Monday, December 22, 2014

Motivational Monday


INSTRUCTIONS FOR
LIVING A LIFE:
PAY ATTENTION.
BE ASTONISHED.
TELL ABOUT IT.
(Mary Oliver)

We often forget to pay attention, to really pay attention, to all the amazing aspects of our lives. We forget to be astonished by the sunrise, by the feel of our spouse's hand in ours, by reading a great book, by the taste of good chocolate or wine or homemade pasta, by the relief and release of a good cry. After awhile, it all becomes background. We become immune. We take for granted.   

This holiday season - and always - let's live these instructions. Let's pay attention, let's be astonished, and let's tell about it all through our art - writing, painting, photography, knitting, dance, cooking, music. Let's tell about it through how we live our lives.

Happy Holidays, everyone! 

17 comments:

  1. Find that child-like wonder.
    Have a great Christmas, Madeline!

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  2. I do pretty well being astonished by nature, but I can definitely tune out a lot of other stuff. It was one of my favorite things about when my kids were little--eyes of wonder were a lot easier to turn on then.

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    1. We do lose some of that sense of wonder as we get older, but I think that if we work at it, we won't lose all of it. :)

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  3. What fantastic advice. I love seeing that sense of wide-eyed wonder whenever I work with little kids (or read an especially observant and clever MG book). Thanks for the reminder!

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    1. Great point about well-written MG books, Jillian!

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    2. :-). I was thinking about it because I just finished The Twistrose Key, which was lovely in general and also had some of those great moments where a child notices or celebrates what most adults never would. I realized how much I still love those details and want to write with that kind of perspective more often.

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  4. Hi Madeline, I agree that many times we don't pay attention, lose that sense of wonder and just drift through life busy with our work. This is a good reminder.
    Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year to you.

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    1. Drifting through life, caught up in the day to day stuff, is so easy to do. I'm going to try really hard to pay better attention. :)

      And Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you, too!

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  5. We do forget to pay attention, and we take many of that stuff for granted to. I'm going to make sure I pay attention today. :)

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  6. And to you Madeline! Thanks for your inspirational posts this year!

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    1. You are very welcome! Thanks for reading and commenting - I really appreciate it. :)

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  7. I do tend to forget to pay attention to those things. I think I'm going to try to in 2015! Thanks for the reminder.

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  8. What a lovely thought and something we need to remember. Hope you had a fantastic Christmas!

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