The Aspire Library — Words That Carry

I — Stories

Old stories, still true.

N° 001 — A story

Amaterasu and the cave

Kojiki & Nihon Shoki, 8th century

No one is argued back into the light. Presence does it.

Amaterasu, the sun goddess, withdraws into a cave after being deeply hurt. The world turns dark and cold.

The other gods gather at the entrance. They do not plead and they do not reason. They build a fire, hang a mirror and begin to dance and laugh together.

Curious, Amaterasu opens the cave a little. In the mirror she sees her own light. She steps out — and the world turns warm again.

After the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki, the oldest chronicles of Japan. Public domain.

N° 002 — A story

Sadako and the thousand cranes

Hiroshima, 1943–1955

A story of hope carried forward by other people.

In Japan, senbazuru is the tradition of folding one thousand paper cranes. The crane has come to represent a wish for health or peace.

Sadako Sasaki was two when the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima. Ten years later she became ill with leukemia and folded cranes in hospital. After her death, her classmates helped create the Children’s Peace Monument. People still leave strings of paper cranes there today.

Cranes on a pine branch in a woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai — Katsushika Hokusai — Cranes on a pine tree, c. 1830s. Public domain.

II — Foundations

The books beneath the work.

N° 003

On Becoming a Person

Carl R. Rogers — 1961

Rogers showed that being genuinely listened to is itself a force for change. Much of how we understand conversation starts here.

N° 004

The Fearless Organization

Amy C. Edmondson — 2018

Edmondson’s research on psychological safety shows why people speak up in some rooms and stay silent in others. Foundations for every workplace conversation.

III — Essays & poetry

Short pieces to return to.

N° 005 — Essay

Of Discourse

Francis Bacon — Essays, 1625

The best conversation gives the other person room.

“The honorablest part of talk is to give the occasion;
and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else.”
“Discretion of speech is more than eloquence;”
“He that questioneth much shall learn much,
and content much.”

Francis Bacon — Of Discourse, excerpt. Public domain.

N° 006 — Poetry

“Hope” is the thing with feathers

Emily Dickinson — c. 1861

Hope as something small that keeps singing.

“Hope” is the thing with feathers —
That perches in the soul —
And sings the tune without the words —
And never stops — at all —

Emily Dickinson (1830–1886), excerpt. Public domain.

Words that carry.