Tag: face

Look at you: You are no accident.

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Your face: the eyes…the line of your nose; that lickerish mouth, one moment tight with fear, overtaken the next by fountainous laughter … Always faces, tens of thousands across a career, each one made up of countless micro-expressions that register everything; more liminal than a blood test, less decisive than a lumbar puncture, but meaningful all the same…

We are skull-jumpers; there is no limit to our identificatory capacity. Your face, voice, breath continue their unfolding, each now different from the last, changed beyond recognition in the two hours since we first met. Looking: more intimate than any physical examination. The voltage switches once more, symptoms pooling between us, tributaries of some larger untold story…The intensity of neuronal activation is processed through deep limbic structures, and when intensity exceeds a genetically defined threshold it leads to activation of the autonomic nervous system, triggering unconscious automatic changes in cardiovascular and respiratory systems—readying us to fight, to flee, to freeze, to love. We are sensitive; we have no choice. Look at you: You are no accident.

~ A. K. Benjamin, from his new book titled Let Me Not Be Mad: My Story of Unraveling Mind (Dutton, June 11, 2019)

Notes:

1 out of 4. Wood to chop.

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If only I may grow: firmer, simpler, quieter, warmer.

~ Dag Hammarskjöld

Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961) was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. The second Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is one of just three people to be awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize.  After Hammarskjöld’s death, U.S. president John F. Kennedy regretted that he opposed the UN policy in the Congo and said: “I realise now that in comparison to him, I am a small man. He was the greatest statesman of our century.”

Image Credit. Quote Source: Journal of a Nobody.

Wash Your Face In The Morning! 5 Myths Debunked.

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Myth: I should wash my face in the morning.

Truth: Unless you have a skin condition, such as acne, you only need to wash your face once a day, in the evening. Nighttime cleansing removes, make-up, pollutants and other dirt that has collected on the skin. Washing twice a day can cause dryness, a particular concern as women and men age.

Hmmm. This is habitual.  No. A Ritual. (Washing face many times.) And, how many times have I scolded our kids on the topic? Too many to count.

Source: wsj.com – The Real Dirt on Face Washing – experts say don’t overscrub, overcleanse

I can only muster thoughts for one

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‎“I talk about love, forgiveness, social justice; I rage against American materialism in the name of altruism, but have I even controlled my own heart? The overwhelming majority of time I spend thinking about myself, pleasing myself, reassuring myself, and when I am done there is nothing to spare for the needy. Six billion people live in this world, and I can only muster thoughts for one. Me.”

~ Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz

Image: kellensblog via thegiftsoflife. Quote: middlenameconfused

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Go without a coat; find out what cold is.

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‎Go without a coat; find out what cold is. Go hungry; keep your existence lean. Wear away the fat, get down to the lean tissue and see what it’s all about. The only time you define your character is when you go without. In times of hardship, you find out what you’re made of and what you’re capable of. If you’re never tested, you’ll never define your character.

~ Henry Rollins

Image: holyholychic via thegiftsoflife