‘There is a crack in everything’—Writer’s Quote Wednesday–#BeWoW

The birds they sang

At the break of day

Start again, I seemed to hear them say

Don’t dwell on what

Has passed away

Or what is yet to be. 

…

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack, a crack in everything

That’s how the light gets in

…

My quotes for today are the first verse and refrain from Leonard Cohen’s song, Anthem.  Anthem is one of my inspirational favourites–I often listen to it on my phone.  The song has much to offer, but these are the two phrases that stand out for me:

The idea that there is  always a crack of light or sliver of possibility; that change is possible, even when it is hard to imagine, is very encouraging.  There is probably more than one meaning to ‘Forget your perfect offering’ in the context of the full song, but  I like to take this phrase at face value, as an invitation to write, despite awareness or fear of imperfection.  I smiled to myself when I learned that Leonard Cohen perfected this song over a 10-year period before he finally performed it.

The YouTube video below was recorded live in London, in 2008.  I chose this performance as it is the one that I have on my phone.

Leonard Cohen was born in Montreal, Canada in 1934.  He was a published poet and novelist before his debut as a musician in 1967, at the Newport Folk Festival.

This post is being linked  to Writer’s Quote Wednesday September 30 hosted by Colleen Chesebro, author of Silver Threading.  Please follow the above link to read her launch post. As well, there are links to other Writer’s Quote Wednesday posts in the Comments section.

For more quotation posts, visit  Ronovan Writes #BeWoW, Sept 30. This link will take you to a ‘must read’ Wednesday post by Ronovan, host of #BeWoW– Be Writing on Wednesday  and Be Wonderful on Wednesday.