sei shonagon - Eric Attica

The poet Ross Gay came to BYU this month and read some of his work at the English Reading Series. Ross’s skill with the English language is astounding, but what left the biggest impression was his attitude and character. “If you give yourself the task of noticing what you love,” he said, “your life is gonna be more full of what you love.”

I’ve been reading a book by another expert noticer of things. 清少納言 (Sei Shōnagon) recorded her observations and musings in 枕草子, The Pillow Book, a private journal that was leaked and circulated among her contemporaries. The book is full of anecdotes of court life mixed with all kinds of lists. Her observations are often as relatable as they are humorous. Do you relate to any of these?

Things About Which One Is Liable to Be Negligent: Preparations for something that is still well in the future.
Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster: To pass a place where babies are playing.
Things That Arouse a Fond Memory of the Past: To pass the time, one starts looking through some old papers and comes across the letters of a man one used to love.
Annoying Things: One has sent someone a poem (or a reply to a poem) and, after the messenger has left, thinks of a couple words that ought to be changed.
Things That Give a Pleasant Feeling: To throw equal numbers repeatedly in a game of dice.
Elegant Things: A pretty child eating strawberries.
Embarrassing Things: Parents, convinced that their ugly child is adorable, pet him and repeat the things he has said, imitating their voice.
Hateful Things: A man with whom one is having an affair keeps singing the praises of some woman he used to know… Even more hateful if he is still seeing the woman!