Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Guess It!


Between living and dreaming
there is a third thing.
Guess it.

Antonio Machado (1875 - 1939)

Spanish Poet


As with the proverbs posted on
April 7, April 10, April 13, & June 4, 2014
these lines from Antonio Machado can be found in
Mala of the Heart: 108 Sacred Poems
edited by Ravi Nathwani & Kate Vogt
Thanks to my friend Lani for her
generous gift of this lovely inspirational book!

When I was photographing the above irises in our front yard,
I accidentally broke off a still-closed flower, so I took it inside
as a "rescue blossom" and was so thrilled when it opened perfectly!


***************
P.S.

What is the third thing?

My friends Jan & Diane guessed "Blooming" & "Becoming"
[see first comment below]

My friend Cate suggesed the concept of ~ Sati / Mindfulness ~
[the first factor of enlightenment & self - mastery]

Here are my literary guesses,
[based not on any direct connection to Machado
but on phrases -- some well - known to me, some new --
that have caught my heart in my recent reading and writing]

1. an explosive, soaring joy
see Joyce Sidman
What The Heart Knows

"But we still believe in the power of the words themselves. . . .
Finding phrases to match the emotion inside us still brings
an explosive, soaring joy."


2. "a rich soft wanting"
see Carl Sandburg

3. "the fire . . . hot within"
see Virginia Woolf

4. the Japanese concept of
~ Mono no aware ~

5. the Portuguese concept of
~ Saudade ~
[sau·da·de / souˈdädə =
a feeling or state of nostalgia
or profound melancholic longing,
supposedly characteristic of the
Portuguese or Brazilian temperament]

4 comments:

  1. Are those irises? Really beautiful. I am not sure what the thing is between living and dreaming. Are the flowers a hint? Blooming? Becoming? I guessed "blooming" and Diane guessing "becoming."

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  2. Thanks Jan & Diane! Good question / answers. I know it was a skimpy post because I took the easy way out -- just typing up the quote with no commentary! I'm going to keep thinking about what you said & will expand the post with whatever I come up with.

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  3. Kitti, those literary guesses are wonderful! Are those writers actually responding to Machado's quotation or are you surmising their guesses? Either way--I love them.

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  4. Dear Jan,

    Merely surmising!

    xo, Kitti

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