The World is Too Much With Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. . . .  

                    -William Wordsworth

My beautiful friend, Mamie Webb, who died at the splendid age of 99, gifted me with the love of this poem (I'll give you Mamie soon, in another post-you'll love her!).  Try this trick: Chant Wordsworth's first two lines whenever you enter a mall. His wisdom will help you leave relatively unscathed, and thankfully burdened with no more than what you first intended to buy.  I credit my aversion to shopping to Wordsworth's pen, and my love of nature to Mamie.  Here's the Skinny: This weekend, instead of going to the mall, go for a walk outside.  The mountains, the beach, the park, your garden.  Shhh. Listen. They're calling to your hungry soul. 

Photo: Google Images, Nature