Just a wee word of gratitude... for your wisdom and humility and depth of understanding of where we find ourselves in the space we inhabit today... and the words you use to shape it so clearly. You speak to what I have been sensing for 50 years since I first read Rachel Carson. Your book, which I listened to rather than read, is like a balm for the heart... a speaking of words that connected with my understanding but which I was unable to articulate. Thank you... AND you then went on to meet another of my 'wisdom teachers' - Iain McGilchrist. A group of us have been reflecting on each of the chapters of The Matter with Things over the past year... and it will go on! His YouTube conversations with Alex Gomez fit like a glove alongside your book. It was from listening to your conversation with him that I was introduced to Vanessa and 'Hospicing Modernity' which has become another thread of weaving itself into this web of wisdom towards offering palliative care to Modernity. Ubuntu -- I see you.
Thanks so much for these words, Nancy. It feels like a gift to be able to be part of weaving these threads of connection, part of a wider pattern that none of us get to see the whole of.
Thank you for taking the time to respond... another 'wisdom teacher' of mine is Jan Richardson who is an artist and a poet. In her book 'Circle of Grace' there is this blessing that I read this morning that was so resonant that I wanted to share it: It is called:
I recently purchased the book and I am avidly reading it with curiosity, hope, despair, and determination to do...something!! Also I am delighted you will be connecting with Ian McGilchrist. I am a long time fan, read The Master and his Emmissary, still wonder why it is not more widely read and considered. Thanks for all you do! Laurie
My copy came. I didn’t know what to expect but ended up reading it in two sittings back to back with just a good night’s sleep in between. Thank you. This book is a friend to my soul
"Sometimes, often, I have wondered, who are our Martin Luther King's, our Gandhis, our Muirs and our Henry David Thoreau's.... Who are our heroic, visionary voices of guidance for these strange times? Would we even recognize them if they showed up at our door steps? Would "the media" even mention them? Or would they be marginalized? Ignored?
Dougald Hine is no such hero. He would not like to play such a role. He'd not like to be nominated. He has said to me that he has feet of clay. But now I have an answer, which is no answer, to my inquiry. Nor am I such a hero. Nor is anyone able to stand in such winds -- without one another. But he reminds me. He offers guidance. He reveals a light born of burning, of decay and loss -- and of courage in the face of it all. He's here for those of us who are thoroughly lost. But he's not my hero. He would not like to be my hero. Nor would he wish anyone to be our hero. But watch and listen as he shines on like a crazy diamond!"
"The opening pages of a book are often the last to be written. You have to get to the end in order to recognise where you were starting from."
These words have the resonance and aura of those famous quotes found in books of famous quotes -- e.g., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Or they shimmer like those epigraphs which begin books or book chapters. Perhaps the reason is that this profound truth has layers like an onion, some geological strata, or a palimpsest. The more subtle meanings require methods of detection of what is written a little lower down.
And there is here a practical concern which I'm facing as a beginner in making documentary films. One cannot quite write a documentary film, really. One can only throw oneself into the making of it and learn what they story will be as you go. And yet you must begin by writing the story in outline, then let the story re-shape itself however profoundly or subtly it will. So it is like taking a journey on a train.
Recently stopped working and cannot afford a subscription right now but would love to keep in touch. Looking forward to hearing / seeing you at Dartington. What a joy to have a conversation with Ian McGilchrist. Such an astonishing writer / thinker and more.
There will be no phone signal but there will be wifi. Not sure whether that's welcome news to you but it will be for your readers.
*puts fingers in his ears and pretends he didn't hear that*
Just a wee word of gratitude... for your wisdom and humility and depth of understanding of where we find ourselves in the space we inhabit today... and the words you use to shape it so clearly. You speak to what I have been sensing for 50 years since I first read Rachel Carson. Your book, which I listened to rather than read, is like a balm for the heart... a speaking of words that connected with my understanding but which I was unable to articulate. Thank you... AND you then went on to meet another of my 'wisdom teachers' - Iain McGilchrist. A group of us have been reflecting on each of the chapters of The Matter with Things over the past year... and it will go on! His YouTube conversations with Alex Gomez fit like a glove alongside your book. It was from listening to your conversation with him that I was introduced to Vanessa and 'Hospicing Modernity' which has become another thread of weaving itself into this web of wisdom towards offering palliative care to Modernity. Ubuntu -- I see you.
