Jill Telford

“A poem a day keeps the doctor away.”

“I work backwards with the ending in mind as I create art, stories, poems and books. Always in a process of becoming.”

“Just do what makes sense.”

“Be the kind of grown up you needed as a child.”

“Imagine going a long time without seeing someone you love. Then after months or years getting the moment to see them and catch up. I think that's what death is like. Going a long time and missing them a lot, more and more each day. No matter how many years go by you miss them just as much as the first day they left. I miss my mom. Its been years. Its easier to manage but I miss her more and more. But I often think of the moment we will meet again and catch up again. In living life going a long time not seeing someone is tough then catching up right where you left off BUT imagine in death how powerful the feeling to see them again must be. Death is getting the chance to catch up and see them again. Experiencing the butterflies and that special high that is felt all over your body. Do not fear death. Embrace it as you do life. In life, love hard! Life moves fast. For when your time comes you have a chance to love hard again and catch up with those that left, those you've missed and those that missed you. Someone is there counting the days to seeing you again. Some you may not expect or some you've missed just as much. Don't fear what you think you're leaving behind. Don't fear at all. For what you leave is temporary, the living will too join you as you wait for them. And, that moment to catch up is worth the wait. You will pick up right where you left off as if time did not pass.”

“I don't live to work. I work to live. Before I die I know I lived.”

“They say you can tell a lot about a country by the way it treats its prisoners…I believe the same can be said for how a country treats its children”

“Be simple. Be direct. Be clear. Don't worry about being correct. Worry about being real.”

“The only reality is the now. Why live in the tomorrows and the yesterdays? Live now.”

“Forget the American dream...whats your dream? The thing that keeps you up at night...the thing that makes you happy...the thing that keeps your spirit going. Do that thing. Don't label it a hobby or what you do in your spare time type of thing...label that thing you do the thing you love to do. The thing you were born to do. When you stop doing what you love you lose a huge part of yourself. Don't get lost.”

“Running my fastest not from my past. Running from those who have hurt me in it. And, they can't catch me anymore. I escaped from the land of make believe.”

“Most often it is in heartache that we love more boldly.”

“Walls get made, walls crumble, buildings get built, buildings collapse, memories get made, memories last.”

“Yesterday I smiled, tomorrow never came and today is what I'm living.”

“Education is not filling up a box but seeing what you can create with one and don't you ever forget that!”

“Create something. Create something ugly. Create something beautiful.  I don't care what it is. Create it.”

“The brain. Where words mean something. The heart. Where words feel something. When both work together. Kaboom.”

“A few lessons learned as a teacher: I've learned that if you whisper, children will listen...a scribble can be anything (I mean anything!) a monster, a cat, a mom, a dad--our job is to ask to find out and pay attention--usually the most challenging student needs the most challenges to keep them learning and engaged---most of all we must care and the rest handles itself. xo”

“Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never hurt. Lies. Words hurt. The words we remember. Well, the hurt feeling the words caused stays with us forever.”

“Start each day asking, "How do I want others to feel?" Then act accordingly. xo”