“It seemed to me that I made no impact on the world, and that in exchange I was privileged to watch it unawares.” ~ Marilynne Robinson ****** It carries a certain cachet for me, and maybe for everyone else, too. There’s a rakishness to the label of ‘outlier’. I realize that could come entirely from… Continue Reading
“Fiction—and poetry and drama—cleanse the doors of perception.” ~ Ursula K. Le Guin **** The theater critic, Ben Brantley, wrote recently for the New York Times on the exhibit of Tennessee Williams memorabilia at the Morgan Library in New York. It’s a wonderful piece of writing and well worth your time for its own merits,… Continue Reading
Spirit of Delight!… Spirit, I love thee— Thou art love and life! By, Percy Bysshe Shelley ******** Watching a recent Nova episode on PBS called ‘Memory Hackers’, I found myself drawn into the connections between our ethereal visions of memory and the concrete realities of the mechanics of the human body and its brain. I’d… Continue Reading
“I hear not the volumes of sound merely–I am moved by the exquisite Meanings” —Walt Whitman ************** Observing attentively is the best way to satisfy one’s curiosity, and the mainstay of the creative life. Leonardo da Vinci had an easy way to do it: take the scene, event or idea apart, piece by piece,… Continue Reading
“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.” —Eleanor Roosevelt * * * * Wise Aging Workshops, reads the title in a brochure for fall offerings in continuing education. I had a problem deciding if the workshops were meant to be aging themselves, or they were about doing… Continue Reading
“There are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” ― Ann Landers When I hear someone say they’ve been thrown a lifeline, I picture a round, white floatation device we used to call a ‘lifesaver’ with a line attached to a savior at its other end.… Continue Reading