It has been awhile since I lasted posted. This wonderful post by Purple Rays came through my feed and it was an opportunity to share it and get re-started.
Although the quote is one from Mahatma Gandhi, it reminds me of many by Thich Nhat Hanh. Sometimes, I get busy and forget to pause and take in the world as it is in all its radiant beauty. Or, I forget to be grateful for what I have in life. To be mindful and aware of what brings me gratitude is important. It includes a long-term marriage, children who grew up and found their way, completing a PhD, publishing peer-reviewed articles and poetry, etc. Or, it is as simple as the small, perhaps tiny is a better word, garden in the backyard. It is not there to save money. I planted it to provide fresh tomatoes, basil, and strawberries, along with Kathy’s heritage rhubarb plant. Most mornings, I get check to see what is ripe and ready, I water, and notice the flowers that bring pollinators to the yard. It is less about the big accomplishments and more about the small things that go unnoticed in the shadows of those supposedly bigger and better accomplishments. Thich Nhat Hanh has a lovely quote reminding me to stay in the present , to be mindful of and appreciate everything I do or touch as a miracle.
For those who follow my blog, you may know I love Mary Oliver and her poetry. There is a mystical quality to it. Mystical is taking in the world and life in a subjective way, as a living subject. Rather than as objects to be probed, measured, and analyzed, we explore them and we use poetic terms to describe. Mary Oliver does this in The Summer Day, where she describes how a grasshopper captures her attention. She attends to it and minds its actions and ways of just being in the world–just being a grasshopper. I love the questions Mary Oliver asks in her poetry.
Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
Yes. Mary Oliver is amazing. And gives good advice.
When poetry gives sound advice, it moves into a whole new place
I agree. And she gives it so simply and beautifully.
Great to see you back around!
Seconding this!
Thank you.
Thank you
Welcome back! Way to do it, Mary Oliver was outstanding.
Pat
Her poetry is timeless. Thank you
🖤🤍
Way to go, Purplerays!
Yes, it was a great place to work from
Delightful to hear from you and Mary Oliver today. It makes it an extraordinary day! Thank you Ivon 💐
Thank you Val and you are welcome. Mary Oliver resonates.
Loved the article. Doing things with awareness and being grateful is so important.
Thank you. Being grateful is an essential aspect of being aware and mindful
Every now and then I forget to be mindful and need a post by Ivon to get back on track. Glad to see you’re back, Ivon!
Good to be back. I hope to sustain it a bit better and be more consistent. I think we each get into busy moments and need to pause, step back, and see the world anew.
It’s the little things in life that remind us every day of the beauty of the world. A sunbeam. A raindrop on the blossom of a flower. A note from a friend. So glad to see you back posting again as you always give me something to ponder.
Thank you Bev. It is good to be back. Now, I need to sustain it and be more consistent. As you say, it is the small things that bring beauty and joy
I so needed to be reminded of that closing Mary Oliver couplet today. Many thanks, Ivan.
You are welcome and thank you Tish. I share those lines with student-teachers, in my writing, and in my presentations. It reminds me to treat life as a calling into bigger things.
‘A calling to bigger things’, that’s a thought to keep to the fore too.
Nice poem, nice questions and there are as many answers as many people read this poem. Everybody find something special, unique and private reading this beautiful words of Mary Oliver. IMHO.
Nice to know you are here again.
Yes, her poetry touches each person in different ways and they each find their meaning. Part of it is in the questions she asks. Good to be back
One of Oliver’s best, I think. Good to see you here again, Ivon! 🙏🏽💗
Of all her poems, I find this is is the one I turn back to you. The last lines say so much. Thank you Bela. It is good to be back
🤗
Wonderful to see your post here and to pause with you. Yes this poem and the grasshopper inspire me to notice and open. A prayer is an open thing, like a question. Lovely! 💗
What a beautiful way to understand the relationship between questions and prayer. It makes sense, as so many of Mary Oliver’s poems read like prayers and ask questions without full answers.
Good to see you back. I like Mary Oliver’s poems; easy and spontaneous, although she may take more time than it sounds; her evocative questions. But Sometimes, I get miffed by some of her questions, like who made the world?; who
made the swan and black bear? Those are what we asked so many times as a child, and still questioning. I don’t know about you, but I find it sound stale. However, she is one of my favorite poets.
Actually, I do not tire of her questions. They keep me fresh. Also, it is important we do not always enjoy the same things about her poetry.
Everyone has his or her own perception and
interpretation of that particular poem or poetry in general, and I am glad for you for your tireless love for her questions. Of course, I don’t enjoy the same things about her poetry. (How can I when the poem is different from one another?) Besides, I don’t mean I am tired of her questions in general, quite the opposite. Like I said, she is one of my favorite poets. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I agree. Aesthetics is not generalized into a universal good and our perception may evolve with time. It is what makes the art, poetry, and any form of creativity so wonderful. We each see something unique from our perspective within it. It is what makes Mary Oliver a favourite in different ways for you and me.
Yes, indeed.
It’s good to have you back! I love Mary Oliver. I always feel that way when I’m outside in my yard. I get lost most of the time there and that’s okay because I think it’s where I’m supposed to be. Loved this post, Ivon.
Thank you Michele. She was and remains such a wonderful writer with mystical qualities in her poetry.
Nice to read you again ~ and with such a great post. Questions are how we live. There is a quote I like from Thomas Hobbes: “Curiosity is the lust of the mind…” it what keeps us striving in life. Cheers ~
Thank you for stopping and reading. That is a lovely quote and worth keeping close. Take care
Such a gift to hear from you, Ivon, and this post is a loving tribute to life and a good reminder for all of us. My warmest thanks.
Thank you and you are welcome Jet. I loved your photos today of the bugling elk. I have a couple of pictures, one from Yellowstone and the other from Jasper National Park, of elk. The latter was about this time of year, so bulls were beginning to rattle their horns to establish dominance as the cows watched on.
One of Oliver’s poems. Thanks your idea . Let’s follow our blogs Anita
Thanks for the invite
Thanks