“The answer must be, I think, that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there.” – Annie Dillard (Pilgrim at Tinker Creek)
“What Ruth has known all along: what will happen can’t be stopped. Aim for grace.” – Ann Beattie (Learning to Fall)
I love both of these passages, which seem to me to be saying different versions of the same thing. I’ve written before about how I feel I’m circling and circling, sometimes, not making progress enough, saying the same things over and over. Sometimes this frustrates me, makes me feel stuck. On other days the message coming at me externally (as in these two quotes, and in the bird I found sheltering in my porch the other night) and bubbling up internally (the aforementioned circling and circling) is so consistent, so strong and powerful, that I realize I ought to just put everything down and listen to it.
This is one of those messages. In fact, I suspect that, at least for me, this is the message.
Life – grace, beauty, peace, whatever you want to think of it as – is just right here. And white-knuckling my way through it doesn’t do anything but exhaust me. Things are unfolding in a way that I have much less control over than I’d like to believe, and the best I can do is open my eyes and see. Not miss, in my desperate, soul-depleting efforts to manage destiny, the gorgeousness that is at my feet right now.
Remarkable as it may be, the world seems to spin without me personally doing the spinning. It has taken me 36 years to really learn this. In fact, if I’m honest, I’m still learning it. The freedom that comes with letting go is immense, and I’ve tasted it, though I’m not always able to remember that. The lesson for me is to do so in a more complete way. Letting go – accepting that what will be will be, as Beattie says, enables a complete shift in perspective: instead of being a lamentation of what is not, life becomes a benediction of what is.
All we can do is show up. Isn’t this what the poets have been saying, since the beginning of time? And the priests, too? Yes, yes it is. Just by being in this world, banal and brilliant, where majesty and mediocrity coexist in every single moment, we are witness to beauty and grace. All we have to do is be there. And to watch.
“…life becomes a benediction of what is.”
Amen.
Thank you, Lindsey, and bravo.
A gorgeous reminder on this Friday morning. Thank you.
Lovely. And thank you for the reminder to let go. xo
Beautiful, as always. Magic is all around us. Right now. XO
I love this post so much that it literally made my heart swell. Why? Because it exemplifies what I love about writing (and ultimately reading). The connection that someone can make with strangers and the ability to make them feel not so alone in their thoughts, fears, frustrations. Just a beautiful, heartfelt, honest post that hit me at just the right time.
Thank you! 🙂
I have just discovered your blog. It really speaks to me. Thank you for writing about the places and thoughts I assiduously try to avoid and for making those paths seem less lonely.
yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!
So beautiful, Lindsey. And I’ve always loved that quote from Annie, too.
This might be one of my favorite string words of yours, ever:
“Just by being in this world, banal and brilliant, where majesty and mediocrity coexist in every single moment, we are witness to beauty and grace. All we have to do is be there. And to watch.”
xo
Amen Namaste, and BTW, you don’t just witness beauty and grace, you ARE beauty and grace.
This is a beautiful post Lindsey. I also love both of those quotes.
It can be so difficult to “just be there” sometimes. We get all caught up in extraneous things and often times miss the beauty that surrounds us.
Thank God for His grace!
Thank goodness we are here, reminding one another of what we already know. And thank you, Lindsey, for doing that so beautifully, in words that sing.
I have always been one to fight, to fight that which I feel is not right. Justice and principles and all of that. However, something’s changed since I turned 40. I don’t know why or what it it, but I feel more relaxed with things out of my control. I am more able to simply accept and move on. It is a beautiful thing. My life hasn’t gotten any less crazy, but the ability to cope has improved immensely but just believing that it does not good to worry about things I have no control over.
Beautiful words…it also reminds me that we are all on a spiral path (not in a weird sort of way…I really misinterpreted this for quite some time). We are always revisiting the same life messages as we move on our journey. Although it may feel like we are in the “same place” learning the “same thing,” I think we end up looking at the same messages from slightly different (and often higher) perspectives. Thanks for sharing!
Love the Dillard quote, grace, put everything down and listen. What I’m focusing on this week, today.