First Ramblings

The first two days of class, 1/15 and 1/17, have already started the brain a-whirring. What exactly is an epiphany mean, and why I have I never looked for one before in my years of literature study? Perhaps there were epiphanies, just not only in the grand fashion I've taken to associating with this word.
Further study of the word itself provided an interesting definition. I looked at several sources, including the trusty Oxford, but the one that struck me the most I found on dictionary.com: "a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience."
What I found most intriguing was the use of the words "commonplace" and "homely." Epiphany is not usually associated with such everyday terms as these, and these words have generally negative associations, especially homely. Yet I was happy that something that is potentially life-changing could come from something you'd never expect.
Going from this idea, I'll head back to epiphanies in literature. Looking back, I realize that my epiphanies are associated with the few words of a work that really struck my soul, and I see this in all areas of my life, from the great literature, in words said and sang. A few examples:
"He made the world to be a grassy road
Before her wandering feet." W. B. Yeats
"What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go." Theodore Roethke
"If not us, who? If not now, when?" Martin Luther King Jr. (In honor of his birthday)
"The houses are all gone under the sea.
The dancers are all under the hill." T.S. Eliot
And just for good measure, one from our friends Neutral Milk Hotel: "For now we are young, yet us stay in the sun, and count every beautiful thing we can see."
I find epiphanies in words, and always have, from Dr. Seuss to Harry Potter to Shakespeare and beyond. I am looking forward to expanding my own definition of this word, finding it in beloved works, and discovering more of my own personal epiphanies, both big and small, full of bells and whistles and BAMS! as well as the quiet aha! moments that bring clarity.
Stay tuned!

p.s. Let's say I am waiting for an epiphany (!) of sorts to find a more creative name for this blog!