American author
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3 episodes with Annie Dillard
4 episodes with Annie Dillard
5 episodes with Annie Dillard
2 episodes with Annie Dillard
2 episodes with Annie Dillard
3 episodes with Annie Dillard
2 episodes with Annie Dillard
2 episodes with Annie Dillard
2 episodes with Annie Dillard
Let's get sciency on the KPL Podcast. This week we spoke with author Jack Lohmann about his book White Light: The Elemental Role of Phosphorus in Our Cells, in Our Food, and In Our World. This book takes us into the world of phosphorus mining, the environmental and socio economic impact, and food production.Author ReadsCloud Atlas by David MitchellAnimal's People by Indira SinhaPilgrim of Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Bosquegrafiar sentidos, emociones y folios en blanco. Hacer visibles las bellezas todas. Hacer visible lo invisible, con Alicia Andrés Ramos, Vamos a convertir su milagroso préstamo de los sentidos en un hábito salvador.Nos habita una habitante de al otro lado del espejo que un día lo atravesó buscando los bosques y la letra de los bosques. Se llama Alicia, como no podía ser de otra forma y tiene por costumbre bosquegrafiar sentidos, emociones. De hecho, su principal ocupación es prestar sus sentidos, prestarnos sus personales, particulares y exquisitos sentidos para que experimentemos EL BOSQUE A TRAVÉS… Alicia Andrés Ramos inspira tanto que provoca esta charla, íntima, en conjunción, mágica, nutritiva y emocional, completa con palabras y sentimientos y experiencias casi el total de las dos horas de este bosque. Como beber de las bodegas místicas de San Juan de la Cruz, de los bosques canópeos de Francis Hallé, de las vidas minuciosas de Mary Oliver, como renovarse en los baños de bosque que ella misma crea y recrea para selectos grupos de ávidos consumidores de naturalezas boscosas y literaturas arbóreas. Ella lo llama Bosquegrafías. Y su novela se titula “Hilaturas” y es activista cultural. Contamos con los textos escogidos por Alicia de maestras y maestros de la literatura emboscada: Mary Oliver, Annie Dillard, Ana María Matute, Henry David Thoreau, Elena Medel. También de su propia selección musical, con El Naán, Birds on a wire, Lisa Hannigan, Silvia Pérez Cruz, Alondra Bentley y Rodrigo Cuevas. Además, contamos con un nuevo Cuaderno de Nidos de Raúl Alcanduerca. E incluimos algunos extractos sobre cambio climático de la Encíclica Laudato Sí, de Francisco. En El Club de la Hojarasca: María Taosa, Charlie Faber, José Manuel Sebastián e Isabel Ruíz Lara.HT: #BosquegrafiasRadio3Escuchar audio
Feel like you have too much to do and not enough time to do it all? That feeling is sometimes called "time poverty." We'll talk more about that and how our perception of time is often distorted by chronic stress. We'll even dig into that buzzy-term "adrenal fatigue" and the importance of finding the sweet spot of stress and busyness. Most of all, we'll cover some practical tips for shifting from autopilot to mindful awareness, helping you to step out of busyness while also identifying what truly feels like time well spent. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! Sources and Notes: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Annie Dillard's website. Jonathan Gershuny: "Work not leisure, is now the signifier of dominant social status." Closing poem excerpt: Max Ehrmann, "Desiderata" Full transcript here. Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
Kevin Kelly has spent more time thinking about the future than almost anyone else.From VR in the 1980s to the blockchain in the 2000s—and now generative AI—Kevin has spent a lifetime journeying to the frontiers of technology, only to return with rich stories about what's next.Today, as Wired's senior maverick, his project for 2025 is to outline what the next century looks like in a world shaped by new technologies like AI and genetic engineering. He's a personal hero of mine—not to mention a fellow Annie Dillard fan—and it was a privilege to have him on the show. We get into:How you can predict the future. According to Kevin, the draw of new frontiers—from the first edition of Burning Man and remote corners of Asia, to the early days of the internet and AI—isn't staying at the edge forever; it's returning with a story to tell.Why history is so important to help you understand the future To stay grounded while exploring what's new, Kevin balances the thrill of the future with the wisdom of the past. He pairs AI research with reading about history, and playing with an AI tool by retreating to his workshop to make something with his hands.From 1,000 true fans to an audience of one. Rather than creating for an audience, Kevin has been using LLMs to explore his own imagination. After realizing that da Vinci, Martin Luther, and Columbus were alive at the same time, he asked ChatGPT to imagine them snowed in at a hotel together, and the prompt spiraled into an epic saga, co-written with AI. But he has no plans to publish it because the joy was in creating something just for himself.What the history of electricity can teach us about AI. Kevin draws a parallel between AI and the early days of electricity. We could produce electric sparks long before we understood the forces that created them, and now we're building intelligent machines without really understanding what intelligence is.Why Kevin sees intelligence as a mosaic—not a monolith. Kevin believes intelligence isn't a single force, but a compound of many cognitive elements. He draws from Marvin Minsky's “society of mind”—the theory that the mind is made up of smaller agents working together—and sees echoes of this in the Mixture of Experts architecture used in some models today.Your competitive advantage is being yourself. Don't aim to be the best—aim to be the only. Kevin realized the stories no one else at Wired wanted to write were often the ones he was suited for, and trusting that instinct led to some of his best work.This is a must-watch for anyone who wants to make sense of AI through the lens of history, learn how to spot the future before it arrives, or grew up reading Wired.If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! To hear more from Dan:Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper SponsorsVanta: Get $1,000 off of Vanta at https://www.vanta.com/every and automate up to 90% of the work for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more.Attio: Go to https://www.attio.com/every and get 15% off your first year on your AI-powered CRM.Timestamps:Introduction: 00:00:50Why Kevin and I love Annie Dillard: 00:01:10Learn how to predict the future like Kevin: 00:12:50What the history of electricity can teach us about AI: 00:16:08How Kevin thinks about the nature of intelligence: 00:20:11Kevin's advice on discovering your competitive advantage: 00:27:21The story of how Kevin assembled a bench of star writers for Wired: 00:31:07How Kevin used ChatGPT to co-create a book: 00:36:17Using AI as a mirror for your mind: 00:40:45What Kevin learned from betting on VR in the 1980s: 00:45:16Links to resources mentioned:Kevin Kelly: @kevin2kellyKelly's books: https://kk.org/books Annie Dillard books that Kelly and Dan discuss: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Teaching a Stone to Talk, Holy the Firm, The Writing LifeDillard's account of the total eclipse: "Total Eclipse"
Our website - www.perksofbeingabooklover.com. Instagram - @perksofbeingabookloverpod Facebook - Perks of Being a Book Lover. To send us a message go to our website and click the Contact button. You can find Ben Shattuck at his website https://www.benshattuck.com/ or on IG @Benshattuck_ This week we chat with Ben Shattuck, author of Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau published by Tin House Books in 2022. Amy knew this book would appeal to Carrie because she is nothing if not a literary weirdo, and she has been since high school when she quoted from Thoreau in her senior yearbook. Despite her hopes that Ben would, like her, have a high school infatuation with Thoreau, he explains that his interest began much later. Even if you don't know anything about Thoreau, if you're a walker or a hiker, you have experienced the unique meditative impact of this activity and can appreciate Ben's insights on it. Ben also has a book of fiction out titled The History of Sound that is a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner prize so we are just really thrilled to have him with us today. And this week, for our recommendations section, we didn't just pick a random topic like asparagus or comas to share books about—we actually continue with the theme of walking. We each share at least 3 books that feature walking, hiking, or being in nature in some meditative way. We have literary fiction, memoirs, essays, and even a romance. Books mentioned-- 1- Six Walks: In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau by Ben Shattuck 2- The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck 3- Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World by Christian Cooper 4- A Paris Year: My Day to Day Adventures in the Most Romantic City in the World by Janice Macleod 5- Dear Paris by Janice Macleod 6- The French Ingredient: A Memoir by Jane Bertch (La Cuisine French Cooking School) 7- Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard 8- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard 9- The Journals of Henry David Thoreau by Henry David Thoreau 10 - Matrix by Lauren Groff 11- Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks 12- Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt 13- Dancing Woman by Elaine Neil Orr 14- A 5 Star Read Recommended by Fellow Book Lover Simone Praylow @fullof_lit - Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea 15- Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea 16- Don't Believe It by Charlie Donlea 17- In My Boots: A Memoir of 5 Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail by Amanda K. Jaros 18- Going to Maine: All the Ways to Fall on the Appalachian Trail by Sally Chaffin Brooks 19- The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky's Red River Gorge by Wendell Berry 20- Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women by Annabelle Abbs 21- Ulysses by James Joyce 22- The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher 23- The Guide to James Joyce's Ulysses by Patrick Hastings 24- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce 25- You Are Here by David Nichols Media mentioned-- The Residence (Netflix, 2024)
"What if the simple act of reading a physical book has become a form of cultural resistance? Taylor and Morgan ponder this question while diving into their current obsessions with beef tallow cooking, homemade marshmallows, and thought-provoking literature.The conversation begins with a lighthearted examination of "virtue signaling" in modern homestead culture. Is sharing your reading list or posting about cooking with tallow simply a way to showcase your virtues? Taylor and Morgan acknowledge the grain of truth here while celebrating the genuine joy of discovering and sharing meaningful books, recipes, and ideas with others who appreciate them.Food takes center stage as the couple describes their journey away from vegetable oils toward traditional cooking fats like beef tallow. Their description of making homemade french fries as "a labor of love" captures the special moments created when family gathers around the kitchen, snagging hot fries straight from the skillet. Morgan's triumph with perfecting homemade marshmallows after multiple attempts demonstrates the satisfaction of culinary persistence, while her candid confession about being stuck in a dinner rut will resonate with anyone who's ever stared blankly into a well-stocked refrigerator.Literary discussions reveal both hosts' evolving relationship with reading. Taylor shares his appreciation for Substack's thoughtful, long-form content without the distraction of advertisements, while Morgan enthusiastically describes her latest book haul including works by Julia Cameron and Annie Dillard. Perhaps most refreshing is their mutual liberation from feeling obligated to finish every book they start – a freedom that has expanded their literary horizons and reading enjoyment.This delightful glimpse into Taylor and Morgan's everyday pleasures reminds us that a meaningful life often emerges from these small indulgences and thoughtful explorations rather than grand gestures or achievements. Whether you're curious about beef tallow cooking, looking for your next great read, or simply enjoy authentic conversation, this episode offers a warm invitation to appreciate life's common treasures."Thanks Jenkins!Let us know what you think! Reach out to us at Morgan@ACommonLife.coCommunity Newsletter - The CommonDM us on the Socials or email us at Taylor@acommonlife.coMusic on the podcast was composed by Kevin Dailey. The artist is Garden Friend. The track is the instrumental version of “On a Cloud”
This is a special bonus episode featuring some thoughts on The Writing Life by Annie Dillard. If you'd like to dig a little deeper you can read more here: https://troycartwright.substack.com/p/finding-a-honey-tree.New Episodes every Tuesday.Find the host Troy Cartwright on Twitter, Instagram. Social Channels for Ten Year Town:YoutubeFacebookInstagramTwitterTikTokThis podcast was produced by Ben VanMaarth. Intro and Outro music for this episode was composed by Troy Cartwright, Monty Criswell, and Derek George. It is called "Same" and you can listen to it in it's entirety here. Additional music for this episode was composed by Thomas Ventura. Artwork design by Brad Vetter. Creative Direction by Mary Lucille Noah.
