A true revelation, it seems to me, will only emerge from stubborn concentration on a solitary problem. I am not in league with inventors or adventurers, nor with travelers to exotic destinations, The surest — also the quickest — way to awake the sense of wonder in ourselves, is to look intently, undeterred, at a single object. Suddenly, miraculously, it will reveal itself as something we have never seen before.
–Cesare Pavese, Dialoghi con Leuco 1947
2:14 pm
I’m not sure if the concentration has to be stubborn. Could we try playful concentration?
2:27 pm
Stubborn totally works for me. I would actually argue that it’s the only thing that works for me-a terrific determination. Maybe I have Revelation A.D.D.
4:29 am
That makes me think of Georges Bernanos who wrote (I try to translate) : ” The little things seems nothing, but they give the peace. In each little thing, there is an angel. ”
“Les petites choses n’ont l’air de rien, mais elles donnent la paix. Dans chaque petite chose, il y a un ange.”
10:37 am
“If the eye is single, the body is full of light.”
4:43 pm
I vote for travelling or rather moving – it doesn’t have to be much – just 2 inches to the left og tripping over the bridge to the neighbor or neighborhood ‘to where the grass is greener’ . …all objects, people, surroundings become more …………magic ** ……….at least to me :-)
10:53 am
Wow. I devoted my MA thesis to this topic, but I missed that quote ( and many others, of course…). It was something I just fell into when I began keeping an illustrated journal and have since thought of my life as one huge study of wonderment. You, Ms. Smith, are a gift to your students!
2:44 am
Yes, all this is true. Even better is to stare and stare at the image then close your eyes like a camera shutter for about five minutes. It helps you really emboss the image in your soul (though your cat will stare at you wondering why you’ve developed a tick). It’s all good.
9:02 pm
Open the senses!
To study, to let an object “speak” back to you, brings, without full cognitive analysis, understanding.. That is the essence of Seeing!
