“Mansfield’s last note, from an unfinished story, ends with an observation that only the dying Mansfield would make: “It was an exquisite day. It was one of those days so clear, so still, so silent you almost feel the earth itself has stopped in astonishment at its own beauty.”
~ Yiyun Li, Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life
Live & Learn 
May we still be permitted many such days of exquisite beauty, peace, contentment!
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Agree with that n
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powerful words.
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Yes.
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Oh to be able to write like this!
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Exactly!
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One of the silver linings of this pandemic is that it has forced us to slow down, thereby allowing us to notice more exquisitely beautiful moments in the world around us. I stood in the yard yesterday morning around 4a.m. and gazed at a limpid yellow moon that took my breath away….
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Beautiful
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I loved that quote!
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Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
The kind of day that I long for, the days that were with us not that long ago … and it seems like an eternity … “It was an exquisite day. It was one of those days so clear, so still, so silent you almost feel the earth itself has stopped in astonishment at its own beauty.”
Yiyun Li, Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life
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I love it when you get into a book and share these exquisite passages. Thanks to you, I read differently. I actually note those phrases or paragraphs that make me stop. I used to read, enjoy and keep on. Now I stop and savour.
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Well that’s Great! Thanks for letting me know.
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Thanks for doing what you do!
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Beautiful.
thank you!
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It is! Thanks!
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Please keep sharing this writer…Yiyun Li, seems to be such a gifted writer…living in two cultures…one of which was oppressive, brings I think a lot of inward thought & keen observation due to need to survive …I don’t agree with this ” observation that only the dying Mansfield would make:” I think there are other people who would say or write similar when they are close to death in appreciate of Life’s Gifts…and I wonder which author with the last name “Mansfield” she is quoting? This former poet, from Britain has a similar last name, so it can’t be him…and what he says I’ve always thought…
“To most of us the future seems unsure. But then it always has been; and we who have seen great changes must have great hopes.”
— John Masefield
“Each Breath Is A Gift” -Christie
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She is so gifted. A bit dark but wow.
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What a lovely way to be thinking when dying!
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Yes!
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