In the first episode of our weekly Lenten series, we invite you to take a moment to slow down, quiet your heart, and hear what God may be saying to you. Throughout the season of Lent, we'll be releasing weekly episodes focused on themes of reflection, prayer, and contemplation.On March 19, 2021 we were delighted to host Christian author, leader, and teacher, Ruth Haley Barton. Barton is founding President/CEO of the Transforming Center, a ministry dedicated to strengthening the souls of Christian leaders and the congregations and organizations they serve. Ruth is the author of numerous books and resources on the spiritual life, including Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership and Sacred Rhythms. She reflects regularly on spirituality and leadership in her blog, Beyond Words, and on her podcast Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership.We hope you enjoy this conversation around her book, Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence. Our attention, Barton believes, has become a commodity that we must protect if we are to avoid being swept away by our distracted age. She invites listeners to engage in these ancient biblical practices to find the rest for our souls that Jesus promises. In this Lenten season, we hope this will inspire you to pursue God's transforming presence in new ways and contemplatively sit in solitude and silence with the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Learn more about Ruth Haley Barton. Watch the full Online Conversation and read the transcript from March 19, 2021. Related reading:A Shocking Lack of Solitude, Cherie Harder Authors and books mentioned in the conversation:Blaise PascalJohn MiltonC.S. LewisRichard RohrDallas WillardHenry NouwenShop Class as Soulcraft, by Matthew B. CrawfordRabbi Abraham Joshua HeschelJulian of NorwichInvitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence, by Ruth Haley Barton Related Trinity Forum Readings:Confessions | A Trinity Forum Reading by St. Augustine, introduced by James K.A. Smith.Pilgrim at Tinker Creek | A Trinity Forum Reading by Annie Dillard, introduced by Tish Harrison Warren.Devotions | A Trinity Forum Reading by John Donne, introduced and paraphrased by Philip Yancey.The Long Loneliness | A Trinity Forum Reading by Dorothy Day, introduced by Anne and David Brooks.Wrestling with God | A Trinity Forum Reading by Simone Weil, introduced by Alonzo McDonald.The Pilgrim's Progress | A Trinity Forum Reading by John Bunyan, introduced by Alonzo McDonald.
This week, we're reaching way back into our archive to feature a talk from Pulitzer Prize winning writer Annie Dillard's special event in 1989.
Chapter 1 What's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" is a non-fiction narrative by Annie Dillard, published in 1974. It is a contemplative exploration of nature, spirituality, and existence as Dillard reflects on her experiences while living in a secluded area of Virginia near Tinker Creek. The book blends lyrical prose with philosophical musings, examining the beauty and brutality of the natural world.Dillard observes the intricacies of nature, from the life cycles of various animals to the phenomena of light and water. She grapples with the paradoxes of life, such as the coexistence of beauty and suffering. Throughout her journey, Dillard delves into themes of perception, consciousness, and the divine, inviting readers to contemplate their relationship with the world around them. Richly detailed, the work is both a love letter to the natural landscape and a profound meditation on broader existential questions, encouraging an appreciation for the mysteries and complexities of life. Dillard's keen observations and poetic style illuminate the interconnectedness of all living things.Chapter 2 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Summary"Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard is a contemplative narrative that explores the author's observations and reflections on nature, life, and spirituality. Published in 1974, the book is a series of interconnected essays that chronicle Dillard's experiences as she spends a year in the Tinker Creek area of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.The work is structured around the seasons and is steeped in vivid, poetic descriptions of the natural world. Dillard immerses herself in the landscape, writing about the intricate details of wildlife, plants, and the cycles of life and death she witnesses. She observes everything from the behavior of insects to the grandeur of the mountains, drawing profound insights from these observations.Throughout the book, Dillard grapples with existential questions, reflecting on themes such as the beauty and brutality of nature, the concept of God's presence in the world, and the search for meaning and truth. She often contrasts the serene beauty of nature with its inherent violence, illustrating the duality of existence.Dillard's writing is deeply philosophical, inviting readers to appreciate the small, unnoticed aspects of life. Ultimately, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" serves as a meditation on the interconnectedness of all living things and a reminder of the beauty that can be found in the ordinary. Dillard encourages a mindfulness of the world around us, prompting readers to consider their own relationship with nature.Chapter 3 Pilgrim at Tinker Creek AuthorAnnie Dillard is an acclaimed American author, best known for her literary nonfiction that intertwines nature, philosophy, and spirituality. Her most famous work, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," was published in 1974 and won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1975. Key Details about Annie Dillard:Birth Date: April 30, 1945Education: Dillard graduated from Hollins College in Virginia, where she received her Bachelor of Arts in English.Writing Style: Her writing is characterized by deep observations of nature and existence, often exploring themes of awareness and the intricacies of life. Other Notable Works:In addition to "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," Dillard has written several other influential works:"Holy the Firm" (1977) A meditation on suffering and spiritual quest, set against the Pacific Northwest."Teaching a Stone to Talk" (1982) A collection of essays that reflect on her relationship with the natural world."The Writing Life" (1989) An introspective look into the processes and challenges of being a writer."For the Time Being" (1999) An exploration of time, existence, and the biblical...
Mysticism is a modern word, as Simon Critchley discusses in his tremendous new book, On Mysticism. And its novelty is not a happy intervention in the history of mystics and their significance, Fundamental aspects of the insights pursued by figures such as Mother Julian and Meister Eckhart are obscured by the focus on peak or exceptional experiences. Our discussion seeks to gain a sense of recovery.We dwell on Mother Julian, in particular, and her idea about sin and suffering, weal and woe, and what she really meant by all shall be well.We think about the role of surrender in psychotherapy, writing and music, and the role of what Simone Weil called “decreation”.We ask about how philosophy might move on from “bloodless critique” to “watering flowers”.I think On Mysticism is a great book. It manifests the attention that it advocates and the revelations that come with active waiting.For more on Simon's book see - https://profilebooks.com/work/on-mysticism/For more on my forthcoming book on William Blake see - https://www.markvernon.com/books/awake-william-blake-and-the-power-of-the-imagination 0:00 What is mysticism, what is it not?12:02 The role of experience in mysticism23:49 Mother Julian on hazelnuts35:57 Mysticism and psychotherapy41:09 Mother Julian's truly radical theology45:58 Universalism and the mystical way57:40 Selfhood and surrender01:12:57 Socrates the mystic and modern philosophy
“What are you going through?” This was one of the central animating questions in Simone Weil's thought that pushed her beyond philosophy into action. Weil believed that genuinely asking this question of the other, particularly the afflicted other, then truly listening and prayerfully attending, would move us toward an enactment of justice and love.Simone Weil believed that any suffering that can be ameliorated, should be.In this episode, Part 2 of our short series on How to Read Simone Weil, Cynthia Wallace (Associate Professor of English at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan), and author of The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of Religion and Evan Rosa discuss the risky self-giving way of Simone Weil; her incredible literary influence, particularly on late 20th century feminist writers; the possibility of redemptive suffering; the morally complicated territory of self-sacrificial care and the way that has traditionally fallen to women and minorities; what it means to make room and practicing hospitality for the afflicted other; hunger; the beauty of vulnerability; and that grounding question for Simone Weil political ethics, “What are you going through?”We're in our second episode of a short series exploring How to Read Simone Weil. She's the author of Gravity and Grace, The Need for Roots, and Waiting for God—among many other essays, letters, and notes—and a deep and lasting influence that continues today.In this series, we're exploring Simone Weil the Mystic, Simone Weil the Activist, Simone Weil the Existentialist. And what we'll see is that so much of her spiritual, political, and philosophical life, are deeply unified in her way of being and living and dying.And on that note, before we go any further, I need to issue a correction from our previous episode in which I erroneously stated that Weil died in France. And I want to thank subscriber and listener Michael for writing and correcting me.Actually she died in England in 1943, having ambivalently fled France in 1942 when it was already under Nazi occupation—first to New York, then to London to work with the Free French movement and be closer to her home.And as I went back to fix my research, I began to realize just how important her place of death was. She died in a nursing home outside London. In Kent, Ashford to be precise. She had become very sick, and in August 1943 was moved to the Grosvenor Sanitorium.The manner and location of her death matter because it's arguable that her death by heart failure was not a self-starving suicide (as the coroner reported), but rather, her inability to eat was a complication rising from tuberculosis, combined with her practice of eating no more than the meager rations her fellow Frenchmen lived on under Nazi occupation.Her biographer Richard Rees wrote: "As for her death, whatever explanation one may give of it will amount in the end to saying that she died of love.In going back over the details of her death, I found a 1977 New York Times article by Elizabeth Hardwick, and I'll quote at length, as it offers a very fitting entry into this week's episode on her life of action, solidarity, and identification with and attention to the affliction of others.“Simone Weil, one of the most brilliant, and original minds of 20th century France, died at the age of 34 in a nursing home near London. The coroner issued a verdict of suicide, due to voluntary starvation—an action undertaken at least in part out of wish not to eat more than the rations given her compatriots in France under the German occupation. The year of her death was 1943.“The willed deprivation of her last period was not new; indeed refusal seems to have been a part of her character since infancy. What sets her apart from our current ascetics with their practice of transcendental meditation, diet, vegetarianism, ashram simplicities, yoga is that with them the deprivations and rigors‐are undergone for the pay‐off—for tranquility, for thinness, for the hope of a long life—or frequently, it seems, to fill the hole of emptiness so painful to the narcissist. With Simone Well it was entirely the opposite.“It was her wish, or her need, to undergo misery, affliction and deprivation because such had been the lot of mankind throughout history. Her wish was not to feel better, but to honor the sufferings of the lowest. Thus around 1935, when she was 25 years old, this woman of transcendent intellectual gifts and the widest learning, already very frail and suffering from severe headaches, was determined to undertake a year of work in a factory. The factories, the assembly lines, were then the modem equivalent of “slavery,” and she survived in her own words as “forever a slave.” What she went through at the factory “marked me in so lasting a manner that still today when any human being, whoever he may be and in whatever circumstances, speaks to me without brutality, I cannot help having the impression teat there must be a mistake....”