. Work when I work. Sleep when I sleep.
https://twitter.com/#!/cammacrae Cam MacRae

Propitious advice. Thank you.
- Anonymous
  
  You’re welcome. I feel like I was just channeling though.
http://www.alearningaday.com Rohan

Wonderful wonderful.

Hits the nail. Thank you!
- Anonymous
  
  You’re welcome. I write sparingly in part because it’s so important to me.
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Jerry+_