Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland
Genre: Non-Fiction, Spirituality, Wisdom, Buddhism, Paganism
Rating: πππππ
This is a book of wisdom, quotes and treasures is from writer Mary McEvoy. She has lived experience of depression and anxiety. So she understands intimately how to handle and manage the dark times of life. How to look at the darkness squarely in the face and not look away. And also to how savour and appreciate the good times when they come.
There are golden threads of Buddhist thought throughout this book which I thoroughly enjoyed, the aspect of humble oneness of one’s consciousness with all that exists in the universe.
Also there are themes of witchcraft and paganism, harnessing everyday magic, the celebration of femininity and being a woman, beauty, ageing, nature, love, self-love, animals and loneliness.
Be small. Be nothing. Stop stirring. Be as small as a petal on a daisy, humming bird tiny. Be nothing as space is nothing, as air is nothing. Stop striving and fall back into the arms of the universe. This is how I have learned to rest. My head is the lap of infinity.
Ordinary Beauty: Meaningful Moments in Everyday Life by Mary McEvoy
This book is filled with rich and nourishing insights and micro stories that speak in a universal and relatable way about how we can appreciate everyday beauty of the world. McEvoy talks about the various different small miracles that occur to give hope, light and comfort in an ever-increasingly fraught and fractured world.
As life goes on, the clothesline diminishes again, families part, spouses leave or die. The clothesline now displays a gender specific wardrobe of perhaps an adventurous widow, or an ordered man on his own in neat contentment. I don’t find this sad because it just means life goes on and has many phases, and each phase has its meaning and purpose. It must be lived and so many people live it so well.
But what strikes me most about the clothes on the line is their fragility. They are like us who wear them, ordinary, lovely, mundane and heroic, blown and buffeted, animated by that which we cannot see.
Ordinary Beauty
This book came along at the right time for me and I devoured it. This is a perfect night time reference book for when you are too tired to pick up a novel or some non-fiction that requires brain power.
This book has short and sweet nuggets of wisdom and humble everyday joy to take you off into the land of nod and have good dreams. I thoroughly recommend this book. I have never heard of Mary McEvoy before this, but I can tell from reading this that she is an immensely wise, spiritual and kind woman. I highly recommend buying this book either for yourself or as a gift for someone you love.
Make this the first thing you do. Go outside in the morning – rain or shine, wind or cold. Take a few breaths and feel the enormity of the universe. I gently suggest you put out your hands, palms up, and no matter what is happening in your life, even if it seems unbearable, say thank you. It will make sense, I promise you.
Ordinary Beauty: Meaningful Moments in Everyday Life by Mary McEvoy
This morning, a friend and I hung over the half door, watching a mother hen feeding her chickens. The hen bustled around breaking up the bread into crumbs small enough to feed her tiny, hungry offspring. The clucking sound she made was the essential sound of motherhood, the goodness of the universe was in that little shed.
Ordinary Beauty: Meaningful Moments in Everyday Life by Mary McEvoy
If you have bought this book and loved it or you are intending to read it, please let me know your thoughts about it below.
Content Catnip 