[Her contemporary] “Simone de Beauvoir tells of meeting her when they were preparing for examinations to enter a prestigious private school. ‘She intrigued me because of her great reputation for intelligence and her bizarre outfits. ... A great famine had broken out in China, and I was told that when she heard the news she had wept. . . . I envied her for having a heart that could beat round the world.'“In London her health vanished, even though the great amount of writing she did right up to the time she went to the hospital must have come from those energies of the dying we do not understand—the energies of certain chosen dying ones, that is. Her behavior in the hospital, her refusal and by now her Inability to eat, vexed and bewildered the staff. Her sense of personal accountability to the world's suffering had reached farther than sense could follow.”Last week, we heard from Eric Springsted, one of the co-founders of the American Weil Society and author of Simone Weil for the Twenty-First Century.Next week, we'll explore Simone Weil the Existentialist—with philosopher Deborah Casewell, author of Monotheism & Existentialism and Co-Director of the Simone Weil Research Network in the UK.But this week we're looking at Simone Weil the Activist—her perspectives on redemptive suffering, her longing for justice, and her lasting influence on feminist writers. With me is Cynthia Wallace, associate professor of English at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan, and author of The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of Religion.This is unique because it's learning how to read Simone Weil from some of her closest readers and those she influenced, including poets and writers such as Adrienne Rich, Denise Levertov, and Annie Dillard.About Cynthia WallaceCynthia Wallace is Associate Professor of English at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan, and author of The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of Religion, as well as **Of Women Borne: A Literary Ethics of Suffering.About Simone WeilSimone Weil (1909–1943) was a French philosopher, mystic, and political activist. She's the author of Gravity and Grace, The Need for Roots, and Waiting for God—among many other essays, letters, and notes.Show NotesCynthia Wallace (Associate Professor of English at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan), and author of The Literary Afterlives of Simone Weil: Feminism, Justice, and the Challenge of ReligionElizabeth Hardwick, “A woman of transcendent intellect who assumed the sufferings of humanity” (New York Times, Jan 23, 1977)Of Women Borne: A Literary Ethics of SufferingThe hard work of productive tensionSimone Weil on homework: “Reflections on the Right Use of School Studies with a View to the Love of God”Open, patient, receptive waiting in school studies — same skill as prayer“What are you going through?” Then you listen.Union organizerWaiting for God and Gravity & GraceVulnerability and tendernessJustice and Feminism, and “making room for the other”Denise Levertov's ”Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus”“Levertov wrote herself into Catholic conversion”“after pages and pages of struggle, she finally says: “So be it. Come rag of pungent quiverings, dim star, let's try if something human still can shield you, spark of remote light.”“And so she argues that God isn't particularly active in the world that we have, except for when we open ourselves to these chances of divine encounter.”“ Her imagination of God is different from how I think a lot of contemporary Western people think about an all powerful, all knowing God. Vae thinks about God as having done exactly what she's asking us to do, which is to make room for the other to exist in a way that requires us to give up power.”Exploiting self-emptying, particularly of women“Exposing the degree to which women have been disproportionately expected to sacrifice themselves.”Disproportionate self-sacrifice of women and in particular women of colorAdrienne Rich, Of Woman Borne: ethics that care for the otherThe distinction between suffering and afflictionAdrienne Rich's poem, “Hunger”Embodiment“ You have to follow both sides to the kind of limit of their capacity for thought, and then see what you find in that untidy both-and-ness.”Annie Dillard's expansive attentivenessPilgrim at Tinker Creek and attending to the world: “ to bear witness to the world in a way that tells the truth about what is brutal in the world, while also telling the truth about what is glorious in the world.”“She's suspicious of our imaginations because she doesn't want us to distract ourselves from contemplating the void.”Dillard, For the Time Being (1999) on natural evil and injusticeGoing from attention to creation“Reading writers writing about writing”Joan Didion: “I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means, what I want and what I fear.”Writing as both creation and discoveryFriendship and “ we let the other person be who they are instead of trying to make them who we want them to be.”The joy of creativity—pleasure and desire“ Simone Weil argues that suffering that can be ameliorated should be.”“ What is possible through shared practices of attention?”The beauty of vulnerability and the blossoms of fruit trees“What it takes for us to be fed”Need for ourselves, each other, and the divineProduction NotesThis podcast featured Cynthia WallaceEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Emily Brookfield, Liz Vukovic, and Kacie BarrettA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give
A PRIMATE'S MEMOIR (Love, Death and Baboons) by Robert Sapolsky, chosen by Professor Ben Garrod SOLDIER SAILOR by Claire Kilroy, chosen by Harriett Gilbert THE ABUNDANCE by Annie Dillard, chosen by Lucy JonesEvolutionary biologist Ben Garrod (Professor at the University of East Anglia) chooses a book which he's read and gifted countless times, a book which inspired him to go out in the field and study chimpanzees himself: A Primate's Memoir by Robert Sapolsky. Robert is one of the leading primatologists and scientists today and this is his gripping, at times heartbreaking account of leaving the United States age twenty-one to study wild baboons in the Kenyan savannah.Lucy Jones (author of Matrescence and Losing Eden) picks an author she has consistently loved for her child-like gift of wonder and close, detailed attention to the natural world. Lucy brings Annie Dillard's collection of essays, The Abundance, for the others to read.And Harriett Gilbert recommends a fictional tale of early motherhood. A vivid, immersive monologue of a woman on the brink that keeps readers on the edge of their seats to the very end.
#pennsylvania #pittsburgh #1950sThis will be the livestream on this wonderful book by Annie Dillard that was originally scheduled on September 27 but postponed due to the storm. On this book lunch we take the deepest dive into Annie Dillard's 1980s masterpiece "An American Childhood". More on this livestream event, here: I chose Annie Dillard's book for two rather different reasons. One, admittedly more conventional, reason is that it is one of the great works of prose in the contemporary English language in what we used to consider a "canonical" sense. Dillard was already by this book's release in the 1980s a Pulitzer Prize winner for Pilgrim At Tinker Creek. The second reason is that during an episode of Hannah Arendt's Life Of The Mind I was cherishing Arendt's prickly and uncompromising tone and spontaneously thought of the name of Dillard as a writer whose tone I felt was different from Arendt in some important respects. Like Arendt though, Dillard is still an unusually independent minded thinker, resisting any and all ordinary categories of political, religious or philosophic affiliation while remaining steadfast in her unique spiritual convictions and practices. If there is an author to whom she is closest it is perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson, both in the complexity and abstraction of her ideas coupled with an accessibility and relatability to a general audience. Her book is a memoir of growing up in 1950s Pennsylvania in a wealthy family - one that also happened to cherish intellectual knowledge and culture most highly. (The latter also an Arendt connection). In Dillard's words herself, it is a memoir of her "waking up to life" in the widest sense. It is also one of the most passionate accounts of bibliophililia I have ever read. it is a definitive book about books and among the thousand books I have read I know of no book with more love for the book itself within its pages. And it is this last instance that "An American Childhood" is an ideal for a book lunch. #pennsylvania #pittsburgh #1950s #1940s #1980s #spirituality #christianity #judaism #Islam #Buddhism #books #bibliophile #library #bookstore #family #pulitzerprize #leonuris #annefrank #diaryofannefrank #memoir #autobiography #creativenonfiction #poetry #feminism #nature #wilderness #city #urban #ecology #environmentalism #episcopalianism #catholicism #marktwain #comedy #humor #joke #radio #television #carnegiemellon #winter #summer #storytelling #adolescence #criticalthinking #presbyterian #andrewcarnegie #steel #railroad #spiritualism #american #unitedstates #germany #scotland #ireland #louispasteur #science #biology #virology #medicine #childhood #georgestevens #giant #jamesdean #rockhudson #elizabethtaylor #hollywood #geology #industrialrevolution #pittsburghsymphony #philadelphiaorchestra #thecainemutiny #johnhersey #hiroshima #worldwar2 #holocaust #suburbia #socialsim #baseball #softball #sports #bridgeovertheriverkwai DISCLAIMER: Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mitch-hampton/support
Has modern humanity lost its connection to the world outside our heads? And can our experience of art and poetry help train us for a more elevated resonance with the cosmos?In today's episode, theologian Miroslav Volf interviews philosopher Charles Taylor about his latest book, Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment. In it he turns to poetry to help articulate the human experience of the cosmos we're a part of.Together they discuss the modern Enlightenment view of our relation to the world and its shortcomings; modern disenchantment and the prospects of reenchantment through art and poetry; Annie Dillard and the readiness to experience the world and what it's always offering; how to hold the horrors of natural life with the transcendent joys; Charles recites some of William Wordsworth's “Tintern Abbey” and Gerard Manley Hopkins's “The Windhover”; how to become fully arrested by beauty; and the value we find in human experience of the world.Production NotesThis podcast featured Charles Taylor and Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Emily Brookfield, Alexa Rollow, Kacie Barrett, and Zoë HalabanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give
Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with writer and scholar Simon Critchley about his new book, Mysticism. Defining mysticism not as a religion but as a “tendency, a distillation of existing devotional practice,” the book begins by considering some of the great mystics of the Christian tradition. These include Critchley's favorite mystic, Julian of Norwich, known as the first woman to ever write a book in English, Margery Kempe, Christina the Astonishing, and Meister Echkhart, a German theologian who influenced philosophers like Hegel and Heidegger and was tried as a heretic shortly after his death by Pope John in 1329. But more than a history or survey of mysticism, Critchley's book is invested in isolating the loss of self and experience of ecstasy its practitioners describe, and looking for resonance within contemporary culture. He examines the work of writers such as Anne Carson and Annie Dillard, and the musician Nick Cave, suggesting that mysticism lives on as a secular aesthetic experience in the “world of enchantment opened in art, poetry and—especially—music.” Also, Deborah Levy, the author of The Position of Spoons: And Other Intimacies, returns to recommend two books scheduled to be published next year, On Breathing: Care in a Time of Carastrophe by Jamieson Webster, and Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs.
Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher speak with writer and scholar Simon Critchley about his new book, Mysticism. Defining mysticism not as a religion but as a “tendency, a distillation of existing devotional practice,” the book begins by considering some of the great mystics of the Christian tradition. These include Critchley's favorite mystic, Julian of Norwich, known as the first woman to ever write a book in English, Margery Kempe, Christina the Astonishing, and Meister Echkhart, a German theologian who influenced philosophers like Hegel and Heidegger and was tried as a heretic shortly after his death by Pope John in 1329. But more than a history or survey of mysticism, Critchley's book is invested in isolating the loss of self and experience of ecstasy its practitioners describe, and looking for resonance within contemporary culture. He examines the work of writers such as Anne Carson and Annie Dillard, and the musician Nick Cave, suggesting that mysticism lives on as a secular aesthetic experience in the “world of enchantment opened in art, poetry and—especially—music.” Also, Deborah Levy, the author of The Position of Spoons: And Other Intimacies, returns to recommend two books scheduled to be published next year, On Breathing: Care in a Time of Carastrophe by Jamieson Webster, and Baldwin: A Love Story by Nicholas Boggs.
Sermons from First Parish Unitarian Universalist of Arlington Massachusetts
Worship service given August 18, 2024 Prayer by Jitendra Singh, Worship Leader https://firstparish.info/ First Parish A liberal religious community, welcoming to all First gathered 1739 I hope to talk about respecting the world around us, people but also other sentient beings, even trees and rocks. Annie Dillard speaks of “teaching a stone to talk.” The Tao Te Ching speaks of “being like water,” to assimilate rather than rise above. Buber speaks of communicating deeply with others' whole self. Does any of this make sense? Yes, if we embrace the contradictions in life! During the summer our worship is led each week by a member of our congregation. Jitendra has been a member of First Parish Arlington for 7 years and a Unitarian Universalist for over 40. Jitendra was born in India into a Sikh/Hindu family and now identifies mostly as Taoist/Buddhist. He and his wife live in Arlington. He teaches Computer Science at Tufts. He enjoys deep conversations, long walks and cooking & sharing meals with friends. Every few years, he enjoys doing deep research on a topic of interest and translating it into a summer service. Offering and Giving First The Giving First program donates 50% of the non-pledge offering each month to a charitable organization that we feel is consistent with Unitarian Universalist principles. The program began in November 2009, and First Parish has donated over $200,000 to more than 70 organizations. For June, July and August 2024, the Giving First recipients are the ArCs Cluster, a local refugee support group, and the Immigrant Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization in Malden, MA. The remaining half of your offering supports the life and work of this Parish. To donate using your smartphone, you may text “fpuu offering” to 73256. Then follow the directions in the texts you receive.
This episode will conclude our series on Hannah Arendt's last book. Unlike Hannah Arendt, who passed before she could finish her book, we will conclude the series on Life Of The Mind. Look for some archival footage and other surprises in the episode. While I am sad to see this series go, I am anticipating a good, deep dive when we enter the world of Annie Dillard's An American Childhood in September. We look forward to seeing you all in the chat and have some surprises to share! DISCLAIMER: Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. More on this special, multi part series, here: Book Lunch: Series: Hannah Arendt's “The Life Of The Mind” Hannah Arendt's The Life Of The Mind is the last published work from Arendt. It is unfinished as it was to be in three volumes titled according to what were for her the three parts of all human mental activity: Thinking, Willing and Judging. We only have Thinking and Willing, finally published in 1977. Mary McCarthy, one of Arendt's closest friends (and author of the famous The Group) was the editor of this unfinished masterpiece. Accordingly, I will not only discuss Arendt'a text but the work of McCarthy as well, the meaning and significance of their friendship. (I might even discuss Nora Ephron and read from McCarthy's fiction. We shall see) I will have some help from a discussion of Margarethe von Trotta's biopic Hannah Arendt, (starring Barbara Sukowa and Janet McTeer) including judicious clips throughout the series. (One of the precious few excellent biopics in a by now overcrowded genre) This will be a series with many episodes; I will try my best to grapple with the complexity of Arendt's text and include, where appropriate. other work by her and others. Although I have been reading and studying Hannah Arendt for close to forty years, as I have changed over the decades in both my political and other views, so has my relationship with her as an author. Throughout all of this my estimation of her has never been without a great deal of love. The method I will use will be a variation of the "close reading" one in which I was trained and I have actually used to discuss practically everything I have covered on this podcast. Joan Didion was trained in this same method and she claimed it made her both a better writer as well as politically savvy even though it is primarily an aesthetic method. My interest in this series will be less in trying to evaluate Arendt in terms of whether she is ultimately "correct" or not but in terms of what it means for her to have written and thought in the way that she did. As will hopefully be clear, I see The Life Of The Mind an aesthetic work of imaginative prose that happens to be non-fiction, with the language and terminology of philosophical and theological traditions. #hannaharendtcenter #bardcollege #germany #shoah #holocaust #democracy #totalitarianism #ww2 #nyc #judaism #plato #philosophy #kant #christianity #psychology #newschool #columbia #augustine #socrates #plato #fascism #communism #marxism #politics #rogerberkowitz #samantharosehill #marymccarthy #edmundwilson #brooksbrothers #sidneylumet #1930s #1940s #1950s #1960s #1970s #candicebergen #thegroup #lillianhellman #dickcavett #noraephron #janetmcteer #barbarasukowa #hansmorgenthau #newyorker #newyorktimes #margarethevontrotta #newgermancinema --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mitch-hampton/support
Jen Hadfield (winner of a 2024 Windham Campbell Prize for Poetry) joins Michael Kelleher to wade through Annie Dillard's dense yet rewarding classic, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. They discuss difficult reading experiences, poetic attempts to unlock the ineffable and immense, the book's intense relationship to the natural world and how that has impacted Hadfield's own work, and more. Reading list: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard • Walden by Henry David Thoreau • Storm Pegs by Jen Hadfield • "An Transparent Eyeball" by Ralph Waldo Emerson For a full episode transcript, click here. Jen Hadfield is a poet, bookmaker, and visual artist. She is the author of four poetry collections, including most recently The Stone Age. Her second collection, Nigh-No-Place (2008) received the T. S. Eliot Prize. Hadfield earned her BA from the University of Edinburgh and MLitt in creative writing from the University of Strathclyde and the University of Glasgow. Her awards and honors include a Highland Books Prize (2022), an Edwin Morgan International Poetry Award (2012), the Dewar Award (2007) and an Eric Gregory Award (2003), as well as residencies with the Shetland Arts Trust and the Scottish Poetry Library. In 2014, she was named by the Poetry Book Society as one of twenty poets selected to represent the Next Generation of poets in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Hadfield currently lives in the Shetland Islands, where she is Reader in Residence at Shetland Library.
