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Victoria Simpson
http://www.heartthatmatters.blogspot.com
I go free from the tasks and intentions of my workdays, and so my mind becomes hospitable to unintended thoughts: to what I am very willing to call inspiration.
“Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”
― The Light in the Heart
― The Light in the Heart
“If we give as much as we expect to take from a novel, a poem, an image or an album (or a conversation, or a relationship), it has a greater chance of becoming profound. As readers, we feel this happen when something speaks directly to our experience and we feel the words burning themselves into us...You may forget the exact words, but you carry a relationship with the text through your life. You may think this was entirely because of the quality of the text, but it was also about the quality of your reading.”
― On Connection
― On Connection
“Words on a page are incomplete. The poem, the novel or the non-fiction pamphlet are finished when they are taken up and engaged with. Connection is collaborative. For words to have meaning, they have to be read.”
― On Connection
― On Connection
“We are empathic beings who feel for each other. Our very success as a species is rooted in our ability to be aware of each other's needs, to notice each other's pain and to experience deeply felt physiological and emotional empathy.”
― On Connection
― On Connection
“Mearcstapa is not a comfortable role. Life on the borders of a group— and in the space between groups—is prone to dangers literal and figurative, with people both at “home” and among the “other” likely to misunderstand or mistrust the motivations, piety, and loyalty of the border-stalker. But mearcstapa can be a role of cultural leadership in a new mode, serving functions including empathy, memory, warning, guidance, mediation, and reconciliation. Those who journey to the borders of their group and beyond will encounter new vistas and knowledge that can enrich the group.”
― Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for our Common Life
― Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for our Common Life
Great African Reads
— 4216 members
— last activity Apr 22, 2026 06:28AM
Here is an overview of the group reads & activities: Regional reads Nominations and Book discussions. Buddy Reads Find someone to read along with!. Sh ...more
Our Shared Shelf
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OUR SHARED SHELF IS CURRENTLY DORMANT AND NOT MANAGED BY EMMA AND HER TEAM. Dear Readers, As part of my work with UN Women, I have started reading ...more
SA Book & Challenge Lovers
— 1921 members
— last activity 7 hours, 29 min ago
Welcome to SA Book & Challenge Lovers. This book club is for anyone, not just South Africans, that love reading and doing reading challenges. Everyone ...more
Literary Fiction by People of Color
— 13315 members
— last activity 3 hours, 57 min ago
This can include genre fiction that is literary (e.g. speculative fiction, historical fiction, etc.), as long as it's written by a person of color (Af ...more
Around the World in 80 Books
— 31209 members
— last activity 13 hours, 18 min ago
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
Victoria’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Victoria’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
574 books
|
107 friends
2,476 books
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70 friends
2,189 books
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73 friends
258 books
|
149 friends
779 books
|
495 friends
195 books
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78 friends
994 books
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6 friends
465 books
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11 friends
More friends…
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