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We gather these thoughts from the community so they represent different perspectives, come from different sources, and resonate with different listeners. We're located in Alaska, so you'll hear our Native voices and about our 50th anniversary of statehood, but we want to hear your voices, too.
So start your day with something interesting and provocative and continue it over conversation - either here or with the people nearby.
A little more thoughtfulness in our day couldn't hurt.
Alaska’s Constitution: A Citizen’s Guide: Katie Hurley |
Excerpted from Alaska's Constitution: A Citizen's Guide by Dr. Gordon S. Harrison, published by Alaska Legislative Affairs Agency, 2003. Read by Katie Hurley, Chief Clerk to Alaska's Constitutional Convention. Katherine Torkelsen Alexander Hurley was born in Juneau to Norwegian immigrants on Seward's Day. She has been a public servant in the territory and state since December 1940 and is the proud mother of three children and four grandchildren. Despite her 86 years, she remains a vigorous activist. |
| In Alaska's Constitution: A Citizen's Guide, Dr. Gordon S. Harrison writes: "The Alaska Constitution was written during the winter of 1955-1956 at a convention that was held in Fairbanks on the campus of the University of Alaska. The academic setting was chosen to inspire reflective deliberation and to escape the "smoke-filled rooms" of Juneau. Statehood was still three years away, and at the time the prospects were not bright for quick congressional action. Writing a constitution at that time, rather than after Alaska was admitted to the Union, was a [strategy] in the battle for statehood: stalwarts hoped that a good constitution written and acclaimed by the people of the territory would help rally skeptics to their cause and promote statehood in Washington, D.C." In fact, Hawaii -- the 50th state -- had created their constitution before Alaska. |
Trust: Lila Vogt |
The poem "Trust," copyright 2007 by Thomas R. Smith, appearing in Waking Before Dawn, published by Red Dragonfly Press and used by permission of the author Read by Lila Vogt: "We have all suffered betrayal and disappointment. Trust implies optimism and belief in the essential goodness of life; something I have faith in, and that is expressed here in Thomas Smith's poem." Lila lives, works and reads in Spenard. She is a lover of poetry and good literature. Her favorite website: www.goodreads.com. |
"Trust" by Thomas R. Smith:
"It's like so many other things in life
The package left with the disreputable-looking
The theft that could have happened doesn't.
And sometimes you sense how faithfully your life |
Journey of a Lifetime: Wayne Mergler |
Excerpted from "Journey of a Lifetime" by Juanita Havill, which appeared in The Most Wonderful Books, edited by Michael Dorris and Emilie Buchwald, published by Milkweed Editions, 1997, and used by permission of the author. Read by Wayne Mergler, lifelong avid reader, writer, and bibliophile. Wayne is a retired English teacher, a writer, and a former columnist of the Anchorage Daily News. He has lived in Alaska for forty years. His favorite website (at least the ones he can tell you about) is www.imdb.com (the Internet Movie Database). |
| In "Journey of a Lifetime," writer Juanita Havill describes the different approaches her parents had towards reading: [My father read] ‘the local and tri-state newspapers, the Wall Street Journal, and mysteries. He didn't care which mystery he read, and because he forgot them immediately after finishing, he could read the same mystery again and again. My father read to fall asleep. My mother read as if her life depended upon it. Sitting on the living room sofa behind the coffee table piled high with library books, she would open a book and disappear. She didn't fidget or nibble snacks or look up. While reading, she had an expression of calm, transported by the story to another place. One day I saw her sitting at a table bent over a book with her elbows firmly planted. She was frozen, motionless except to turn the pages. I walked by her again several hours later. She closed the 350-page book, looked up, and said, "That was a great book!"' |
Tecumseh: Mike Travis |
From Tecumseh, a Shawnee Chief. Contributed by Judy Stein of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service. Read by Mike Travis: "My Tlingit name is Wats'dul. I'm a Raven and a member of the Copper River people clan of Yakutat." Mike is an educator who has worked with schools and communities throughout Alaska for 30 years. His passion is cross-cultural communication and understanding. He suggests the Alaska Parent Information and Resource Center website, Building Strong Parent School Partnerships - Advocating Bilingualism and Equity for All! |
The words of Tecumseh, the great Shawnee chief:
"So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song and die like a hero going home."
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Three Minutes or Less: Fatima Hoger |
Excerpted from Lynne Sharon Schwartz's essay in Three Minutes or Less: Life Lessons from America's Greatest Writers from the Archives of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, Bloomsbury Publishing, and used by permission. Read by Fatima Hoger: "As a mother and grandmother, this piece spoke to me because in my neighborhood, kids called me "Mother Protector." I've learned that life is unpredictable, taking its own twists and turns." Fatima was born in Panama. She and her husband Sam have three children; Sam Jr., Sophia, Stephanie and a grandaughter, Kylie. Fatima loves sharing time with family and friends, dancing and traveling. Her favorite place in the world is Boquete. |
| Writer Lynne Sharon Schwartz loved to make rubber-band balls as a girl, but once she had her own child, she had this reaction: "It bounced like a dream, as high as you ever could wish, such a lovely thing. So I thought, ... I'll make one for our little girl. ... I imagined her playing with the ball I had made for her, bouncing it on the sidewalk just the way I used to. But then I imagined, What if she dropped it and it rolled into the street where the cars are, she dashed out after it and a car was coming. I tell you, my heart started racing. I couldn't walk. So I didn't make the rubber-band ball after all. I couldn't with what I had pictured in my mind. I had to throw it away. I was so relieved she wouldn't have it." |