Beauty, (Iris) Murdoch argues, gave us an opportunity for an “unselfing.” She writes:
I am looking out my window in an anxious and resentful state of mind, oblivious of my surroundings, brooding perhaps on some damage done to my prestige. Then suddenly I observe a hovering kestrel. In a moment everything is altered. The brooding self with its hurt vanity has disappeared. There is nothing now but kestrel. And when I return to thinking of the other matter it seems less important.
— Chloé Cooper Jones, Easy Beauty: A Memoir (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, April 5, 2022)
Notes:
- Kestrel. Cardinal. Same. Shot taken of Red Cardinal overhead this morning @ 8 am in backyard.
- Photos from Daybreak walk this morning here.
“Unselfing” – I like it.
Yes!
beautiful
The truth !
Yes!
Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Beautiful … “There is nothing now but kestrel. And when I return to thinking of the other matter it seems less important.” — Chloé Cooper Jones, Easy Beauty: A Memoir (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster, April 5, 2022).
So healing to look out beyond the little self. This morning, for me, it was the site of a bunny in my yard…so sweet…before the squirrels began frolicking around.
Ahhhh, nothing like a bunny to soften up the tension…
What a shot!
Thank you Laila!
Yeah, sometimes we just need to get over ourselves. Happens to me all the time when I see some little creature in trouble out in my yard, or when I see rabbit fur and bird feathers that are no longer attached. The focus shifts from me, me, me – to them.
So true Anneli!
Exquisite photos this morn, all! Again! Writing (or photographing!) easily unselfs one, too. I think that’s why we love these and all the arts. Meditating, too. (And maybe running — I’ll never know, lol!)
Thank you! Never too late to start running!
🤔.. um.. lol!!