From whiskey river:
Each of us literally chooses, by his way of attending to things, what sort of universe he shall appear to himself to inhabit.
(William James [source])
Not from whiskey river:
I Live in Music
i live in music
is this where you live
i live here in music
i live on c# street
my friend lives on b♭ avenue
do you live here in music
sound
falls round me like rain on other folks
saxophones wet my face
cold as winter in st. louis
hot like peppers i rub on my lips
thinking they waz lilies
i got 15 trumpets where other women got
hips
& a upright bass for both sides of my heart
i walk round in a piano like somebody
else/be walkin on the earth
i live in music
live in it
wash in it
i cd even smell it
wear sound on my fingers
sound falls so fulla music
ya cd make a river where yr arm is &
hold yrself
hold yrself in a music
(Ntozake Shange [source])
I haven’t been able to find anything at all about the author — let alone the work from which this might have been an excerpt — but the following (referred to at various places around the Web as “Prayer to a Normal Day”) seems on-topic:
Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.
(Mary Jean Iron)
Finally, The Killers offer their own interpretation (lyrics below) — with the help of a small, lonely robot:
Lyrics:
The World We Live In
(The Killers)This is world that we live in
I feel myself get tired
This is the world that we live inWell maybe I was mistaken
I heard a rumor that you quit this day and age
Well maybe I was mistakenBless your body, bless your soul
Pray for peace and self controlI gotta believe it’s worth it
Without a victory,
I’m so sanctified and free
Well maybe I’m just mistakenLesson learned and the wheels keep turning
This is the world that we live in
I can’t take blame for two
This is the world that we live in
And maybe we’ll make it throughBless your body, bless your soul
Pray for peace and self-controlUnderneath the waterfall
Baby we’re still in thisThis is the world that we live in
Feel myself get tired
This is the world that we live inI had a dream that I was falling, down
There’s no next time, alone
A storm wastes its water on me
But my life was freeI guess it’s the world that we live in
It’s not too late for that
This is the world that we live in
And no, we can’t go backThis is the world that we live in
We still want something real
This is the world that we live in
I know that…This is the world that we live in
Oh! I have the Shange picture book! Not to mention that I wrote about her in my grad school thesis. Lovely to see her.
John, you MUST see this one day: http://www.amazon.com/I-Live-Music-Ntozake-Shange/dp/0941807096. So gorgeous. And they did a series of these fabulous things (see also http://www.amazon.com/Life-Doesnt-Frighten-Maya-Angelou/dp/1556702884/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b).
Yes! That link Jules posted up there–that’s the book I’m talking about. It is beautiful
I’ve been thinking about this William James quote you posted for a few days and it partially inspired the story I wrote today.
All life as choice. Yes! I have to remind myself this everyday. I wish everyone would. We create the environment, the emotion, the experiences that we live inside of.
Brilliant in the simplicity of it.
marta and Jules: Thanks for the recommendation! I did see the Shange book on Amazon when researching how to format the poems’ lines; it looks faaaaabulous.
Squirrel: By “the story,” mean the blog post about the skydiving squirrel? I *loved* that post!
kelly: Just about the hardest thing to remember, isn’t it? At the exact moment you think, “Hmm, every second is its own choice…” you’ve already made another choice!