Do I learn not to see? After a week in the mountains, I no longer stand in awe of their majesty. Do I also learn not to taste? After the third day, I eat strawberries more for their nutrition than their fresh and exciting flavor. A piece of music moves me to tears on the first hearing, then becomes nostalgic, then quaint. Why?
I am always surprised by what is new, what exists outside my expectations. Sometimes I experience the new at the exact moment that I am open to it, need it to show up, or have been searching for it.
How do I keep my sense of wonder for the same beauty, the same grace, and the same love that I experience day after day? Perhaps by waking up expecting nothing. Then everything that happens becomes a gift.
An elegant portrayal of retreat, renewal and return to life with an increased respect for one of the nation’s most revered natural sites. – Kirkus Review
About Me
- Mark Liebenow
- Mark Liebenow writes about nature, prostate cancer, grief, and the wisdom of fools. The author of four books, his essays, poems, and reviews have been published in over 40 journals, including in the Huffington Post and Colorado Review. He has won the River Teeth Nonfiction Book Award, the Chautauqua and Literal Latte’s essay prizes, and the Sipple Poetry Award. His work has been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and named a notable by Best American Essays. His account of hiking in Yosemite to deal with his wife’s death, Mountains of Light, was published by the University of Nebraska Press. M.A. M.Div. http://www.markliebenow.com
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