If a spark bird is a gateway to an interest in birding, then a spark place, I'd posit is a gateway to a connection with nature. These places sometimes inspire writers. Think Thoreau and Walden, Annie Dillard and Tinker Creek, Aldo Leopold and Sauk County. My spark place in the last decade was Oaks Bottom, and for me it inspired music.It was an affair of convenience, to start. Conveniently located in central SE Portland, the 163-acre wildlife refuge and nature park was on the route to my child's school. I've taken thousands of photos there. I've made hundreds of field recordings. I've observed and contemplated its changes through the seasons and years, for most of a decade. So it was with a mix of complex emotions that I visited on the last day of school on the last year that my child will attend school nearby. I will continue to visit it of course, but it will be much less convenient to do so. Much less routine. In the section of the field recording that I chose to use for this piece you hear me walking on the trail, then stopping by an area I call “the coves” alongside the large pond, to sit on a rock for about 15 minutes and soak it all in. This rock is right beside the trail, at the base of a bluff. A concrete eight-story Mausoleum looms above, standing next to a primary schoolyard. The 50' tall, windowless wall of the mausoleum acts as sounding board reflecting the children's voices down the embankment. In the foreground of the soundscape are the morning sounds of creatures who find what they need here. Song Sparrows, House Finches, Black-capped Chickadees, Spotted Towhees, Crows, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Cedar Waxwings, Great Blue Herons, and Mallards with softly twittering ducklings.In a stylistic break, I chose not to interrupt the soundscape recording with musical accompaniment for the first five minutes. I guess I'm thinking of this interval as a deliberate acclimation phase for the musical accompaniment section. When the music does enter, I meander my way through a solo performance for Pianet electric piano consisting of 9 parts; one for each year I made the cross-town pilgrimage. The reverberant children's voices struck me more deeply than they usually do, and I tried to convey that in the piano performance. What can I say about it? It's performed like only I can perform it; which is to say it's tender and naive, and just my fingers communicating something words can't quite get at. Thanks for listening, reading, and allowing me to share my story and music. I hope it brings you some enjoyment and reflection. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chadcrouch.substack.com/subscribe
Because of social media's shape-shifting nature (hello, algorithms) it's useful to check in a few times a year to see if it's still serving you, and if there's anything you'd like to change about how you're using it. This episode is less about whether or not you should be on these platforms in the first place, and more about how to be in relationship to our visibility and the internet at large in ways that are inspired by nature and our bodies. Conversation Starters “It might seem strange to give this much thought to how we're using apps like Instagram, but I think it's really important, especially because as Annie Dillard once wrote, “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Episode Highlights A framework for social media use based on your body's inner seasons, the lunar calendar, and nature's shifts Prioritizing our needs within the framework of a larger digital ecosystem 5 suggestions for using social media based on your menstrual cycle 6 ways to play with the cyclical energy of your choosing (and still benefit from Instagram) Linkable Mentions How Embracing the 4 Phases of Your Menstrual Cycle Can Expand Creative Potential Episode 30: A Post-Pandemic Relationship with Social Media Let's Connect Visit my website: nicolemgulotta.com Sign up for my encouraging Substack newsletter Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Say hi on Instagram: @nicolegulotta.author
It rained a little last night. When I got up this morning to feed the animals and make the coffee the air was moist, cool, and clean, and I could see in the faint pre-dawn light ten thousand little puddles resting on every surface outside. And even though we'd slept through the rain, I could still hear its echo in the droplets that were popping in the soil as they fell from the canopies of our trees. It was a magical moment, and fortunately for me I wasn't on the clock, so there was no reason not to just stop and breathe it in.“Just stop and breathe it in,” has become a kind of mantra for me. I'm a fairly contemplative guy so it probably always has been a priority, but I'm getting better at it all the time.Last night the last thing Tina and were doing before bed was booking flights and rental cars and accommodations for a trip we're making in the Fall. We plan to take the first couple of weeks in October and spend it driving around Vermont in a pick-up truck—hiking through the woods as the leaves change color, drinking hot cider, canoeing on glassy ponds, wandering through picturesque New England villages and everything else one could and should do when visiting to ground zero of Autumn in America.I was thinking about those plans as I stood breathing in that magical moment this morning in my own backyard, and in a moment of great gratitude and appreciation I couldn't help but say to myself, “Well, Vermont will have to raise the bar pretty high to beat this.”Today I am grateful for both the ability to travel to beautiful places and to live in a beautiful place, but mostly for living in a beautiful place and learning to take the time to just stop and breathe it in. And I'm proud of Tina and I for the life we've chosen that makes appreciating the beauty around us a daily priority. I would encourage anyone looking to improve their life in significant ways not to worry about whether you can afford to travel to distant places, but rather to work harder at breathing in this place. Big events are lovely, but big events do not make a beautiful life. Life is always hidden in the power of the small, the simple, the close at hand. God truly is in the details. The masters of this life are those who've learned to stop and breathe them in. Those who make the little things the most important things.The writer Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days, of course, is how we spend our lives.”It bears repeating …How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.My day is off to a good start. I hope yours is too. It's Spring. The rain has past. The clouds have given way to soft, warm sunlight. Magic is all around you. If you want it inside you then you'll need to stop and breathe it in. I hope you do. Because I believe it's just about the only truly lasting way to build yourself a beautiful life.
Sloane Crosley is known for her funny and acerbic personal essays, including her New York Times' best-selling collection I Was Told There'd Be Cake. But in her new memoir she digs much deeper to examine the loss of her best friend. This week, Michael sits down with Sloane to discuss Grief Is For People, and Sloane reveals the challenges of writing an intimate portrait of a singular friendship. Reading list: I Was Told There'd Be Cake, Sloane Crosley, 2008 How Did You Get This Number, Sloane Crosley, 2010 Look Alive Out There, Sloane Crosley, 2018 Cult Classic, Sloane Crosley, 2022 Grief Is For People, Sloane Crosley, 2023 Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchett, 2004 The Writing Life, Annie Dillard, 1989 Stoner, John Williams, 1965 You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter Guest: Sloane Crosley
Sloane Crosley is known for her funny and acerbic personal essays, including her New York Times' best-selling collection I Was Told There'd Be Cake. But in her new memoir she digs much deeper to examine the loss of her best friend. This week, Michael sits down with Sloane to discuss Grief Is For People, and Sloane reveals the challenges of writing an intimate portrait of a singular friendship.Reading list:I Was Told There'd Be Cake, Sloane Crosley, 2008How Did You Get This Number, Sloane Crosley, 2010Look Alive Out There, Sloane Crosley, 2018Cult Classic, Sloane Crosley, 2022Grief Is For People, Sloane Crosley, 2023Truth and Beauty, Ann Patchett, 2004The Writing Life, Annie Dillard, 1989Stoner, John Williams, 1965You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and TwitterGuest: Sloane CrosleySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, CA 2E26 5 Easter (Year B) 11:00 a.m. Eucharist Sunday 28 April 2024 | Earth Day Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:24-30 1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8 “Mysterious God we have lost our home. We are wandering. Help us to hear your call and find ourselves again in you. Amen." 1. In wild places I have heard the voice of God... From the time beyond human remembering there existed an island called by the first people Limuw. Every spring fantastic cumulous clouds raced over orange and yellow flower-covered mountain slopes. The fast moving streams, canyons, prairies, oak woodlands, cobbled beaches, tidepools and white foamy waters teamed with life. Thousands of birds nested on the cliffs among the waterfalls. But something was missing. And so Hutash, the name for the Spirit of the Earth, planted a new kind of seed. From these, the ground put forth the first people and the island was complete. Thus begins a story perhaps older than human writing told by people known today as the Chumash. You may know this place as Santa Cruz Island. It is the largest island in California and lies in the archipelago off the coast of Santa Barbara. “The Rainbow Bridge” story goes on. Hutash taught the people how to take care of themselves and their island home. For many years they thrived and multiplied until Limuw became too crowded. Then Kakanupmawa, the mystery behind the sun, conferred with Hutash and they agreed that the people needed a bigger place. So they gathered them on the mountain peak and caused a rainbow to stretch over the sea to a broader land. Some of the people easily crossed over. But others became distracted and dizzied by the waters far below them. They fell from the rainbow bridge into the ocean waters where they were transformed into dolphins. In wild places I have heard the voice of God. When dolphins join me as I surf at Ocean Beach my heart expands with ecstatic joy. It always feels like such a holy encounter. But not only does the story concern the deep kinship between dolphins and humans, some believe it might even be about sea level changes that are part of the geologic record. At the end of the last ice age when the sea level was about 400 feet lower the four channel islands were joined together. As the seas rose, the population that the four separate islands could support decreased forcing people to move to the mainland. Rosanna Xia tells this story in her book California Against the Sea because she hopes that the massive rise in the sea level could be an opportunity for human beings to mend their relationship with the ocean and the rest of the earth. During the last one hundred years the sea has risen by nine inches. Before the end of our century in the lifetime of the youngest people here, the sea will probably rise by six to seven feet. Human beings caused and continue to produce a catastrophic change in the composition of our atmosphere. Almost one third of the carbon dioxide released by human beings since the Industrial Revolution and more than 90% of the resulting heat has been absorbed by our oceans. Carbon dioxide mixing with ocean water causes a chemical reaction that increases the acidity of the seas. The oceans are absorbing the heat equivalent of seven Hiroshima bombs detonating every second. We are the first generation to experience the effects of climate change and the last generation that can make a substantially different course possible. We know this but don't really comprehend it. It's hard to be continuously conscious of such a danger, and of such a grave responsibility. 2. In the face of our situation Jesus gives us very good news. During the last weeks of Easter our readings show us how to live in intimacy with God. Today's gospel comes from the last meal Jesus shares with his friends before being killed. Imagine the tangible fear in that room as he prepares them for his departure from this world. It must have been like a last meal at San Quentin Prison before a prisoner is executed. Thomas says, “How can we know the way?” Jesus responds with the last of seven “I am” statements. Earlier in the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “I am…” “the bread of life” (6:35), “the light of the world” (8:12), “the door” (10:7), “the Good Shepherd” (10:11). And today he says, “I am the true vine and my father is the vinegrower” (Jn. 15). Jesus says, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” He uses the image of the vine, organic and integrally connected, to prepare his friends for his death. “I am the vine and you are the branches,” he says. It is almost as if he is reassuring them, “Death will not separate us. I will not be leaving you. We will become even more intimately connected. Do not be afraid.” Jesus goes on. “You will see evidence of our connection. Look at your life and the lives of those who follow me and see the richness of this fruit.” I do not read this as a threat. It is not “stay with me or you will wither and perish.” It is the promise that we do not need to worry, that we are in this together. Jesus is saying our companionship will be even closer than we can imagine. We walk side by side today. In the future we will be abide in Jesus and bring good news to the world. Other examples of this persist in the Bible. In Genesis, God breathes spirit into us and sustains our life. In Galatians, Paul writes, “It is no longer I who live but it is Christ who lives in me.” The Book of Acts describes God as the one, “in whom we live, and move, and have our being.” One might even say that the culmination of Jesus' teaching is about abiding in God. Our goal is not simply to follow Jesus, or to convince others to, or even primarily to obey what he taught. We live in Jesus as he lives in us. This experience of intimacy lies at the heart of my faith and of my understanding of the earth. In wild places I have heard the voice of God. 3. As a student of religion I carefully studied the connection between the spirit of God and the natural world. Many of us here have experienced a kind of transcendence in nature, a moment when everything changes, when the cosmos seems clear. These encounters show that our picture of God is too small. When we begin to glimpse how interrelated all life is, we cannot go back to pretending that one individual, or group, or nation, or species can thrive alone. Religion stops being another form of tribalism and becomes an opening in our hearts to wonder and gratitude and love. Let me talk about two people whose lives were changed in this way by meeting God in nature. As a young man Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) served as the minister of the Second Church of Boston (Unitarian). It was founded in 1650, almost exactly 200 years before Grace Cathedral. He would make pastoral visits to Revolutionary War veterans and just did not know what to say. The prospect of writing a sermon every week for the rest of his life scared him. Philosophically he was not sure what it meant to consecrate bread and wine during communion services. Then the wife who he simply adored died at the age of twenty from tuberculosis and his life fell apart. He was inconsolable. He resigned his pastorate, sold all his household furniture and departed on Christmas Day across the gray expanse of the North Atlantic with the hope that he might find himself. In 1836 Emerson published what he discovered in a short book called Nature. Feeling confined and limited by tradition and the past, Emerson stopped believing in them. He gave up faith in the promise that we could learn about what really matters from someone else. Instead he believed that we should experience God firsthand and that “Nature is a symbol of spirit. He writes, “Crossing a bare common, in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear… In the woods, we return to reason and faith… all mean egotism vanishes… the currents of Universal Being circulate though me; I am part or parcel of God.” Later he writes, “behind nature, throughout nature, spirit is present… the Supreme Being, does not build up nature around us, but puts it forth through us, as the life of the tree puts forth new branches and leaves through the pores of the old.” Emerson encouraged his young friend Henry David Thoreau to begin keeping a journal and later allowed him to build a cabin on his land by the shore of Walden Pond. Generations later in 1975 a 29 year old woman after finishing her master's thesis on Thoreau won the Pulitzer Prize for literature in a book recording her own encounter of nature and spirit. Her name was Annie Dillard and the memoir about living along a creek in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains was called Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Without flinching Dillard sees the frightening vastness of the void, the uncountable number of swarming insects. She writes about the water bug injecting poison that liquifies its prey. Quoting Pascal and Einstein, Annie Dillard wonders if our modern understanding of God has spread, “as our vision and understanding of the universe have spread, to a fabric of spirit and sense so grand and subtle, so powerful in a new way that we can only feel blindly of its hem.” In this theological and liturgical book (it follows the Christian year into Advent), Dillard regards the great beauty of this world as grace, as a gift from God. At the end she concludes, “Do you think you will keep your life, or anything else you love? But no... You see the needs of your own spirit met whenever you have asked… You see the creatures die, and you know that you will die. And one day it occurs to you that you must not need life… I think that the dying pray at the last not “please,” but “thank you,” as a guest thanks his host at the door… Divinity is not playful. The universe was not made in jest but in solemn incomprehensible earnest. By a power that is unfathomably secret and holy and fleet. There is nothing to be done about it, but ignore it, or see.” The seas are rising. How can we know the way? God speaks to us through nature – often in ways that we do not expect, sometimes in ways that are not altogether comfortable for us. But we will not hear if we do not listen. Let us mend our relation to the earth, and build a bridge to a more humane civilization. Jesus, the true vine, reminds us that at the core of every being is the power to love. We will never be truly isolated or alone. He will always abide in us. In wild places I have heard the voice of God.
