“Now, my co-mates, and brothers in exile,

Hath not old custom made this life more sweet

Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods

More free from peril than the envious court?

Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,

The seasons’ difference? as the icy fang

And churlish chiding of the winter’s wind,

Which, when it bites and blows upon my body,

Even till I shrink with cold, I smile, and say

‘This is no flattery: these are counsellors

That feelingly persuade me what I am.’

Sweet are the uses of adversity,

Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,

Wears yet a precious jewel in his head:

And this our life, exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,

Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.

I would not change it.”

-Act II, Scene I, As You Like It

This speech is very meaningful to me; the last four lines in particular. They describe what I have always wanted to do with my creative endeavors: find the “good in every thing” and share it with everyone I can. Of course, I hope this blog won’t be “exempt from public haunt” – on the contrary, I hope the public haunts it quite often! – and I hope you’ll enjoy “these woods” as much as I plan to.