I like this piece. Thanks. When i was about 20, i was travelling in Afghanistan (at a time even before the Russians invaded). An elderly man asked me what i want to do with my life and i said to be a writer. He asked write what? I said i didn't know but was waiting until i had something worth saying - still waiting!
"If you have a gift for putting words together and passing exams, then the kind of education this leads into will tend to train you in being clever. Such cleverness can be a shield behind which to hide. You can get praise for the sophistication and shininess of your shield. It can take years – decades – to learn to trust that you don’t need it, that there is more power to be found in vulnerability. And if you’re lucky, having learned this lesson, you can find ways to put all the stuff you learned through your education into the service of something more worthwhile than cleverness."
I SO love these beautiful, soulful, wise words! They hint at what I'd like to see "education" be about. It's a strong hint, really.
It seems perhaps just a little silly to fully quote them. But, as I said I love them and I intend to share them widely. -- with a proper link to their origin.
Thank you for the gifts. I've requested your book at my public library and submitted a review on the US Amazon page. Hope this helps to spread the word!
Lydia Catterall was such a delightful companion in this dialogue! She's really very beautiful in every way. I'm so glad the request was remade and that she finally accepted. It was my first encounter with her.
*** edit ***
Oh, near the end of that video, Dougald, you talk about the differences between modes and ways of processing the "shit" in certain indigenous cultures as compared with modernity (and "white people") -- which I almost put into scare quotes because there are likely to be more than one "modernity," but that question is a distraction in this context.
I highly recommend listening to this man speak on these topics, as he's provided a huge amount of food for thinking and feeling (etc.) to me on these matters. It's a short video, relatively speaking, and condenses ever so much wisdom! I listen to him here several times a year for years.
His name is Francis Weller. He's one of a handful of genuinely wise people I know of -- of which you are also one.
https://theheronhouse.substack.com/p/palimpsest
I like this piece. Thanks. When i was about 20, i was travelling in Afghanistan (at a time even before the Russians invaded). An elderly man asked me what i want to do with my life and i said to be a writer. He asked write what? I said i didn't know but was waiting until i had something worth saying - still waiting!
"If you have a gift for putting words together and passing exams, then the kind of education this leads into will tend to train you in being clever. Such cleverness can be a shield behind which to hide. You can get praise for the sophistication and shininess of your shield. It can take years – decades – to learn to trust that you don’t need it, that there is more power to be found in vulnerability. And if you’re lucky, having learned this lesson, you can find ways to put all the stuff you learned through your education into the service of something more worthwhile than cleverness."
I SO love these beautiful, soulful, wise words! They hint at what I'd like to see "education" be about. It's a strong hint, really.
It seems perhaps just a little silly to fully quote them. But, as I said I love them and I intend to share them widely. -- with a proper link to their origin.
Here's another place write a review of the book. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66054459-at-work-in-the-ruins
I haven't had a chance to read it yet -- soon! --, so I'll write mine after.
I try and avoid Amazon when I can.
Thank you for the gifts. I've requested your book at my public library and submitted a review on the US Amazon page. Hope this helps to spread the word!
Lydia Catterall was such a delightful companion in this dialogue! She's really very beautiful in every way. I'm so glad the request was remade and that she finally accepted. It was my first encounter with her.
*** edit ***
Oh, near the end of that video, Dougald, you talk about the differences between modes and ways of processing the "shit" in certain indigenous cultures as compared with modernity (and "white people") -- which I almost put into scare quotes because there are likely to be more than one "modernity," but that question is a distraction in this context.
I highly recommend listening to this man speak on these topics, as he's provided a huge amount of food for thinking and feeling (etc.) to me on these matters. It's a short video, relatively speaking, and condenses ever so much wisdom! I listen to him here several times a year for years.
His name is Francis Weller. He's one of a handful of genuinely wise people I know of -- of which you are also one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaI-4c92Mqo