Earthquake and eclipse may signify the end of times. For both to occur in a week, after a deluge of rain and flooding, it is easy to lose your moorings. Geography Instructor on the quake and Annie Dillard on the eclipse.
Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Scott Bauer for AP: Wisconsin voters approve ban on private money support for elections and Unfair Share: The Gerrymandered Chocolate Bar on Kickstarter John: Joey Roulette and Will Dunham for Reuters: Exclusive: White House directs NASA to create time standard for the moon and John Dickerson Introduces: Navel Gazing David: Corvid Research: All in the (crow) family; 3 Body Problem on Netflix; The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu; and Foundation and For All Mankind on Apple TV+ Listener chatter from Kim in Spartanburg, S.C.: The fish doorbell and thunder_keck on TikTok: fish doorbell season is back For this week's Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss the April 8 total solar eclipse. See John Dickerson and David Parkinson for CBS News: Massive storm system threatening millions across U.S. See also Atlas Obscura's Ecliptic Festival; Annie Dillard for The Atlantic: “Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.”; The Guardian: Columbus and the night of the bloody moon; and John Uri for NASA: Eclipses Near and Far. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: A Novel. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Jared Downing Research by Julie Huygen Hosts Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz Follow Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ @SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Scott Bauer for AP: Wisconsin voters approve ban on private money support for elections and Unfair Share: The Gerrymandered Chocolate Bar on Kickstarter John: Joey Roulette and Will Dunham for Reuters: Exclusive: White House directs NASA to create time standard for the moon and John Dickerson Introduces: Navel Gazing David: Corvid Research: All in the (crow) family; 3 Body Problem on Netflix; The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu; and Foundation and For All Mankind on Apple TV+ Listener chatter from Kim in Spartanburg, S.C.: The fish doorbell and thunder_keck on TikTok: fish doorbell season is back For this week's Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss the April 8 total solar eclipse. See John Dickerson and David Parkinson for CBS News: Massive storm system threatening millions across U.S. See also Atlas Obscura's Ecliptic Festival; Annie Dillard for The Atlantic: “Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.”; The Guardian: Columbus and the night of the bloody moon; and John Uri for NASA: Eclipses Near and Far. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: A Novel. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Jared Downing Research by Julie Huygen Hosts Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz Follow Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ @SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Here are this week's chatters: Emily: Scott Bauer for AP: Wisconsin voters approve ban on private money support for elections and Unfair Share: The Gerrymandered Chocolate Bar on Kickstarter John: Joey Roulette and Will Dunham for Reuters: Exclusive: White House directs NASA to create time standard for the moon and John Dickerson Introduces: Navel Gazing David: Corvid Research: All in the (crow) family; 3 Body Problem on Netflix; The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu; and Foundation and For All Mankind on Apple TV+ Listener chatter from Kim in Spartanburg, S.C.: The fish doorbell and thunder_keck on TikTok: fish doorbell season is back For this week's Slate Plus bonus segment, David, John, and Emily discuss the April 8 total solar eclipse. See John Dickerson and David Parkinson for CBS News: Massive storm system threatening millions across U.S. See also Atlas Obscura's Ecliptic Festival; Annie Dillard for The Atlantic: “Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.”; The Guardian: Columbus and the night of the bloody moon; and John Uri for NASA: Eclipses Near and Far. In the latest Gabfest Reads, Emily talks with Tana French about her book, The Hunter: A Novel. Email your chatters, questions, and comments to gabfest@slate.com. (Messages may be referenced by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.) Podcast production by Jared Downing Research by Julie Huygen Hosts Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz Follow Slate Political Gabfest on Facebook / https://www.facebook.com/Gabfest/ @SlateGabfest on X / https://twitter.com/SlateGabfest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: On attunement, published by Joe Carlsmith on March 25, 2024 on LessWrong. (Cross-posted from my website. Podcast version here, or search for "Joe Carlsmith Audio" on your podcast app. This essay is part of a series that I'm calling "Otherness and control in the age of AGI." I'm hoping that the individual essays can be read fairly well on their own, but see here for brief summaries of the essays that have been released thus far.) "You, moon, You, Aleksander, fire of cedar logs. Waters close over us, a name lasts but an instant. Not important whether the generations hold us in memory. Great was that chase with the hounds for the unattainable meaning of the world." ~ Czeslaw Milosz, "Winter" "Poplars (Autumn)," by Claude Monet (image source here) My last essay examined a philosophical vibe that I (following others) call "green." Green is one of the five colors on the Magic the Gathering Color Wheel, which I've found (despite not playing Magic myself) an interesting way of classifying the sort of the energies that tend to animate people.[1] The colors, and their corresponding shticks-according-to-Joe, are: White: Morality. Blue: Knowledge. Black: Power. Red: Passion. Green: ... I haven't found a single word that I think captures green. Associations include: environmentalism, tradition, spirituality, hippies, stereotypes of Native Americans, Yoda, humility, wholesomeness, health, and yin. My last essay tried to bring the vibe that underlies these associations into clearer view, and to point at some ways that attempts by other colors to reconstruct green can miss parts of it. In particular, I focused on the way green cares about respect, in a sense that goes beyond "not trampling on the rights/interests of moral patients" (what I called "green-according-to-white"); and on the way green takes joy in (certain kinds of) yin, in a sense that contrasts with merely "accepting things you're too weak to change" (what I called "green-according-to-black"). In this essay, I want to turn to what is perhaps the most common and most compelling-to-me attempt by another color to reconstruct green - namely, "green-according-to-blue." On this story, green is about making sure that you don't act out of inadequate knowledge. Thus, for example: maybe you're upset about wild animal suffering. But green cautions you: if you try to remake that ecosystem to improve the lives of wild animals, you are at serious risk of not knowing-what-you're-doing. And see, also, the discourse about "Chesterton's fence," which attempts to justify deference towards tradition and the status quo via the sort of knowledge they might embody. I think humility in the face of the limits of our knowledge is, indeed, a big part of what's going on with green. But I think green cares about having certain kinds of knowledge too. But I think that the type of knowledge green cares about most isn't quite the same as the sort of knowledge most paradigmatically associated with blue. Let me say more about what I mean. How do you know what matters? "I went out to see what I could see..." ~ Annie Dillard, "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" An 1828 watercolor of Tintern Abbey, by J.M.W. Turner (image source here) Blue, to me, most directly connotes knowledge in the sense of: science, "rationality," and making accurate predictions about the world. And there is a grand tradition of contrasting this sort of knowledge with various other types that seem less "heady" and "cognitive" - even without a clear sense of what exactly the contrast consists in. People talk, for example, about intuition; about system 1; about knowledge that lives in your gut and your body; about knowing "how" to do things (e.g. ride a bike); about more paradigmatically social/emotional forms of intelligence, and so on. And here, of course, the rationalists protest at the idea ...
How often is it that you write an essay so oft-quoted and ubiquitous that you define an entire generation by a single color? Today's guest, Veronique Hyland, did just that, but what could perhaps be called her signature piece isn't all that she has to offer—and not even close. She is fashion features director at Elle and is also the author of the fantastic 2022 book Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink. Dress Code is an essay collection centered around the fashion industry, from its history to its importance, why we wear what we wear, and why it matters. The book covers whether gender differentiated fashion will go out of style forever, the appeal of the “French girl” aesthetic, how social media has warped our sense of self-presentation, and so many more thoughtful and interesting takes and perspectives. In addition to her work with Elle and her book, Veronique has also written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Conde Nast Traveler, W, New York Magazine, and Harper's Bazaar, and she was an absolute delight to speak to. By Véronique Hyland: “Why Is Millennial Pink Suddenly So Popular?” Work with Elle Dress Code: Unlocking Fashion from the New Look to Millennial Pink “Jennifer Lopez Is Standing in Her Power” “Mariah Carey Is Here to Un-Cancel Christmas” “Dolly Parton May Look Artificial, But She's Totally Real” Véronique also recommends the work of Kennedy Frazer, Holly Brubach, Anne Hollander, Annie Dillard, and Jenny Odell + three more incredible books for you to add to your shelf via my recommendation! The Discomfort Zone: How to Get What You Want By Living Fearlessly by Elle U.K. editor-in-chief Farrah Storr The Body Book: Feed, Move, Understand, and Love Your Amazing Body by Cameron Diaz Get the F— Out of the Sun: Routines, Products, Tips and Insider Secrets from 100+ of the World's Best Skincare Gurus by Lauryn Bosstick
How do weasels live? And why would a famous writer like Annie Dillard write a stylish, provocative, and potentially life-changing essay about living like one? Find out in this friendly guide to the world of Classical Christian Education. If you would like to read the short essay for yourself, you can do so from this link. Presented by TrinityU, a service of Trinity Classical Academy in Santa Clarita, CA.
