“i stood willingly and gladly in the characters of everything—other people, trees, clouds. and this is what i learned: that the world’s otherness is an antidote to confusion, that standing within this otherness—the beauty and the mystery of the world, out in the fields or deep inside books—can re-dignify the worst-stung heart.”

this wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly great either. there are beautiful descriptions of nature, as well as interesting commentary on several famous poets of oliver’s time such as walt whitman and robert frost. however, eventually it just got kind of boring.