|
002e951
|
Maybe other people are like mirrors that we see ourselves in; versions of ourselves that vary dramatically depending on the particular cut of glass.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
5d6fee6
|
How much are we the product of our faces and how much are they the product of our personalities? I've known people whose faces rested naturally in a smile and I'm certain their lives were much different because of that.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
79b8ca5
|
I've known people whose faces rested naturally in a smile and I'm certain their lives were much different because of that.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
9c5fa35
|
There were angels too, some bent with devotion, others standing with heads cast down and hands clasped together, bereft. I thought of [them] and how maybe the important thing is to have somebody grieve for you; to know that angels will bow in sorrow.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
55c982d
|
I see her again: her face wet with tears, her eyes searching mine. Slowly, very slowly, I reach my hands out and trace my fingertips along her skin, first down her neck, so warm and fragile, then across her breasts and down along the curves of her hips. Then with all my strength I wrap my arms around her and pull her toward me, but she is gone.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
760cb56
|
If love doesn't triumph, it ought to. For love is the one thing we have that feels more powerful than even death; the only respite from life's wretched absurdity. The magic of love is not that it contains all the answers, it's that it eliminates the need for so many pressing questions. For love makes us feel like gods--and that's what we're really after, isn't it?
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
cb70f34
|
I spent all day wandering up and down the hallways, staring at the Mona Lisa and Canova's 'Psyche and Cupid' and the 'Venus de Milo' and Caravaggio's 'The Death of the Virgin' and hundreds of other works in all shapes and sizes and colors. Just before I was about to leave, I was staring at Michelangelo's 'The Dying Slave', and I suddenly realized that every single work I had seen expressed the same thing, the same intense longing for beauty..
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
fec2a71
|
Yesterday I noticed a scent of bark outside that I had not smelled in years. While the bark lingered in my nose, flushing out ancient tree houses and campfires and games of tag and capture the flag, I noticed that the birds seemed to be singing louder than usual and the leaves on the trees looked more pronounced, almost exaggerated in their lush clarity.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
14fcc50
|
Love is self-explanatory: the right person makes you feel well nigh immortal, vaccinating you with their affections. So long as you remain in their heart you are safe, or better than safe even, for a while at least. You are momentarily, in a state of grace.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
b347565
|
Completely alive. I thought abut what she meant by that; about all the joy and wonder and passion that had slipped from her fingers.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
88c395e
|
What is it about beauty that intimidates; causing us to kneel somewhere deep inside and pray and wonder just how close we might crawl before being banished from the sanctuary?
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
8bc09ea
|
Was [her] life really better than most, or did she appreciate it more or just remember it differently? I suspect she remembers it differently, which is really the trick. If you want to age gracefully, remember selectively.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
8974e26
|
I noticed how the band members watched her and how she made them smile and I realized that she was the kind of person who changed the feeling in a room, so that others suddenly feel that they are in the right place. Is that the secret of life, to surround yourself with people who are so full of passion, people who know sadness but not bitterness? I looked into her face, which was alive with excitement, and then into her eyes, which were ful..
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
18426f8
|
No wonder such a big part of growing old is learning to lower one's expectations, only we call that maturity and wisdom so as not to sound too defeatist. When you are young you demand ecstasy; when you are old you settle for anything short of agony.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
1121f49
|
I was glad that it rained. Not just a drizzle but big furious drops that lashed against us and danced at our feet. Our discomfort seemed somehow appropriate, all of us standing there with tears and rain washing down our taut faces, overcome by so many names.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
3d34b8c
|
From my bed I can see the moon tonight, so bright and ripe and salmon pink it looks as if it might drop from the sky. I imagine pirates on deck just before sunrise with the wood groaning and the moonlight streaking across the water in a straight line from the horizon. Did Caesar see the moon exactly so as he strode down the Roman Forum on the way to some debaucherous celebration? And what about Moses and Galileo and some wretched young Lond..
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
9f76051
|
Maybe our relationships--love--can save us, at least enough so that our lives are finally worthwhile, even with all the rotten misery and dying.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
2a8fc51
|
the best poems were like little vessels that carry messages that can't be transported in any other way; miniature worlds like tiny paintings or Faberge eggs.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
3557c1c
|
So can you say life is senseless and cruel or you can make a stand and try to impose your own meaning and values on it?
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
2456782
|
Without art; without paintings, books, sculpture and music, the human soul would be quite impenetrable, don't you think?
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
d38a79d
|
Our lives feel fuller when we can weave them into stories, even if not all the stories are true and even if we are just filibustering, hoping our number won't be called--so long as we keep talking.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
9755061
|
Our quest for heroism is awkward. Not the obvious heroism that earns medals and applause but the heroism of daily life. Go to Princeton and you're an educational hero; run a marathon and you're an athletic hero; make loads of money and you're a financial hero--the alpha hero of our culture. Each occupation and role in life has its own exacting rituals for advancement and reward, from the employee of the month parking space to stock options...
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
ee4c9a9
|
That's the thing about art. It really helps to be unhappy.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
d664ac9
|
You can't expect people to dwell on the fact that they'll ultimately lose everything they have and love." "Why not? It might make them think about what really matters." "What does really matter?" I asked. "Having someone to love. Being compassionate. Being fully alive everyday so that you really see and hear and smell and feel things."..."
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
746467b
|
How about some commotion, a stir caused by the spreading news of my imminent demise? If the world would just wince momentarily at my passing. No need for flags at half-mast, but just a flinch, a brief pause before everyone returns to the busy business of life.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
f225769
|
I often wondered why men will risk almost certain death in an attempt to save other men. I decided it was because men will do anything to give their lives some meaning and virtue.
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |
|
7c04918
|
What is it about a beautiful face that makes it beautiful?
|
|
|
Jonathan Hull |