“There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet.”— Annie Dillard, The Writing Life Matthew 5:38-42
In the latest Mapping The Zone bonus episode off the press, we welcome listeners to an introduction to the nonfiction book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, published by Annie Dillard in 1975. As a non-plot-oriented work of narrative essay, feel free to kick off your work shoes and tune in without the looming spectre of spoilers. Tasting notes: profound exploration of nature, contemplation of the roots of morality, river mudRecommended pairings: social exhaustion, a long walk with a dog, unfiltered cigarettes
In this converation with memoirist Abigail Thomas, we discuss the backstory of writing Safekeeping, and that now-classic memoir was initially turned down by all the editors the book was sent, except for one. We talk about how crafting a memoir-in-fragments like Safekeeping allows a writer to depict memories in a way a more conventional structure doesn't permit. She talks about why writing what you don't remember is as important as what you do; and the value of following what interests and obsesses you, even if it doesn't seem to go anywhere at first.Thomas's is one of the great voices in memoir—shrewd, warm, devoid of self-pity—and like all wise teachers, she imparts insights about a life well spent, even when talking about a book well-crafted.This conversation was recorded in 2022 and just updated.Abigail Thomas is the author of several memoirs, including Safekeeping, A Three Dog Life, What Comes Next and How to Like it, and most recently Still Life at Eighty, as well as three works of fiction: Getting Over Tom, An Actual Life, and Herb's Pajamas.Some of my biggest takeaways“Chronological order makes little sense to me…”Most of Thomas's memoirs eschew the conventional chronological approach, opting instead for fragmented structures that mirror the way memory works. Abigail Thomas believes that "life has been lived like a series of moments," and memoirs are stronger when they reflect that."Well, I will confess that I have a poor memory, except for the things I remember. So putting them in chronological order makes very little sense to me. It's why this now? Why am I thinking of this now? Why this memory? Write it down. You'll find out why. The trick is not to boss them around, you know. Just let them come, and they will."This memoir-in-fragments approach unexpectedly draws the reader inSafekeeping, for example, is comprised of dozens of short sections—some four or five pages, others as brief as a single sentence. Then there's the narrator herself, frequently switching between past and present tense, or between first- and third-person.With all that lack of connective tissue, all that shifting of tenses and point-of-view, you'd expect the narrative flow to be constantly disrupted. Instead this approach creates a genuine connection with readers, in part because it invites them to piece together the narrative puzzleThe key to writing a great memoir-in-fragments is to have a strong, unified voiceMarried for the first time at 18, remarried at 27—Abigail Thomas's life was full of wrong turns. She had a lot of living under her belt. Yet the narrator here keeps things light and crisp, avoiding self-judgment. Instead, here the persona is vulnerable, startlingly honest, unsentimental, wry, and above all, entertaining.In The Situation and the Story, Vivian Gornick writes that great memoirs feature a “truth-telling” narrator. We trust the voices of George Orwell, Annie Dillard, or James Baldwin because they seem so honest and self-aware. Thomas's narrator is one of these."The more vulnerable you make yourself, the stronger you become”Thomas urges writers to be honest and vulnerable, since revealing truths about oneself tends to have a liberating effect. This openness serves as a conduit through which readers can see their truths reflected in the author's life, reinforcing the fact we all tend to feel similar things inside.The key is to write without an agenda—to connect with an emotion and let go of outcomes.“You need to write about the stuff you don't wanna write about…[but] you have to find a side door, and it isn't therapy. Writing isn't therapy. But if you're truthful, and honest, and write what you need to write, it has the effect of you've made something out of it separate from yourself, you've revealed things to yourself about yourself, and it's a way of forgiving yourself, you know, and others.”“The past is every bit as unpredictable as the future”The unpredictable nature of memory can be troubling for both writer and reader. Yet, Thomas says that this unpredictability is where the real magic of memoir writing lies. The unpredictable becomes an asset, turning writing into a journey of self-discovery and an act of creative courage.“I don't believe in chronology. And the older you get, the more you don't believe in chronology or even time. What is it? I mean, I'm at the age now where I live entirely in the moment. Sometimes the moment is a good one, sometimes it's a more interesting one, but that's where I am. I never think about the future. I do have memories, and I write about them because I wrote somewhere, ‘You discover that the past is every bit as unpredictable as the future.' And for me, the future is behind me. You know, I don't have... I just have now.”What you don't remember can be as powerful as what you doMany writers (me included) tend to get hung up by the fact they don't remember enough when it comes to memoir. But embracing the fallability of memory is exactly the point of memoir, says Thomas. It's what makes a narrator more authentic—and believable:“I really do think that what you don't remember belongs in there, because in the course of writing this, you may begin to remember, or you may begin to remember why you don't remember. But it is interesting for the reader to know that the writer is at least honest enough to say, ‘I don't remember why I did this. I don't remember what came before,' because it's so human.”Discussed on this episode* “Getting Started” - reflections on how Abby started writing Safekeeping* Safekeeping: Some True Stories from a Life Bookshop.org | Amazon* What Comes Next and How to Like it Bookshop.org | Amazon* Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing Bookshop.org | The Golden Notebook | Amazon* Read my essay “How to create narrative tension in a memoir-in-fragments”CreditsThis episode was produced by Magpie Audio Productions. Theme music is "The Stone Mansion" by BlueDot Productions. Get full access to The Book I Want to Write at bookiwanttowrite.substack.com/subscribe
“Unless we explore our neighborhood, we can't imagine what might be right under our noses, nor be able to celebrate it, mourn its demise, or take action.” –Alastair Humphreys In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and Alastair Humphreys discuss the concept of his new book Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wilderness (1:30); what Alastair found on his close-to-home adventures in England (7:00); the surprises he found in industrial and post-industrial environments (13:00); how he learned to pay better attention to the natural environment in the areas he explored (19:30); “rights of access,” and how it affects hiking in Europe; and the idea of the “big here” versus the “small here” (25:00); how Alastair sought to embrace “stillness” during his experiment (33:30); how the changing of the seasons affected his experience of the local environments (40:30); and the role that imagination plays in having adventures close to home (48:00). Alastair Humphreys (@Al_Humphreys) is an English adventurer, author and motivational speaker. He is responsible for the rise of the idea of the microadventure – short, local, accessible adventures. His newest book, out this year, is Local: A Search for Nearby Nature and Wildness. Notable Links: Microadventure (local travel initiative) Industrial farming (agriculture practice) Souvenir, by Rolf Potts (book) Rewilding (conservation biology) Korean DMZ (rewilded demilitarized zone) Seek (nature identification app) Merlin Bird ID (birdsong identification app) On Looking, by Alexandra Horowitz (book) Henry David Thoreau (naturalist and essayist) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by Annie Dillard (book) Mary Oliver (naturalist and poet) Right of way (public right to hike on private land) A Journey Around My Room, by Xavier de Maistre (book) Traveling in Place, by Bernd Stiegler (book) An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, by Georges Perec (book) Dustsceawung (Old English term for “contemplating dust”) Black Death (14th century pandemic) The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel's 2017 album Lumber. Note: We don't host a “comments” section, but we're happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.
Welcome back listeners! On this episode of We Speak Volumes, join Jen and Lane and take a step back into nature with Annie Dillard's nonfiction classic, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Allow yourself to reconnect with the outdoors by means of Dillard's flowing, intimate descriptions of the life surrounding her inside the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Ruminate on the place of oneself within one's surroundings, and experience the exhilarating tales of one stalking nature itself. Listen in listeners, because Jen even has a surprise correspondence from Ms. Dillard herself, a WSV scoop! Episode Links: Buy the book: Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (bookshop.org) Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (audiobooksnow.com) Show Links: Bards Alley Bookshop Website
Isaiah 40 offers comfort and hope to the Israelites, assuring them of God's presence and power in times of adversity. References: “Either this world, my mother, is a monster, or I myself am a freak. Consider the former: the world is a monster… You say, there is no right and wrong in nature; right and wrong is a human concept. Precisely: we are moral creatures, then, in an amoral world… This view requires that a monstrous world running on chance and death, careening blindly from nowhere to nowhere, somehow produced wonderful us. I crawled out of a sea of amino acids, and now I must whirl around and shake my fist at that sea and cry Shame! [for cruelty]…OR consider the alternative… that it is human feeling that is freakishly amiss… Other creatures manage to have effective matings and even stable societies without great emotions, and they have a bonus in that they need not ever mourn. (But some higher animals have emotions that we think are similar to ours: dogs, elephants, otters, and the sea mammals mourn their dead. Why do that to an otter? What creator could be so cruel, not to kill otters, but to let them care?)… All right then. It is our emotions that are amiss. We are freaks, the world is fine, and let us all go have lobotomies to restore us to a natural state. We can leave the library then go back to the creek, lobotomized, and live on its banks as untroubled as any muskrat or reed. You first.” Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek “Thou art coming to a king; large petitions with thee bring. For his grace and power are such; none can ever ask too much.” John Newton "There’s a certain slant of light on winter afternoons, That oppresses like the weight of cathedral tunes. Heavenly hurt it gives us, we can find no scar, But internal difference where the meanings are." Emily Dickinson, There's a Certain Slant of Light
What are your values right now? Not what they were ten years ago. What are your values in this present moment and season of your life? Do your priorities align with these values or is it time to make a shift? Imagine waking up every day with a sense of purpose and fulfillment, knowing that your daily actions align with what truly matters to you. In this episode, we explore the transformative power of harmonizing your actions with your core values, even during life's messiest and least inspired moments. Dissatisfaction or restlessness often signals a misalignment between daily routines and current values. Whether you're feeling a bit weary or seeking that missing piece, this episode is an invitation to recalibrate. We approach values in proven, bite-sized ways that are highly manageable. It's filled with reflections and examples to help you consciously infuse your life with what you genuinely crave. Share today's episode on Instagram with one takeaway and be sure to tag me - @whitneywoman! Let's engage in the intentional journey of living out our values today! Here's what to look forward to in today's episode: Short reflection exercises to help consciously recognize your values today in the areas of personal growth and wellness, community involvement, and hobbies and leisure. Annie Dillard, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” Whitney shares her scheduled, unstructured time, how she fits in community involvement through a mentoring commitment, and the timer hack she uses for her hobby/leisure time. Many examples of how these different areas can look. Reflection: Are there any areas of your life where you feel a disconnection between what you value in life right now and how you're showing up day to day? Learn more about the Season to Shift Mastermind starting September 27th. Connect with Whitney: Email l Instagram l Website l Electric Ideas Podcast
Yesterday marked the first official day of summer, which means it's time for summer reading! All Of It and Get Lit producer Jordan Lauf joins us to recommend some of the best new and upcoming summer reads, plus we take listener calls and suggestions! Jordan's Recommendations: Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead Tom Lake by Ann Patchet Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo Happy Place by Emily Henry Couplets by Maggie Millner Everything's Fine by Cecilia Rabess Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421 by TJ Newman Happiness Falls by Angie Kim Miracle Creek by Angie Kim All The Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told by Harrison Scott Key Pageboy by Elliot Page The Talk by Darrin Bell Listener Recommendations: Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead Soul Boom by Rain Wilson Disease X by Kate Kelland The Ditch Digger's Daughter by Jo Coudert Rabbit Hutch by Tess Gunty The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers The Power Broker by Robert Caro The Maytrees by Annie Dillard Why Fathers Cry at Night by Kwame Alexander The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett Operation Storm King by Elliott Summers Bunny By Mona Awad
Preaching: Ben ConachanIn her memoir, The Writing Life, Annie Dillard muses: “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.” And we could add, what we do with this hour and that one, is sacred ground. What can feel mundane and ordinary to us—getting rest, doing work, eating meals, and paying attention—all this is truly the daily place where we can encounter the Holy. With the help of ancient voices from the monastic tradition, this series at the start of Ordinary Time will explore the common experiences of life, where we can welcome the Divine into the texture of our ordinary world.
