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Shellen Lubin Quotes

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Famous Shellen Lubin Quotes

“...will those who seek power and resist change destroy our country before we get to make it better?... Will our entire world as we know it be destroyed before we get to make it better? Is there even a path to better...? The chaos may bring clarity, may breed heros and artists and empathy, but it also destroys. I think we are each trying to find how best to resist the despair that such evil breeds and relies upon, and find a way forward that finds (or makes) meaning, value, some kind of order. What else can we do?”

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“Live Theatre requires we sit together, laugh and gasp together, breathe together. And as much as I am grateful for masks and social distancing (they've kept me and you alive), even those necessary lifesavers do get in the way of the magnificent in-the-moment transitory creation of that marvelous being we call an Audience. We are starving for want of Live Audience.”

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“Living with contradiction may be nothing new to humans, but acknowledging it, and accepting it are. Even the dictionary has trouble accepting a paradox, calling it 'two things that seem to be contradictory but may possibly be true.' But that's not a real paradox--a real paradox IS contradictory and IS true. So I don't even call them paradoxes anymore, I call them 'contradictory co-existing realities,' both in direct opposition to each other, both true at the same time.”

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“For this Rosh Hashonah--the Jewish New Year-- this is what I am reflecting on: Sh'mirat Ha'Lashon, guarding our speech. These are not the worst possible times our country has known but it may well be leading to them. While we are holding out for truth, freedom, and equity/parity/diversity/inclusivity, we must also hold out for (and require from ourselves) gentleness, compassion, empathy, and perspective.”

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“Labor builds us in ways that games and gyms can't. When you build a house, you have both a house and a builder. When you plant a garden, you have fruits and vegetables, and a gardener, too. When you teach, if you remain open to your students and discovery itself, you have a lifetime of learning. When you tend to someone, you build your own empathy and compassion.”

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“Everything has its own pace its own timing. True of working, studying, learning. True of illness, sorrow, grief. True of change, of transformation. True of conflict. True of peace. You can't change the pace without changing its nature, changing the experience. And the experience is its own end. The end never justifies the means because every means is its own end. It's not just about you, your natural pace, it's about what you're doing what's being done butterfly effects over miles and years. The river will not be pushed. The rain will not cease until it has finished pouring down. The sun will not rise before dawn. This is where we are.”

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“The word suffrage has nothing to do with suffering. It's from the Latin 'suffragium' and it's about having a vote, a voice, the right to participate in the making of decisions. And isn't that the same struggle (which does have to do with suffering) that we are facing in this country? That all adults should have a vote, a voice, the right to participate in the making of decisions? Universal Suffrage. What Extreme Conditions will it take for us to forge the path to it?”

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“Whose life matters to you? Who do you speak for? Who do you defend? How large is your vision of the world? How much pain and destruction of others is too much for you to stand? We all must ask ourselves those questions right now. Ask and ponder and ask again. We all must ask each other these questions. And the answers will lead us to what we must do-- individually and collectively, small and large actions-- what we must do.”

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“Oh, how we need MLK Day right now-- need MLK--his vision, his words, his feistiness-- not the way he's painted by the centrists (no less the right), but the way he stood up for what was necessary to make America live up to its ideals (yes, he was imperfect yes, bits of hypocrisy and misogyny, and yet mostly brilliance and caring and extraordinary efforts on behalf of all Americans because we are all deprived of justice and equity if any of us are).”

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“When I apologize, I try to make my understanding, my responsibility, and my intention clear. Even if the follow-through is not completely consistent, the exposing itself with no excuses at least gives me--gives us--a chance. Which is why the first words from me when someone apologizes, often, is, 'For what?' That is the only way the unraveling of accountability, empathy, complicity, and commitment to revision can begin.”

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“In our own variation of the KonMari method of cleaning out (focus on what you want to keep, let the rest go with gratitude), we have created our own rules of weeding out from all we have accumulated (of ours and others) over our various lives and lifetimes. They are: 1. Focus on what to keep (instead of what not to keep). 2. Is it growing mold? (Was it once fresh and yummy, but is no longer?) 3. Let it go with gratitude (whether giving it away, selling it, or throwing it out). 4. You can always take a picture (if you want to remember it). 5. Do we want our kids to have to go through it (after we're gone)? It makes a difference, thinking about it this way.”

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“Now many of us celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day (instead of or along with Thanksgiving, Turkey Day, Family Feud and/or Family Fun and Games). I see it as a day to learn more about the people whose land we stole (yes, even we whose forebearers came more recently, because we continue to benefit from the theft), and to sit in the complexity that is the building and continuation of our civilization.”

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