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Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
Beauty does not linger, it only visits. Yet beauty's visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm, it calls us to feel, think, and act beautifully in the world: to create and live a life that awakens the Beautiful.
Beauty is a gentle but urgent call to awaken. Bestselling author John O'Donohue opens our eyes, hearts, and minds to the wonder of our own relationship
...morePaperback, 261 pages
Published
March 1st 2005
by Harper Perennial
(first published 2003)
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If the secret to youth is to fill your mind with beauty, then John O-Donohue’s book The Invisible Embrace-Beauty is mandatory reading for those seeking a long and robust life. His observations about all things beautiful—from the illuminated landscapes of a his homeland, Conamara, Ireland, to the soaring heights that music lifts our souls, to the sending of a loved moving onto their final journey are profound. Dance, sculpture, painting—art in all its’ forms, express the beauty of self-actu...more
Geoffrey Gioja
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone who likes his other work, or who enjoys the work of Davud Whyte.
Shelves:
john-o-donohue
I recently learned that my good friend John O'Donohue had died in his sleep in January 2008 while in Paris. We had not spoken since 2006. The last time we got together was in Galwey, Ireland in the Spring of 2004. I've downloaded every video and audio I could find on the Internet after spending a day in my own private Memorial Observance. What a sweet and yet critical soul! I have three transcripts and recordings of conversations that are each eight to fifteen hours long. While working at a p...more
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This is one of the best books I have ever read, and I have read a lot of books. John O'Donohue has this talent to put the beauty of the world into words. His book is very simple to read, broken into simple sections that can be read daily or all at once. He points out the beauty of the simplest things that most of us don't notice but have always been there. His book will jerk your emotions and show you the world in different light. THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST READ.
A much needed treatise in an age where beauty has been exploited; sexualized, commercialized, and objectified. If you are wishing to reconnect with the sacredness of beauty - your own, others', and that of the world around you - then delve into this sincere attempt to honor that which is a true gift to humanity.
This is a lovely book from an inspiring man and a gifted poet. I loved this book, but it didn't get really good for me until the end. His chapters on beauty and imagination, and beauty and God were fabulous. Someone I know, Tamika Harmon, attended one of his last workshops before he died, and it transformed her. She went home after the workshop and finished an amazing book of poetry. (Her book is titled, Known and Unknown. I reviewed one of her poems on my blog.
Do not let the title fool you. This book has so much more to offer then just the title. It will set you straight on so many topics in our everyday lives. I hope to buy this one for my collection.
All of John O'Donohue's books are good. I particularly enjoyed "Anam Cara".
For more information on John O'Donohue, go to: http://www.johnodonohue.com/
Peace and Blessings...
For more information on John O'Donohue, go to: http://www.johnodonohue.com/
Peace and Blessings...
Mary
added it
This book is a delicious journey. Every paragraph is full of insight and original thinking.
A perfect meditation and appreciation for life tucked into busy days....
Lcord
added it
Still learning-his books are deep, philosphical, and thouhgtful
if you need comfort this one is a grat pick
Meditate on this one.
Wonderful.
writer...
rated it
Recommends it for:
those on faith journeys..
Recommended to writer... by:
jane upchurch
Shelves:
celtic-wisdom
The Celtic Imagination had a profound sense of how a blessing could awaken and evoke the deepest potential of a situation. The Celts understood that all beginning risks the unknown; a blessing was intended to be a shelter of light around the pilgrim and the place. A blessing brightens the road; the heart is no longer completely vulnerable to the dark. The journey can lead anywhere ...* John O'Donohue
O'Donahue was a philosophical theologian and a poet. His series of reflective essays on beauty are in many ways meditative prayers, calling us to open ourselves fully to the beauty that surrounds and fills us.
Like a great book of poetry, I'll be reading and re-reading this for awhile!
"We live between the act of awakening and the act of surrender."
Like a great book of poetry, I'll be reading and re-reading this for awhile!
"We live between the act of awakening and the act of surrender."
John O'Donohue recently passed away and with him we lost a dynamic poet and philosopher. His examination of Beauty in this book is inspirational and moving. One gets a clear picture of how important a role beauty plays, or can play in our lives.
I couldn't finish it - after the first 100 pages where he starts to describe the beautifulness of the colors, i simply couldn't take it anymore, so I let it go.
I liked his in-depth look at beauty and its importance in our lives (especially in our spiritual lives), but the book did tend to ramble at times. Many lovely passages to read, though...
I found this book to be hard to get into but heard the author on two audio interviews and he was incredible. One of the shows he was on was Speaking of Faith.
AHHHHH JOD... where do you get your words? This is a CD that is an absolute pleasure and challenge to my current ways of thinking.
John O'Donohue has a magical way of writing what you never knew you always knew. This book stimulated my mind and stirred my soul.
I need to read this book again immediately. Every sentence is poetically crafted and it's just a beautiful book.
John O'Donoue is an amazing poet whose words awakened something lost deep within my heart.
Great for a long road trip. John O'Donohue truly was a mystic.
This was so timely and life changing.
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John O'Donohue, Ph.D., was born in County Clare in 1956. He spoke Irish as his native language and lived in a remote cottage in the west of Ireland until his untimely death in January 2008. A highly respected poet and philosopher, he lectured throughout Europe and America and wrote a number of popular books, including Anam Cara and To Bless the Space Between Us.
More about John O'Donohue...
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