"They say that one of the reasons for tragedy is that you learn important lessons from it.. Appreciation for your normal life, for one thing. A new longing for things only ordinary. The feeling is that we are so caught up in minutiae – slicing tomatoes and filling out forms and waiting in lines and emptying the dryer and looking in the paper for things to do- that we forget how to use what we’ve been given. Therefore we don’t taste the plum. We are blind to the slant of the four 0’clock sun against the changing show of the leaves. We are deaf to the throaty purity of children’s voices. We are assumed to be rather hopeless- swallowed up by incorrect notions, divorced from the original genius, with which we are born, lost within days of living this distracting life. We are capable only of moments, of single seconds of true appreciation and connection. That is the thought."
Elizabeth Berg, Anything’s Possible.
Excellent. Just excellent. I can absolutely feel it.
Thanks so much. And this is just what I need to hear lately…what I'm working on myself.
What a beautiful quote Alison. Thank you for sharing it. It's some real food for thought.
What a poignant quote.I think we all occasionally feel bogged down my day to day duties and a little overwhelmed.When that happens I like to take some time out with my youngest girls.Seeing things through a childs eyes can really open our own.Remember how exciting it was to find special stones or splash in puddles?Simple pleasures to simplify our lives.
Beautiful thought. Reminds me of the sentiment in one of my favorite plays, Our Town. "Earth, you are too dear. Does anybody ever really appreciate life… while they're living it?"