"The beauty and strangeness of the world may fill the eyes with its cordial refreshment. Equally it may offer the heart a dish of terror. On one side is radiance; on another is the abyss."

there's something incredible about how mary oliver articulates her view of the world. she doesn't just see things, she experiences them. she makes the most minute things sound poetic. to her, life is beautiful. life is something to be lived without guilt and to the fullest extent. mary oliver does not believe in shame, or greed. only loving yourself, and loving the things around you. she never fails to make me weep.

i liked the set up of these little essays, though i did enjoy some more than others. (don't ask me about the cat). if you're interested in her views of poets, she's added a couple of sections in this collection related to that. my favorites were the ones about whitman and poe, but that's to be expected.

the way she writes about arachnids or insects in general is so tender. she believes that every living thing is deserving of gentleness and care. she does not go out of her way to step on ants, or kill spiders. she happily lets these things live, no matter how small they may be.

mary oliver makes me feel like i'm worth something. maybe that's weird to say, or even corny, but she really does. there's no other poet or author in the world that makes me feel the same way her writing does. she makes me feel like even if i'm just alive, only breathing, that i hold value. that i don't have to earn my worth, it's inherently there.