From whiskey river (italicized portion):
Messenger
My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,which is mostly standing still and learning to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.
The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.
(Mary Oliver [source])
Not from whiskey river, but to celebrate Mary Oliver’s 75th birthday yesterday, 9/10:
Self-Portrait
I wish I was twenty and in love with life
and still full of beans.Onward, old legs!
There are the long, pale dunes; on the other side
the roses are blooming and finding their labor
no adversity to the spirit.Upward, old legs! There are the roses, and there is the sea
shining like a song, like a body
I want to touchthough I’m not twenty
and won’t be again but ah! seventy. And still
in love with life. And still
full of beans.
(Mary Oliver [source])
On the subject of mysterious things to learn about yourself, there’s this little experiment, here described by Davina Bristow of The Daily Telegraph as “The Pinochio Illusion”:
What to do: You need a friend who has no hang-ups about his nose to do this. Sit on a chair and ask your friend to blindfold you. Your friend should then sit on a chair directly in front of you with his back to you. Now reach round and place your right hand on your friend’s nose. (This trick is potentially a great icebreaker at parties.)
Now put your left hand on your own nose, and then gently tap and stroke both noses at the same time with identical movements. After about a minute, this gives around half of participants the bizarre feeling that their nose is 3ft long, or that their nose is somehow elsewhere.
The science bit: This illusion occurs for a similar reason to the rubber-arm illusion [described earlier in the same article], but this time vision is not involved. You are stroking and tapping a nose with one hand and feeling your own nose being stroked and tapped (by your other hand).
The actions you are making and feeling are exactly the same, so after a while your brain concludes that you are touching your own nose. But you also feel that your arm is stretched out, so the brain reasons that the nose is 3ft long.
Finally… a young woman with a gray (and perhaps empty) everyday life explains how she escapes it — it seems, infectiously, to involve dancing with herself:
Lyrics:
Dancing With Myself
(words/music/instrumental by Nouvelle Vague;
vocal and onscreen performance by Phoebe Killdeer)On the floor of Tokyo
Or down in London town to go, go
With the record selection
With the mirror reflection
I’m dancing with myselfWhen there’s no-one else in sight
In the crowded lonely night
Well I wait so long
For my love vibration
And I’m dancing with myselfCHORUS:
Oh dancing with myself
Oh dancing with myself
Well there’s nothing to lose
And there’s nothing to prove
I’ll be dancing with myselfIf I looked all over the world
And there’s every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myselfSo let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myselfCHORUS (x 2)
If I looked all over the world
And there’s every type of girl
But your empty eyes
Seem to pass me by
Leave me dancing with myselfSo let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to think
If I had the chance
I’d ask the world to dance
And I’ll be dancing with myself
I’ll be dancing with myselfSo let’s sink another drink
‘Cause it’ll give me time to thinkCHORUS (x 2)
marta says
Well, my first thought at the beginning of the video was of Audrey dancing in Twin Peaks. My second thought was–I like this better than the Billy Idol version.
You do find great things to add to my day.
DarcKnyt says
That experiment is interesting. Very odd. I’m going to have to try that sometime.
Interesting stuff, JES.
John says
marta: Audrey Horne. Of course — can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself! (I did consider the Billy Idol version but I just can’t get past the fact of, like, Billy Idol?!?)
Darc: First time I heard about it was years ago, pre-The Missus even. It sounded almost too good to be true, y’know? But I tried it with a group of friends at a bar once, all of us sitting at a long table. All I can say is: scary.
If you like that one, be sure to follow the link to the Daily Telegraph article, and read about the Rubber Arm trick. All I lacked for that was, well, a “fairly realistic rubber arm or hand.” But equally eerie-sounding!
Fantasia Lillith says
OH!! How lame are those guys?? A pretty and full of life girl like that! I just wanted to step into that video and slap one of them on the back of the head and say “Go dance with her you Moron!”
Froog says
And you’re getting all Delphic on us now?
Is there a companion window with MEDEN AGAN?
I like standing still and learning to be astonished.
John says
Froog: Ha! But sorry, no “companion window,” as far as I know. And if there is, I hope it’s not etched with that — far too much of that going around already, if you ask me. *cough*
Seriously, though, I found it at here. From the file name, I gathered this was some sort of facility named Reichert Haus in some locale called Ludwigshafen. A Google search didn’t provide a lot of general information about the place; whatever it is (the name seems to imply a hotel), it seems to have quite an art collection. I didn’t see any other windows close-up, though!
Hmm: reCaptcha indicates that this glass might have come via a Hedgepeth bequest.
Jules says
Wow, that Oliver poem is new to me. I have that anthology, but it’s still in my to-be-read pile.
I get to hear her speak this Wednesday in Nashville! I’m sure it’ll show up in my kicks, don’t ya know.
John says
Fantasia: First — sorry, your comment got held up in the stupid moderation queue. Think it’s all right now.
My reading of the video is a little different from yours. As I see it, the scenes of her dancing with herself are her fantasy life — contrasted with scenes from her real life ((professional?) sexual encounters with various guys). So I think it’s actually saying either that (a) she fantasizes about being ignored, or (b) she fantasizes about teasing guys who are ignoring her. Either way, though, the guys ignoring her are products of her own imagination. Does that make sense?
John says
Jules: Now you know I’ll look forward to reading your account of Mary Oliver’s, uh, is it a reading? or just a speaking engagement?
I’ve stopped maintaining an actual, physical to-be-read pile, because it was becoming impractical. Was on the verge of acquiring a ladder just for it — at least during the times when it hadn’t fallen over. :)
Kate Lord Brown says
Love the Oliver poem – hummingbirds and sunflowers. Nouvelle Vague is one of my all time favourite bands too. You are spoiling us JES.
John says
Kate!
If it’s the kind of spoiling that lures you, blinking, back into the sunlight of blogging — then heck, yeah, I want to do more of that kind of spoiling!
(reCaptcha: Yesterday candies.)
Jules says
John, I’m ever-so slow to blogs this week, but finally an answer to your question: I was reminded this morning, by reading an online announcement, that she’s doing what’s described simply as “a reading.” I’ll be interested to see what turn-out is like.
John says
Jules: I hope that in your earlier comment, you meant to say “I get to hear her speak this Thursday in Nashville!” If you really did mean Wednesday, but posted comment #12 on Thursday, then you probably will soon discover the turn-out will consist entirely of, uh, you. :)