Three lessons about life

cat looking at window

I’m home with a cold while Erik is off getting himself all worked into a tizzy at the state beekeeping convention.

In my couch-potato-ing, I ran across this delicate piece of wisdom while watching a video of a lecture by Matthew Fox. During the lecture, he tells the story of how he saw the poet Mary Oliver at a reading in San Francisco. At that time, she was 84 years old and she said to the crowd (as paraphrased by Fox), “I’m getting old and I want to leave you young people these three lessons I’ve learned about life. Everything else is details.”:

  1. Pay Attention
  2. Be Astonished
  3. Share your astonishment

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6 Comments

  1. Pingback: Shades of November | Forum Holitorium

  2. It is, indeed, wonderful advice, and you picked the perfect picture to go with it. Cats pay attention to everything; I’m not sure they’re astonished, but they’re often excited by what they see and they share their excitement with abandon.

    And, unlike me, they know when a nap is just exactly the right thing to do.

  3. Get well soon, Kelly! Thanks also for sharing the quote and for mentioning Matthew Fox. It has been a while since I read his “Creation Spirituality”. I will check the video link. MW

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