Get Me Through the Next Five Minutes
The fact that so many thoughts could have gone through my head in 3.36 seconds is testament to the infinitude of an individual consciousness. There is no end to it, no way to measure it. Consciousness is like the cosmos multiplied by the number of people alive in the world (assuming that consciousness dies when we do, and it may not) because each o
... See moreJennifer Egan • The Candy House: A Novel
So when confusion or pain seems to tighten what is possible, when sadness or frustration shrinks your sense of well-being, when worry or fear agitates the peace right out of you, try lending your attention to the nearest thing. Try watching how the dust lifts and resettles when you blow on it. Watch how the pawprints of your neighbor's retriever, i
... See moreMark Nepo • The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have
asthmatic death rattles. So I just sit there for a minute, breathing slowly, quietly. I let my mind wander. After a moment I may notice that I’m trying to decide whether or not I am too old for orthodontia and whether right now would be a good time to make a few calls, and then I start to think about learning to use makeup and how maybe I could fin
... See moreAnne Lamott • Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life
There’s a radical range of resolution in how I can interpret my day. Sometimes the smallest details, like the headphones of a passing pedestrian, can have something like religious significance, and every perception feels worthy of a paragraph, worthy of interpretive and sensorial prose. Other times, days escape in a passing fog without rapture or r
... See more