The Squirrel's heart beat

The Squirrel's heart beat
'If we had keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.' George Eliot

I read this quote from George Eliot's Middlemarch today. It's not a book that Kaff or I particularly liked or enjoyed but we're revisiting it this summer and seeing if we weren't a little hasty in our dismissal of it. That, and, once she's read it, Kaff believes she'll have another excuse to watch the adaptation with Rufus Sewell in it. (As if she ever needs a reason to do that.)

Anyway, the quote got me thinking about how good it would be, if you humans did occasionally stay still long enough to hear something as quiet as a squirrel's heart beat. I know we all lead busy, busy lives but really, when was the last time that you stopped and took a little time for yourself and looked at a place or an object or another person or listened to another person or a song or a poem? I mean properly looked or listened. Maybe you should do that this weekend? In amongst all the noise (those dratted vuvuzelas or, if you live near Sid, like I do, that darned woodland imp of a real squirrel, who's been banging on about how the new patio's covered up his nut stash all blooming day!), STOP and look at something or someone, or listen to them, so that you really see or hear them. Don't just glance up and back to whatever you were watching or doing or reading or tweeting (yes, Kaff, I'm talking to you!) Really LOOK and LISTEN. Try it. You might like it and want to do it more often. Just saying.