Richard Wagamese Selected Quotes

“I’ve come to understand that the pain of a wound or a loss is over as soon as it happens.
What follows is the pain of getting well.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes From Spirit

“Standing on the edge of another creek at fifty-five is like years haven’t happened at all. It’s a journey this life, a crossing of creeks on stepping stones where so much comes to depend on maintaining balance on every careful placing of the foot.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes From Spirit

“So I explained to him what the Old One had told me.
The process of braiding hair is like a prayer, he said. Each of the three strands in a single braid represents many things. In one instance they might represent faith, honesty and kindness. In another they might be mind, body and spirit, or love, respect and tolerance. The important thing, he explained, was that each strand be taken as representative of one essential human quality.
As the men, or the women, braided their hair they concentrated or meditated on those three qualities. Once the braid was completed the process was repeated on the other side.
Then as they walked through their day they had visible daily reminders of the human qualities they needed to carry through life with them.
The Old One said they had at least about twenty minutes out of their day when they focused themselves entirely on spiritual principles. In this way, the people they came in contact with were the direct beneficiaries of that inward process. So braids, he said, reflected the true nature of Aboriginal people.
They reflected a people who were humble enough to ask the Creator for help and guidance on a daily basis. They reflected truly human qualities within the people themselves: ideals they sought to live by. And they reflected a deep and abiding concern for the planet, for life, their people and themselves.
Each time you braid your hair, he told me, you become another in a long line of spiritually based people and your prayer joins the countless others that have been offered up to the Creator since time began. You become a part of a rich and vibrant tradition.
As the young boy listened I could see the same things going on in his face that must have gone on in my own. Suddenly, a braid became so much more than a hairstyle or a cultural signature. It became a connection to something internal as well as external - a signpost to identity, tradition and self-esteem. The words Indian, Native and Aboriginal took on new meaning and new impact.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes From Spirit

“My life becomes more when I learn where to look. There are teachings everywhere and the ones I choose to find through the power of strong choice flesh my life out, make it fuller, let me soar.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes From Spirit

“To paraphrase an old teaching, I’m learning to want nothing but to desire everything and to choose what appears. Life is easier that way, more graceful and I AM glittery—but from the inside out.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit

“Early mornings with the smell of medicines in the air and perfect quiet calm you come to realize there are certain things you want to do in life from now on—and they’re not the things of youthful dreams and fantasies but rather the desire from now on to kiss like there’s only one left, look people in the eye like they’re the last one on Earth besides you, watch someone special sleeping, run and jump and play whenever you damn well feel like it and tell people exactly what you mean and feel and think—because you come to realize that youthful dreams and fantasies all end up right here in quiet times of the soul when life and living themselves are all you want to cling to and cherish.”
― Richard Wagamese, Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit