Lookaftering #5
Uppercase and lowercase wows, Sissinghurst & new books
“Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, ‘Well, that’s pretty much what I thought I’d see,’ you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. [...] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.”
– Help, Thanks, Wow by Anne Lamott
I was browsing some decade-old Kindle highlights recently and was reminded of Will Schwalbe’s wonderful Books for Living: A Reader’s Guide to Life, his memoir of caring for and reading with his mother, Mary Anne, during her treatment for cancer.
In particular, this quote by Will about Help, Thanks, Wow, Anne Lamott’s short writing on faith, grabbed my attention:
“There are ‘lowercase wows’—like ‘clean sheets after a hard day.’ And ‘uppercase Wows. Yosemite. Fireworks.’ Whether something is upper-or lowercase or a wow at all depends on us. I try to be aware of the ‘Wow’ prayer at least once a day but usually forget.”
Lowercase and uppercase wows! Oh, how I love this. I am not religious – more agnostic than atheist, I mostly just try to be kind and find wonder in the world. Will Schwalbe is also not religious, but that said, we both seem to be interested in how those who are religious see the world.
As Will explains, Lamott’s “Wow” accompanies her prayers “Help me, help me, help me” and “Thank you, thank you, thank you” as:
“the prayer that helps you acknowledge all the wonder and blessings around: petals in spring; a Georgia O’Keeffe painting in a museum; a dance by Fred Astaire or Pina Bausch.”
Isn’t that wonderful?
