“Your problem is how you are going to spend this one and precious life you have been issued. Whether you’re going to spend it trying to look good and creating the illusion that you have power over circumstances, or whether you are going to taste it, enjoy it and find out the truth about who you are.”
Anne Lamott
As the wheel turns thru the trio of topics Art, Life and Books, it lands on Life today.
I spend a fair bit of time trying to work out how to live life. How to get the most out of it; how to slow down; how to try and schedule things so I don't end up doing so much at all at once; how to be quiet and still and let things just settle; how to find joy in the things you do; how to contribute; how to be a good friend and family member.
I think the list is endless really; and so I came across Ann Lamott's words and thought - she has the heart of it.
I feel OK about the not trying to look good thing - I gave up worrying about stuff like that a long time ago and moving to the country and working for ourselves and as artists helped enormously. I struggle more with the illusion of power over circumstances....
I like to think I can schedule things and set things up to work; and am not so good at the loss of control thing; but am learning, slowly, and sometimes painfully, to let go of some of that. On the other hand, I do feel as if I can taste life, enjoy it and am discovering more and more truths about myself as I go along.
Luckily, a work in progress!
Spending time in places like these - the empty wild spaces of Scotland, teaches me truths about myself...
Anne Lamott
As the wheel turns thru the trio of topics Art, Life and Books, it lands on Life today.
I spend a fair bit of time trying to work out how to live life. How to get the most out of it; how to slow down; how to try and schedule things so I don't end up doing so much at all at once; how to be quiet and still and let things just settle; how to find joy in the things you do; how to contribute; how to be a good friend and family member.
I think the list is endless really; and so I came across Ann Lamott's words and thought - she has the heart of it.
I feel OK about the not trying to look good thing - I gave up worrying about stuff like that a long time ago and moving to the country and working for ourselves and as artists helped enormously. I struggle more with the illusion of power over circumstances....
I like to think I can schedule things and set things up to work; and am not so good at the loss of control thing; but am learning, slowly, and sometimes painfully, to let go of some of that. On the other hand, I do feel as if I can taste life, enjoy it and am discovering more and more truths about myself as I go along.
Luckily, a work in progress!
Spending time in places like these - the empty wild spaces of Scotland, teaches me truths about myself...
I do love Anne Lamott ... still looking for my truth
ReplyDeleteShe is special Liz - along with Mary Oliver. Go well, keep looking...
Deleteholding the poem that Ann Lamott referenced close to my heart
ReplyDeleteThe Summer Day
Mary Oliver
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
So perfect Mo - I have listened to Mary Oliver read this (On Being with Krista Tippett podcast) and the way she speaks makes it even more wonderful for me. Precious.
DeleteFinding one's truth: can a solitary introvert move about the country without the pull of loneliness? For me it started out when we sold our home and business in CA and spent 11 years traveling about the United States, moving from California to Maui,Washington, Texas, Tennessee and finally to New Mexico, renting homes,along the way.
ReplyDeleteThis was my Father's dream, an immigrant from Spain, who came to this country with hopes and dreams and found his joy in the land, in the people who became his friends. Never rich with material possessions, he was rich in spirit and at the end of his life, he asked me to go and find his America...what I learned, my truth, from sharing his dream is that one can be quiet, taking in the land more than the people at first but then because of the love of the land, questions come and answers are needed and conversations begun leading to friendships and so much more.
What a beautiful beautiful journey of truth-seeking Marti. A real quest for understanding and knowing. Did you experience the pull of loneliness? or did the comfort of solitude travel with you? I love how the watching and listening at first, leads to ways to have conversations and ask questions and gather new friends. Thanks so much Marti, go well.
Delete