Do not hope; instead observe. My daughters and I had been reading Flora & Ulysses, a fantastic Kate DiCamillo book, over winter break, when we came across this line. Flora, is a little girl who describes herself as a cynic and reads books like TERRIBLE THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!
You so express my feelings on my present life. At 74, dealing with being elderly and physically hurting, telling my children I feel so changed (not me) by the species trauma we are experiencing makes me anxious then numb. Observing and appreciating what is right here in our lives is the right answer. The only answer in our anxious new world.
I so thank you, Parker Palmer, Krista Tippet (On Being), Maria Shriver, Maria Popova and the people you/they have introduced me to during this time of darkness, observation, and change. Perhaps the change will bring hope that goes along with faith and love!
Happy Belated Birthday, Courtney. Luminarias for the Luminous ~ Fantastic! I have recently re-visited the works of Joseph Campbell, and find this quote worthy of observation... "When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We're not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives." Thanks for sharing, so luminously, the work of straightening out your life!
A belated Happy Birthday to you! Mine was this last Monday. I turned 50, which seems crazy and also perfect. Like my outsides are finally matching my insides. I hope this next year feels meaningful but also periodically playful. We all need both these days.
Happy Birthday. May your year be healthy, creative, and sprinkled with moments of insight and of joy.
I wondered how you know that your children's saying things were all okay (when you couldn't go to the cousins) was for you. Your little ones seem from this distance (through your writing) to twinkle and sparkle within the context you and your husband provide for them- to embrace naturally the life that unfolds around them. And their project of the luminaria was really wonderful, both the idea and the result.
At my age I am much less future-focused than I used to be, so hope enters less into things. Knowing it is hard to know which year may be my last makes shaping a future less reasonable than it may be for the young. It makes much more sense instead to try to live every day well, to drink in what is beautiful, and to live as best I can with generosity and integrity. To make small differences where I can. It has been hard to give up trying to make a larger difference, and I am grateful to those who can.
Happy Birthday and New Year both! This visual display of your birthday setting brought tears. You are so incredibly fortunate to have such a sublime family combined with your ability to convey this gift. And who knew that John is an impressive skater? A partner of many talents! The theme of hope and living in the moment brought to mind these lines from the Tao Te Ching that you'll recall from our class together at Barnard: "Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. ...Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self, then you can care for all things." (#13). The exquisite philosophy of Taoism focuses on living in the moment and the unity of all being that we need to draw from now. If anyone wishes to be reminded of how challenging these times of COVID are, then see today's N.Y. Times, the extensive section entitled "Tracking an Outbreak" (Jan. 5th, pp.A12-13). The focus on children in the first article "No Way for Children to Grow Up" begins "American children are starting 2022 in crisis." It introduces two pages that show NYT reporting at its best. Peace, Dennis (DD)
Beautiful writing. And this is life: simple and beautiful. You are so blessed. I am curious how many lights they put together? Wow! That is a super birthday present.
Thank you Courtney. My speechless spirit needed your words, the reminder to be generous and grateful with the present moment. I am ordering Flora and Ulysses today. Much love!
Beautiful to hear this story in your voice and to see it making waves out in the world. 'Sense and feel the present moment' is just the practice I've been trying to learn from my Buddhist teachers. And the times are telling me we need to be open to futures very, very different from the ones our hopes imagined.
What gorgeous words. I too have given up on hope in the sense of hoping certain things will happen, but I'm gaining renewed hope and faith in life as I move out of my 17-year marriage which disintegrated into hopelessness and misery. Being in THIS moment and recognizing my safety and the beauty of THIS second are keeping my toes to the fire and my feet dancing.
Thank you, as always, for sharing your world with us. It matters.
You so express my feelings on my present life. At 74, dealing with being elderly and physically hurting, telling my children I feel so changed (not me) by the species trauma we are experiencing makes me anxious then numb. Observing and appreciating what is right here in our lives is the right answer. The only answer in our anxious new world.
I so thank you, Parker Palmer, Krista Tippet (On Being), Maria Shriver, Maria Popova and the people you/they have introduced me to during this time of darkness, observation, and change. Perhaps the change will bring hope that goes along with faith and love!
You had me at Kate DiCamillo. <3
Happy Belated Birthday, Courtney. Luminarias for the Luminous ~ Fantastic! I have recently re-visited the works of Joseph Campbell, and find this quote worthy of observation... "When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We're not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives." Thanks for sharing, so luminously, the work of straightening out your life!
A belated Happy Birthday to you! Mine was this last Monday. I turned 50, which seems crazy and also perfect. Like my outsides are finally matching my insides. I hope this next year feels meaningful but also periodically playful. We all need both these days.
Happy Birthday. May your year be healthy, creative, and sprinkled with moments of insight and of joy.
I wondered how you know that your children's saying things were all okay (when you couldn't go to the cousins) was for you. Your little ones seem from this distance (through your writing) to twinkle and sparkle within the context you and your husband provide for them- to embrace naturally the life that unfolds around them. And their project of the luminaria was really wonderful, both the idea and the result.
At my age I am much less future-focused than I used to be, so hope enters less into things. Knowing it is hard to know which year may be my last makes shaping a future less reasonable than it may be for the young. It makes much more sense instead to try to live every day well, to drink in what is beautiful, and to live as best I can with generosity and integrity. To make small differences where I can. It has been hard to give up trying to make a larger difference, and I am grateful to those who can.
Happy Birthday and New Year both! This visual display of your birthday setting brought tears. You are so incredibly fortunate to have such a sublime family combined with your ability to convey this gift. And who knew that John is an impressive skater? A partner of many talents! The theme of hope and living in the moment brought to mind these lines from the Tao Te Ching that you'll recall from our class together at Barnard: "Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear. ...Hope and fear are both phantoms that arise from thinking of the self, what do we have to fear? See the world as your self. Have faith in the way things are. Love the world as your self, then you can care for all things." (#13). The exquisite philosophy of Taoism focuses on living in the moment and the unity of all being that we need to draw from now. If anyone wishes to be reminded of how challenging these times of COVID are, then see today's N.Y. Times, the extensive section entitled "Tracking an Outbreak" (Jan. 5th, pp.A12-13). The focus on children in the first article "No Way for Children to Grow Up" begins "American children are starting 2022 in crisis." It introduces two pages that show NYT reporting at its best. Peace, Dennis (DD)
Beautiful writing. And this is life: simple and beautiful. You are so blessed. I am curious how many lights they put together? Wow! That is a super birthday present.
Thank you Courtney. My speechless spirit needed your words, the reminder to be generous and grateful with the present moment. I am ordering Flora and Ulysses today. Much love!
Beautiful to hear this story in your voice and to see it making waves out in the world. 'Sense and feel the present moment' is just the practice I've been trying to learn from my Buddhist teachers. And the times are telling me we need to be open to futures very, very different from the ones our hopes imagined.
What gorgeous words. I too have given up on hope in the sense of hoping certain things will happen, but I'm gaining renewed hope and faith in life as I move out of my 17-year marriage which disintegrated into hopelessness and misery. Being in THIS moment and recognizing my safety and the beauty of THIS second are keeping my toes to the fire and my feet dancing.
Thank you, as always, for sharing your world with us. It matters.
Your writing always brings [happy] tears to my eyes. Thank you for putting words to feels I feel too. Appreciate your voice!
Observe the flying farolito trespassing the sky.
As if it were owned by no one.
Not even a story.
Beautiful. Happy new year, Courtney!
Happy birthday!
"We’re admitting we are not authors in control, but unwitting characters, trying to ride waves of unknown narrative"
Yes! Resonates.