“All I wanted to do was walk around, look, and experience the moment firsthand. Nothing felt as interesting as what I could perceive.” really hit. lately the most fulfilling, most pleasant and pure experiences i’ve had has been things like the sight of the flapping leaves of the banana tree, or the palms in the sun. I’m not sure what’s going on there, is my life so comparatively empty that these little things are the highlight of it (kinda sad lol), or am i just learning how to better delight in the senses, in the little things? idk, i’ve been thinking a lot about the raw delight involved in perception and contact and this was a v interesting angle that made me feel less insane. thank you!
You're not insane! Or maybe you are haha, but it totally seems sane to ask these questions. There's a beautiful set of lines by William Blake from "Auguries of Innocence" that captures this tension for me:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
I love the contrast of these lines. World, Heaven, Infinity, Eternity are all these abstract things that seem desirable, and yet they are realized here in the concrete – a grain of sand, a wild flower, the palm of your hand, an hour. So I like to think that you're experiencing the latter haha. I constantly struggle with this too, being in academia and all and as a lover of stories and ideas. All of that is interesting and fun (at times lol), but I'm starting to learn and appreciate that the "small things" are the big things.
“All I wanted to do was walk around, look, and experience the moment firsthand. Nothing felt as interesting as what I could perceive.” really hit. lately the most fulfilling, most pleasant and pure experiences i’ve had has been things like the sight of the flapping leaves of the banana tree, or the palms in the sun. I’m not sure what’s going on there, is my life so comparatively empty that these little things are the highlight of it (kinda sad lol), or am i just learning how to better delight in the senses, in the little things? idk, i’ve been thinking a lot about the raw delight involved in perception and contact and this was a v interesting angle that made me feel less insane. thank you!
You're not insane! Or maybe you are haha, but it totally seems sane to ask these questions. There's a beautiful set of lines by William Blake from "Auguries of Innocence" that captures this tension for me:
“To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour.”
I love the contrast of these lines. World, Heaven, Infinity, Eternity are all these abstract things that seem desirable, and yet they are realized here in the concrete – a grain of sand, a wild flower, the palm of your hand, an hour. So I like to think that you're experiencing the latter haha. I constantly struggle with this too, being in academia and all and as a lover of stories and ideas. All of that is interesting and fun (at times lol), but I'm starting to learn and appreciate that the "small things" are the big things.