When it’s over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
FROM: The poem: WHEN DEATH COMES by Mary Oliver.
Mary Oliver (1935- 2019)was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Her work is inspired by nature, rather than the human world, stemming from her lifelong passion for solitary walks in the wild.
REFLECTION:
- How “amazed” are you living?
- Have you taken the world into your arms?
- Are you doing more than just visiting this world?
- How can you be… what can you do to ensure you have made something particular and real with your life?