Don't just live the length of your life - live the width of it as well.
Diane AckermanRead
In rare moments of deep play, we can lay aside our sense of self, shed time's continuum, ignore pain, and sit quietly in the absolute present, watching the world's ordinary miracles. No mind or heart hobbles. No analyzing or explaining. No questing for logic. No promises. No goals. No relationships. No worry. One is completely open to whatever drama may unfold.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the beauty of being fully present in the moment, free from distractions and concerns.
Diane Ackerman's quote reflects on the transformative power of deep play, a state where we transcend our individual identities and temporal worries to experience life as it unfolds. In this frame of mind, we appreciate the simple, yet profound miracles of everyday existence without the interference of our thoughts or societal expectations. It encourages us to embrace the present, enjoy spontaneity, and connect with the world around us in a more genuine and unfiltered way.
Themes
PresencePlayMindfulnessMiraclesNow
In practice
Example use cases
In a meditation workshop, the facilitator used this quote to highlight the importance of being fully present.
More from Diane Ackerman
All quotes →We try to exile ourselves more and more from nature - not always consciously: We build houses; we dismiss nature; nature has to be outside, because we're inside. God forbid something like a cockroach comes inside, or some dust.
Diane AckermanRead
We ogle plants and animals up close on television, the Internet and in the movies. We may not worship the animals we see, but we still regard them as necessary physical and spiritual companions. Technological nature can't completely satisfy that yearning.
Diane AckermanRead
Because IQ tests favor memory skills and logic, overlooking artistic creativity, insight, resiliency, emotional reserves, sensory gifts, and life experience, they can't really predict success, let alone satisfaction.
Diane AckermanRead
American writer_x000D_ _x000D_ 1803-1882_x000D_ _x000D_ Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.
Diane AckermanRead
There is a way of beholding nature which is a form of prayer, a way of minding something with such clarity and aliveness that the rest of the world recedes. It . . . gives the brain a small vacation.
Diane AckermanRead
Similar quotes
To experience anything fully and see it clearly there must be a moment of presence where conceptual thinking is not interfering with your experience of that moment.
Eckhart TolleRead
Not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
Henry Wadsworth LongfellowRead
You have to care about how good you are and how good you feel, but not about how good people think you are or how good people think you look.
Amy PoehlerRead
My whole life I have been complaining _x000D_ that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered _x000D_ that my interruptions _x000D_ were my work.
Henri NouwenRead
Now that I am sixty, I see why the idea of elder wisdom has passed from currency.
John UpdikeRead
Men who know themselves are no longer fools. They stand on the threshold of the door of Wisdom.
Havelock EllisRead