“Nowhere, Beloved, will world be but within us. Our life
passes in transformation. And the external
shrinks into less and less.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke, “Duino Elegies”
Birthdays. Unimportant if but for one thing: gratitude. For life, for the beautiful people who share life with us, for the ability to breathe, to function, to feel love and tenderness and pure, unrestrained joy. What transience is given to us, and how soon we are to forget this--and all the while, we could be reveling in the incredible miracle that we can think, and give, and share, and write, and feel. How small we are, but how rich too, if we seek out the depths of what is given to us.
the only real thing, love's calm unwavering flame in the half-light of an early dawn
Calm. Unwavering. Peaceful.
“When I read last year’s letter, I expressed how much uncertainty faced me. I didn't know where I would be living, what I would be doing, whom I would meet. Well, I am here, and I have made it, and if there is one thing I will start off by saying, it is that life is achievable. Uncertainty, over time, turns into certainty. Life, as they often say, 'unfolds', and such it does. There is a balance between letting this unfolding happen naturally, without interference, and directing our lives and shaping in the way that we see most fit."
Today has been flooded with happiness, from the wee hours of the early morning to the slow fatigue that is setting in as I write this. My heart feels warm and comforted, and all I can think about is how wonderful it is to be alive...