Thursday, October 17, 2013

"richness of conscious life"

"I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past." --Virginia Woolf

Last Sunday morning we had some moments together on the patio.  The sun was shining gently and the little bit of nature that we had around us only tweeted...no loud sounds.

I invited the two Misters to sit on the wall for snacks and story telling while I planned to get busy with some repotting of plants.

I had to get my hands out of the soft dirt within minutes to pick up the camera because the delightful crunchy sounds and scrunchy faces the cat boys were making were too precious to ignore.

Here's Gingerella, so pleased, and so much like a baby tiger,
 and even more so was Mr Sweet Pants who had laid down his tail on a straight line.
 Here are the plants that have since been repotted into different pots.
 Here are the cat boys after snacks, each finding his private corner for observation and contemplation.
 We can never get enough of cyclamen.
 Mr Puffy Pants, Gingerella...
 Mr Sweet Pants...
"I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus we don't have complete emotions about the present, only about the past." --Virginia Woolf

A friend sent me the above quote a few days ago and I saved it because so much of it rings true with me, and yet not entirely as I believe that I can appreciate the present moment sometimes quite fully, other times not.  Perhaps this is what Niels Bohr meant when he spoke of the "richness of conscious life".

Are you aware of the state of richness of your life or do you realize it later in time?

Cat boys made many kisses that they blew out in the air for you!  Enjoy!

Ciao!

10 comments:

  1. Wow that is a beautiful quote. Speaks to me. And I love the picture of the cyclamen. To answer your question, yes I always try to be aware of the richness in my life but sometimes I don't realize it until hindsight.

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  2. Did you immediately start examining the things your remember from the past? I did. It is good to remind ourselves to remember details of each day..thank you for your visit.

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  3. I appreciate the present moment only if I remind myself and stop the scurrying long enough to do so. The past is so easy to think about, isn't it?
    I believe its time to re-read some Thic Nhat Hahn. ;)
    Tweet tweet, crunch crunch & flowers to make you glad for these moments.
    Have a beautiful weekend. x

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  4. So true the emotion expands later and hopefully the lens we use is rose coloured. The cats looks so engaged
    Have a lovely weekend

    Helen

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  5. i can hear them crunching from here....

    xx

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  6. Wow, what a great quote. It has been in my mind since yesterday, the first time I read it.
    I have examined my past for years, really painful memories, but it is done and over with.
    Trying to concentrate in the present, live in the present now.
    Amazingly some sweet memories have started popping up - thanks to Baby M.
    Thanks for your reminder and the lovely cat dudes:X

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  7. I think the quote from Virgina serves to remind us to live for the present, so that we don't end up regretting our past, lives only half lived. That's one of my biggest fears.

    Happy weekend to you and sweet cat boys!

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  8. prairie girl- yes indeed...every moment is only here with us for 1/60th of a minute...xxx

    helen- I am always amazed at how memories change, what was terrible in the present became usually much softer and meaningful looking back at it...lovely to see you xx

    marie- I see you too love hearing those crunching sounds... : ) xxx

    mette- it is a great quote and made me start thinking about various experiences and how they were and how I think of them now...I agree that the addition of sweet baby M is extremely special and will make the most beautiful memories...wishing you a great new week xx

    Anna- I agree...I also don't want to regret not having made good use of my days...scary thought...thank you for visiting, so good to see you always xxx

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  9. That Woolf quote is fascinating to me. Thank you for sharing it!

    Hello from Ohio (with a cat on my lap right now, fittingly!)...hope your week is going well!

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  10. Hannah- a cat on the lap is a privilege and bounty unadorned...I like that quote to, it takes different meanings as I examine one experience after another...

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