No matter that I’m in the midst of a frantic pace of checking off a long to-do list of work items before I start to pack. A precise collection of words can make me pause. This one did.
“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.” Diane Ackerman
Often, I apply the metaphor of “living deep” to recalibrate my life, so I appreciate Ms. Ackerman’s gift of this new way to exact a review of how I’m doing my living.
How does one live the width of life? How might that width change during different phases of living? Can I find as much joy in a slim width or should I shoot for an expansive one?
I am unfamiliar with Diane Ackerman’s body of work. (See her bio below.) It’s a bit eerie to discover she is a poet, since I am on my way later this week to spend a week with David Whyte, also a poet.
This trip has a dual purpose for me – personal and professional. Sure, I’ll enjoy the introspection, the vistas and the trekking. But the main purpose is to become better acquainted with this kind of experience. Should it prove worthy, it will become part of the arsenal of recommendations for those who seek sabbaticals (and there seems to be many.) Go here for a full description of the program.
Yesterday, as I looked at the looming list of work, personal obligations, and trip preparations, I quivered thinking how impossible it all seemed. But then I used the metaphor provided by Ackerman.
I concluded that I should get my ass in gear, since it’s the width of my life that’s at stake.
The length of your life marches on day after day. How’s the width of it coming along?
See Diane Ackerman’s impressive bio below:
Poet, essayist and naturalist, Dian Ackerman is the author of two dozen highly acclaimed words of nonfiction, including A Natural History of the Senses – a book (according to her website” beloved by millions of readers all over the world.) Amazon’s reviews attest to high starred testimonials and while her website doesn’t acknowledge an active 2010 calendar, she certainly was available in many parts of the US for lectures and appearances. Ms. Ackerman has received a D. Lit. from Kenyon College, Guggenheim Fellowship, Orion Book Award, John Burroughs Nature Award, and the Lavan Poetry Prize, as well as being honored as a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library. She also has the rare distinction of having a molecule named after her –dianeackerone. She has taught at a number of universities, including Columbia and Cornell. Her essays about nature and human nature have been appearing for decades in The New York Times, Smithsonian, Parade, The New Yorker, National Geographic and many other journals, where they have been the subject of much praise. She hosted a five-hour PBS television series inspired by A Natural History of the Senses.
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