Beautiful Piece! This is obviously something that crosses my mind alot as well. I don’t exactly think that there is exactly all that much of a need to have an over arching meaning to life. Because whether we like it or not, we’re not here for very long and we’re one of so many billions. Not everyone is meant to change the world and that’s okay! Its such a privilege on its in own to be able to enjoy the world, taste and savor nice things and let your mind run free!
Another beautiful piece and I so resonate with it. I also spend my days studying, teaching, and immersing myself in the worst of the things people do to each other and the world, feeling dismay and disappointment and often fury and despair, yet still, regularly, I get shocked into delight, solace, wonder, and joy. Right now it's in the owl who's hooting nights and early mornings, the half moon still bright as the sky lightens, the lizards running skittishly across the patio, the incredibly heady sweet smell of the pittosporum that's dropping its blossoms into drifts, a kindness or gentleness or generosity. My kids used to mock me for how frequently on a drive I'd suddenly cry out: look at the pretty grass! look at the clouds! I see a vulture/hawk/blue jay/name-a-bird! Unlike Oliver, I don't anticipate a door opening into another world after this one, so it holds all of my emotions and they are as ephemeral as the rest of it.
I thought of you while writing it! I feel very connected to you when you post on Instagram about the little wonders that make up your world. California was also really the place this type of wonder started for me: the sunsets, the lizards, the cactus!
Thank you! Your essays are a joy to read! Sometimes it almost feels like I'm with you, listening to you, seeing the things you saw, I wonder if it's because of how you write but I really find it extraordinary.
Uff I loved this. The deep interrelationship between joy and sorrow is something I was just thinking about yesterday, not much of a coincidence I suppose since such subjects are often on my mind. Hope you keep being amazed by deer and sparrows and worms and bees and skies 🧚🏽♂️
Aw thank you! There's something about the sparrows that is especially sad... they are just so small. I constantly think about yours and Amina's crow/sparrow experience.
The part about the deer made me think of Rumaan Alam's Leave the World Behind and how the deer signify an imbalance in nature (among other things, perhaps). I looked up what deer usually signify and found this: "In many cultures, the deer is a symbol of spiritual authority. During a deer’s life the antlers fall off and grow again and the animal is also a symbol of regeneration." I don't know where I am going with this but you got me thinking :)
This is so interesting! Deer always feel like messengers to me, as do rabbits and crows. I think I've just read a lot of fantasy/magical realism and there is something so beautiful and eerie about them.
Beautiful Piece! This is obviously something that crosses my mind alot as well. I don’t exactly think that there is exactly all that much of a need to have an over arching meaning to life. Because whether we like it or not, we’re not here for very long and we’re one of so many billions. Not everyone is meant to change the world and that’s okay! Its such a privilege on its in own to be able to enjoy the world, taste and savor nice things and let your mind run free!
Absolutely! My walks are meaning enough for me haha
Another beautiful piece and I so resonate with it. I also spend my days studying, teaching, and immersing myself in the worst of the things people do to each other and the world, feeling dismay and disappointment and often fury and despair, yet still, regularly, I get shocked into delight, solace, wonder, and joy. Right now it's in the owl who's hooting nights and early mornings, the half moon still bright as the sky lightens, the lizards running skittishly across the patio, the incredibly heady sweet smell of the pittosporum that's dropping its blossoms into drifts, a kindness or gentleness or generosity. My kids used to mock me for how frequently on a drive I'd suddenly cry out: look at the pretty grass! look at the clouds! I see a vulture/hawk/blue jay/name-a-bird! Unlike Oliver, I don't anticipate a door opening into another world after this one, so it holds all of my emotions and they are as ephemeral as the rest of it.
I thought of you while writing it! I feel very connected to you when you post on Instagram about the little wonders that make up your world. California was also really the place this type of wonder started for me: the sunsets, the lizards, the cactus!
Thank you! Your essays are a joy to read! Sometimes it almost feels like I'm with you, listening to you, seeing the things you saw, I wonder if it's because of how you write but I really find it extraordinary.
This is so kind! Thank you!
Uff I loved this. The deep interrelationship between joy and sorrow is something I was just thinking about yesterday, not much of a coincidence I suppose since such subjects are often on my mind. Hope you keep being amazed by deer and sparrows and worms and bees and skies 🧚🏽♂️
Loved reading this post, Laleh. And what a coincidence....I too buried a dead sparrow last week.
Aw thank you! There's something about the sparrows that is especially sad... they are just so small. I constantly think about yours and Amina's crow/sparrow experience.
💞
The part about the deer made me think of Rumaan Alam's Leave the World Behind and how the deer signify an imbalance in nature (among other things, perhaps). I looked up what deer usually signify and found this: "In many cultures, the deer is a symbol of spiritual authority. During a deer’s life the antlers fall off and grow again and the animal is also a symbol of regeneration." I don't know where I am going with this but you got me thinking :)
This is so interesting! Deer always feel like messengers to me, as do rabbits and crows. I think I've just read a lot of fantasy/magical realism and there is something so beautiful and eerie about them.