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Every Good with Equal Force /  by Rebecca Tillett

"You know what I am going to say. I love you. What other men may mean when they use that expression, I cannot tell; what I mean is, that I am under the influence of some tremendous attraction which I have resisted in vain, and which overmasters me. You could draw me to fire, you could draw me to water, you could draw me to the gallows, you could draw me to any death, you could draw me to anything I have most avoided, you could draw me to any exposure and disgrace. This and the confusion of my thoughts, so that I am fit for nothing, is what I mean by your being the ruin of me. But if you would return a favourable answer to my offer of myself in marriage, you could draw me to any good--every good--with equal force." —Charles Dickens

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I Said Hearken /  by Rebecca Tillett

"Your cousin, Becky Tillett, is also completely intriguing. I can't help but think that you two spur each other on? She has some drawings on her site that are completely there, and I'm thinking you might help her with that and she might be your best critic, or something? Whatever the mix you have, it's working magic... Becky clearly has a highly-refined eye for image and concept... her color sense is sublime, and her sense of style is also unique, honest and striking. The honesty is what captured me... there's a blunt and courageous honesty that you both share, and that's captivating. I can only think you two are the best for each other! Such an incredible family. (yes, I waded through the historic shots on her flickr account - really some extraordinary people you hearken from!). And yeah, that's right. I said hearken. But it was in parenthesis, so it's more like thought. It's not like I would say hearken in daily conversation. But in electronic pseudo-conversation, it's fine. I hope." —John Foerster

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In Sweetness and Love /  by Rebecca Tillett

In Sweetness and Love is 160 pages of absolutely stunning Kodachrome photographs taken in the mid 1950s to 1960s by my great-grandparents John and Mabel Moore accompanied by poignant quotes, lyrics, and excerpts.

They spent as much time traveling as they did at home and locations captured include Wyoming, California, New Mexico, Hawaii, New York, Guam, Arizona, and the Philippines.

My sincerest gratitude to them for their diligence in documenting their later years and thus providing me with such a vivid glimpse into the beautifully small but significant intricacies of their wonderful lives 60 years later.

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A Scar is Never Ugly /  by Rebecca Tillett

“On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars. I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress? I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly. That is what the scar makers want us to think. But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them. We must see all scars as beauty. Okay? This will be our secret. Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.” ―Chris Cleave

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Between Us Was Gone /  by Rebecca Tillett

"We talked about all the plans we had growing up -and the fact that we followed through with none of them. We laughed about all kinds of things. and for the first time in years I felt like we were 11 years old again and all that rough history we have between us was gone; like we started over with a clean slate, with no past except the pretty pieces no one ever wants to forget."

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She Called it Fat /  by Rebecca Tillett

“She complained about the freckles on her face, her chlorine green hair, and the centimeters of flesh that “hung over” her pants.
(but she called it fat.)

She’s almost 6’0 tall and about 150 pounds. And she said she was told if she ever wanted to pursue modeling, she’d have to do it as a plus-size model.”

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Darkness /  by Rebecca Tillett

"How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light." —Barry Lopez

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