Ready My Sword

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me my own copy of the collection of Brenda Ueland’s writings called Strength to Your Sword Arm for my birthday. I found it at the library last year after reading If You Want to Write and wanting more Ueland. I read it quickly then, but now I can read it slowly, a piece at a time, whenever I want.

Tuesday night, I lay in bed listless and decided to get up and strengthen my sword arm. I need to become a better knight, and these instructions, while a bit grand, are an inspiration:

But we must try to find our True Conscience, our True Self, the very Center, for this is the only first-rate choice-making center. Here lies all originality, talent, honor, truthfulness, courage, and cheerfulness. Here only lies the ability to choose the good and the grand, the true and the beautiful….Now, since our Conscience is a tiny compass inside us, our duty is to keep this little compass as sensistive and imaginative as possible, clear and alive, to keep as nervously steady as possible.