A list of beautiful things #19

touching the veil

Photo credit: @claudiakeep

• “if one day I completely disappear, I am not gone, I am just in a safe space somewhere, learning something new and touching the veil.” (via are.na)

• This was one of my favorite films of the year. A child tries to be happy on vacation with her father, whom she senses is suffering.

• “I have nothing to say, and I am saying it.” The power of self-censorship.

• The gorgeous Korean word I learned from watching the reality TV show Single’s Inferno.

• I’m not Catholic, but I love the Ignatian principle of agere contra. It means to “change yourself intensely in ways contrary to desolation.” It’s the idea of counteracting any feelings of emotional despair or by enriching your internal life: meditating more, giving more to your neighbor, reflecting on your emotions, etc. It’s a wonderful concept.

• We’re just a “mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.” Carl Sagan reflects on the photograph Pale Blue Dot.

• This painting, “The evening bowl - a tub full of stars,” shows how to capture the infinite.

• The average color of the universe.

• What a typical dining room in Egypt looks like: chandelier, lace curtains and tablecloth, faux flowers in crystal vases, 18th century French paintings in gold frames. Reminds me of my grandma’s house.

• In 2023, I hope you stumble upon a thin place, where heaven and Earth meet closest.
  
  Some little things from me

• asking AI to write me beautiful things

• my favorite films and music of 2022

• an extremely grounding exercise. if you end up writing a poem like this, send it to me

  
  From a newsletter reader

• The joy of obscure collections, via Alan Stamm