“Oysters”

From “Oysters,” by Seamus Heaney

“… I ate the day / Deliberately that its tang / Might quicken me all into verb, pure verb.”

***

Deliberation and action.

Deliberation in action.

Themes of poets throughout time, and redolent of the idea of “contemplation in action” ingrained deep within us at Georgetown.

We tend to be more comfortable in one mode versus the other, but life keeps asking us to learn how to do both, and to hold them in tension. Action without deliberation is aimless and frequently destructive. Deliberation that never leads to action is pointless and can be destructive in its way.

So here’s to the tang of the day, and the determination to taste it and be quickened into verb.

And thanks for independent bookstores, the communities that support them, and people who make an event out of visiting them. Deliberating amidst shelves and pages remains the best way to go slow to go fast.