Mar 15, 2022·edited Mar 15, 2022Liked by Valerie Monroe
First, I love Margaret Renkl's writing. She seemed to come out of nowhere. She just suddenly appeared in the NYT, and there she was, the most honest and deep-thinking person on those pages. That is not hyperbole.
"In this troubled world, it would be a crime to snuff out any flicker of happiness that somehow leaps into life."
Here's what came to mind when I read that passage of hers:
The reverse is what is true. If men -- and sorry, at this point in the history of humanity, it's when we incarnate as men -- did not behold Mother Earth in all her sustained, glorious beauty, and think "I need to fuck that. I need to own that. I need to take all I can from that and not give back to that. I need to dominate not create dominion with that. I need to make sure no one else can have access to that. It is MINE..." then we wouldn't need to pause and reflect on beauty in the midst of war because war would be irrelevant.
The wisdom at the heart of Strand's poem you quoted is this: "And your taste for the mundane grows".
Exactly. Begin there. Love the world and that we are in and of it. Do not try to possess and hoard her, and there, in the cycle of life, everyone gets fed, loved, and exposed to and absorbed by and infused with what? BEAUTY.
War is what we get when we refuse to accept that we *are* the beauty. It flows through us, it is not separate from us.
Zombies are what we get when we break the ties to beauty. You tied it all together with a bow, Val!
Beautiful post, Val! These days my personal “soul survival” tactics include pausing to “exult in birdsong” and the “tiny blooming flowers” that come with the first breath of spring. Which I did on a recent visit to Abingdon Square Park.
The park’s carefully tended garden is one of my favorite places to watch and celebrate the beauty that bursts forth with the changes of the season.
As I take in the natural wonders before me, I come away with the sense that I am part of this miraculous cycle of renewal, rest and rebirth. I breathe easier. I am reminded of what Sir Paul McCartney puts so simply in “Martha, My Dear,” when he sings, “When you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to a bit of what is all around you.”
And with eyes wide open and open hearts, we discover that beauty is indeed all around us—and within us.
I had never read "The Continuous Life"... and strangely, I'd missed the Mari Andrew, too. Thank you for these two pieces of comfort, and for your writing. I saw a friend this morning and she said she walked her road yesterday and wondered, seeing all the beauty around her: "what if this is the 'before' and I have to tell my kids about how lovely our town was after the war comes here?" It's depressing, but also the gateway to real engagement: nothing is guaranteed. We have to hold close to the routines that define our lives; fully embody our gratitude when we remember to. Because it's the mundane acts that make a beautiful life. This post gave me that insight. Thank you.
First, I love Margaret Renkl's writing. She seemed to come out of nowhere. She just suddenly appeared in the NYT, and there she was, the most honest and deep-thinking person on those pages. That is not hyperbole.
"In this troubled world, it would be a crime to snuff out any flicker of happiness that somehow leaps into life."
Here's what came to mind when I read that passage of hers:
The reverse is what is true. If men -- and sorry, at this point in the history of humanity, it's when we incarnate as men -- did not behold Mother Earth in all her sustained, glorious beauty, and think "I need to fuck that. I need to own that. I need to take all I can from that and not give back to that. I need to dominate not create dominion with that. I need to make sure no one else can have access to that. It is MINE..." then we wouldn't need to pause and reflect on beauty in the midst of war because war would be irrelevant.
The wisdom at the heart of Strand's poem you quoted is this: "And your taste for the mundane grows".
Exactly. Begin there. Love the world and that we are in and of it. Do not try to possess and hoard her, and there, in the cycle of life, everyone gets fed, loved, and exposed to and absorbed by and infused with what? BEAUTY.
War is what we get when we refuse to accept that we *are* the beauty. It flows through us, it is not separate from us.
Zombies are what we get when we break the ties to beauty. You tied it all together with a bow, Val!
Beautiful post, Val! These days my personal “soul survival” tactics include pausing to “exult in birdsong” and the “tiny blooming flowers” that come with the first breath of spring. Which I did on a recent visit to Abingdon Square Park.
The park’s carefully tended garden is one of my favorite places to watch and celebrate the beauty that bursts forth with the changes of the season.
As I take in the natural wonders before me, I come away with the sense that I am part of this miraculous cycle of renewal, rest and rebirth. I breathe easier. I am reminded of what Sir Paul McCartney puts so simply in “Martha, My Dear,” when he sings, “When you find yourself in the thick of it, help yourself to a bit of what is all around you.”
And with eyes wide open and open hearts, we discover that beauty is indeed all around us—and within us.
I had never read "The Continuous Life"... and strangely, I'd missed the Mari Andrew, too. Thank you for these two pieces of comfort, and for your writing. I saw a friend this morning and she said she walked her road yesterday and wondered, seeing all the beauty around her: "what if this is the 'before' and I have to tell my kids about how lovely our town was after the war comes here?" It's depressing, but also the gateway to real engagement: nothing is guaranteed. We have to hold close to the routines that define our lives; fully embody our gratitude when we remember to. Because it's the mundane acts that make a beautiful life. This post gave me that insight. Thank you.
Once again, Val, in the middle of catastrophe, you radiate hope!!
You SOMEHOW, I haven't quite figured out how, you also radiate genius, and I am gonna try that nude eyeliner!