“I don’t feel crazy. That’s the weird thing. I was crazy before. I know what crazy feels like. This all feels . . . I don’t know. Like I’m finally seeing the obvious.”
Olivia, a character in Richard Powers’ book The Overstory: A Novel, says those words after a traumatic experience suddenly heightens her senses and focus on life around her.
I had dinner with a friend last night who shared, while he was in the toughest chapter of his fight with cancer, objects around him sometimes took on an added element of beauty.
To finally “see the obvious,” to truly see the world around us, is the 4th idea in our reflections on “how to live,” as we continue our series inspired by Kevin Toolis’ book, In My Father’s Wake: How the Irish Teach Us to Live, Love, and Die.
“How to live,” in other words, is to choose to see the beauty and wonder of what might seem, but is in fact not, obvious.
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