Thanks so much for these words, Nancy. It feels like a gift to be able to be part of weaving these threads of connection, part of a wider pattern that none of us get to see the whole of.
Thank you for taking the time to respond... another 'wisdom teacher' of mine is Jan Richardson who is an artist and a poet. In her book 'Circle of Grace' there is this blessing that I read this morning that was so resonant that I wanted to share it: It is called:
Blessing When the World Is Ending
Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.
Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.
Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the gun,
the knife,
the fist.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the slammed door,
the shattered hope.
Somewhere
it has ended
with the utter quiet
that follows the news
from the phone,
the television,
the hospital room.
Somewhere
it has ended
with a tenderness
that will break
your heart.
But, listen,
this blessing means
to be anything
but morose.
It has not come
to cause despair.
It is here
simply because
there is nothing
a blessing
is better suited for
than an ending,
nothing that cries out more
for a blessing
than when a world
is falling apart.
This blessing
will not fix you,
will not mend you,
will not give you
false comfort;
it will not talk to you
about one door opening
when another one closes.
It will simply
sit itself beside you
among the shards
and gently turn your face
toward the direction
from which the light
will come,
gathering itself
about you
as the world begins
again.
I recently purchased the book and I am avidly reading it with curiosity, hope, despair, and determination to do...something!! Also I am delighted you will be connecting with Ian McGilchrist. I am a long time fan, read The Master and his Emmissary, still wonder why it is not more widely read and considered. Thanks for all you do! Laurie
Thanks, Laurie! Just reading your message on the sleeper train, rolling up the west coast of Scotland towards Skye... :-)
My copy came. I didn’t know what to expect but ended up reading it in two sittings back to back with just a good night’s sleep in between. Thank you. This book is a friend to my soul
Thank you, Amber, this is heartening to hear!
Posted on Deep Transformation Network today:
"Sometimes, often, I have wondered, who are our Martin Luther King's, our Gandhis, our Muirs and our Henry David Thoreau's.... Who are our heroic, visionary voices of guidance for these strange times? Would we even recognize them if they showed up at our door steps? Would "the media" even mention them? Or would they be marginalized? Ignored?
Dougald Hine is no such hero. He would not like to play such a role. He'd not like to be nominated. He has said to me that he has feet of clay. But now I have an answer, which is no answer, to my inquiry. Nor am I such a hero. Nor is anyone able to stand in such winds -- without one another. But he reminds me. He offers guidance. He reveals a light born of burning, of decay and loss -- and of courage in the face of it all. He's here for those of us who are thoroughly lost. But he's not my hero. He would not like to be my hero. Nor would he wish anyone to be our hero. But watch and listen as he shines on like a crazy diamond!"
Hat tip for the Pink Floyd reference.
"The opening pages of a book are often the last to be written. You have to get to the end in order to recognise where you were starting from."
These words have the resonance and aura of those famous quotes found in books of famous quotes -- e.g., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. Or they shimmer like those epigraphs which begin books or book chapters. Perhaps the reason is that this profound truth has layers like an onion, some geological strata, or a palimpsest. The more subtle meanings require methods of detection of what is written a little lower down.
And there is here a practical concern which I'm facing as a beginner in making documentary films. One cannot quite write a documentary film, really. One can only throw oneself into the making of it and learn what they story will be as you go. And yet you must begin by writing the story in outline, then let the story re-shape itself however profoundly or subtly it will. So it is like taking a journey on a train.
The word aphorism came to mind.
Recently stopped working and cannot afford a subscription right now but would love to keep in touch. Looking forward to hearing / seeing you at Dartington. What a joy to have a conversation with Ian McGilchrist. Such an astonishing writer / thinker and more.
Thanks, Jonathan! I've comped you a subscription, so you'll be getting the paid subscriber posts. See you in Dartington!
Thank you - have a great time in Skye!
Would love to be able to read the tour diary but can't quite afford a paid subscription at the moment ❤️
No problem, I'll comp you a subscription for the next few months.