Preaching: Ben ConachanIn her memoir, The Writing Life, Annie Dillard muses: “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.” And we could add, what we do with this hour and that one, is sacred ground. What can feel mundane and ordinary to us—getting rest, doing work, eating meals, and paying attention—all this is truly the daily place where we can encounter the Holy. With the help of ancient voices from the monastic tradition, this series at the start of Ordinary Time will explore the common experiences of life, where we can welcome the Divine into the texture of our ordinary world.The icon referenced in this sermon can be viewed here: The Trinity, by Kelly LatimorePearl Church exists to express a sacred story and to extend a common table that animate life by love. A primary expression of our sacred story is the weekly sermon. If our sermons inspire you to ponder the sacred, to consider the mystery and love of God, and to live bountifully, would you consider supporting our work? You can donate easily and securely at our website: pearlchurch.org. Thank you for partnering with us in expressing this sacred story.
Preaching: Ben ConachanIn her memoir, The Writing Life, Annie Dillard muses: “How we spend our days is of course how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and that one is what we are doing.” And we could add, what we do with this hour and that one, is sacred ground. What can feel mundane and ordinary to us—getting rest, doing work, eating meals, and paying attention—all this is truly the daily place where we can encounter the Holy. With the help of ancient voices from the monastic tradition, this series at the start of Ordinary Time will explore the common experiences of life, where we can welcome the Divine into the texture of our ordinary world.Pearl Church exists to express a sacred story and to extend a common table that animate life by love. A primary expression of our sacred story is the weekly sermon. If our sermons inspire you to ponder the sacred, to consider the mystery and love of God, and to live bountifully, would you consider supporting our work? You can donate easily and securely at our website: pearlchurch.org. Thank you for partnering with us in expressing this sacred story.
This week on The Literary Life podcast, our hosts Angelina, Cindy and Thomas are joined by their podcast producer Kiel Lemon to chat about her own literary life. Kiel and her husband, along with their two children, live in West Virginia where they homeschool and enjoy the outdoors together whenever they can. After sharing commonplace quotes and how Angelina and Cindy met Kiel, they dig in to her background in reading. They also talk at some length about making use of audio books and speak to the concern parents have about audio versus physical books. Kiel gives a shout out to her high school English teacher for giving her a good foundation in the classics and poetry. She also shares some of her early attempts to give herself a literary education in early adulthood, and Angelina asks Kiel why she was so drawn to old books. They also discuss the challenges of a dry time she went through when she wasn't reading much at all and how to get out of a reading slump. Some other topics they touch on are disciplined versus whimsical reading, keeping multiple books at the same time, going through the AmblesideOnline curriculum with children, and more. To find out more about Thomas' summer class on G. K. Chesterton and sign up for that, go to houseofhumaneletters.com. To register for Cindy's summer discipleship session, visit morningtimeformoms.com. Commonplace Quotes: Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed?…Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so that we may feel again their majesty and power? Annie Dillard, from The Abundance: Narrative Essays New and Old My idea of good company is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company. Jane Austen A man living at the bottom of a well will think the sky is small. Han Yu Recent psychological research, together with a number of other contributory factors, has influenced us to emphasise–possibly to over-emphasise–the importance of the unconscious in determining our actions and opinions. Our confidence in such faculties as will and judgement has been undermined, and in collapsing has taken with it a good deal of our interest in ourselves as responsible individuals. Dorothy L. Sayers, from Introductory Papers on Dante The Land of Story-Books by Robert Louis Stevenson At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit; They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything. Now, with my little gun, I crawl All in the dark along the wall, And follow round the forest track Away behind the sofa back. There, in the night, where none can spy, All in my hunter's camp I lie, And play at books that I have read Till it is time to go to bed. These are the hills, these are the woods, These are my starry solitudes; And there the river by whose brink The roaring lions come to drink. I see the others far away As if in firelit camp they lay, And I, like to an Indian scout, Around their party prowled about. So when my nurse comes in for me, Home I return across the sea, And go to bed with backward looks At my dear land of Story-books. Books Mentioned: An American Childhood by Annie Dillard Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard The Real Mother Goose by Blanche Fisher Wright The Odyssey by Homer Howards End by E. M. Forster Cormoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith Heidi by Johanna Spyri What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll The Discarded Image by C. S. Lewis “Kate Crackernuts” retold by Joseph Jacobs Beowulf trans. by Burton Raffell My Antonia by Willa Cather Bess Streeter Aldrich Gene Stratton-Porter Poems That Touch the Heart ed. by A. L. Alexander Black Plumes by Margery Allingham To the Far Blue Mountains by Louis L'Amour The Education of a Wandering Man: A Memoire by Louis L'Amour Redwall Series by Brian Jacques Continuing the Good Life by Helen and Scott Nearing The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
Charles Frazier comes across as a writer in love with America. Beyond the rolling plains and purple mountains majesty, he loves the stories of average Americans in extraordinary times and it comes across in everything he writes. His latest novel, The Trackers, is the most modern novel he has ever written and it takes place 100 years ago. His writing captures the optimism of the American ideal, and his descriptive powers continue to astound. We talk to him about his latest, and what it was about the Great Depression that inspired the book. This week, we also include an interview with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, the two founders of 826, a non profit that teaches kids to express themselves through writing. Books mentioned in this podcast: The Trackers by Charles Frazier Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier Thirteen Moons by Charles Frazier Varina by Charles Frazier Nightwoods by Charles Frazier The Significance of the Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke A Private Cathedral by James Lee Burke Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard Teaching a Stone to Talk by Annie Dillard
Content Warning: The speaker is a Christian and this show features her book that teaches families how to celebrate the liturgical calendar.Bonnie Smith Whitehouse is a Nashville-based professor at Belmont University and writer. She calls herself a pilgrim not only because she loves to walk, wander, and contemplate, but because when she read Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek her life was forever changed. She's a mother of spirited boys, a lover of bird song, a baker of bread, and an amateur painter and hand-letterer.We discuss her latest book, Seasons of Wonder: Making the Ordinary Sacred Through Projects, Prayers, Reflections, and Rituals: A 52-Week Devotional.You can download show notes for the podcast here: https://blog.bravewriter.com/category/podcasts/Resources:Learn more at bonniesmithwhitehouse.comRead: Seasons of WonderDecember is a great time to register for Brave Write online classes! See out class descriptions here: https://bravewriter.com/online-classesSign up for our Text Message Pod Ring to get podcast updates and more!Want help getting started with Brave Writer? Head over to bravewriter.com/getting-startedSign up for the Brave Writer newsletter to learn about all of the special offers we're doing in 2022 and you'll get a free seven-day Writing Blitz guide just for signing up: http://go.bravewriter.com/writing-blitzConnect with Julie:Instagram: instagram.com/juliebravewriterTwitter: twitter.com/bravewriterFacebook: facebook.com/bravewriter
This week on The Literary Life podcast our hosts introduce the 2023 Reading Challenge! Angelina, Cindy and Thomas are excited to share with you about all the categories on this year's Literary Life Bingo Reading Challenge! You can download your own copy of the challenge here, as well as check out our past reading challenges. Scroll down in the show notes to see a list of the links and books mentioned in this episode. You can use the hashtag #LitLifeBingo on social media so we can all see what everyone is reading in 2023! Don't forget to shop the House of Humane Letters Christmas Sale now through the end of the year. The Literary Life Back to School online conference recordings are also on sale at Morning Time for Moms right now. Commonplace Quotes: Much that we call Victorian is known to us only because the Victorians laughed at it. George Malcolm Young, from Portrait of an Age I think that beauty and grace are performed whether or not we will or sense them. The least we can do is try to be there. Annie Dillard, from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body. Joseph Addison Thunderstorms by William H. Davies My mind has thunderstorms, That brood for heavy hours: Until they rain me words, My thoughts are drooping flowers And sulking, silent birds. Yet come, dark thunderstorms, And brood your heavy hours; For when you rain me words, My thoughts are dancing flowers And joyful singing birds. Book and Link List: Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie Episode 14: “The Adventures of a Shilling” by Joseph Addison Episode 3: The Importance of Detective Fiction Episode 16: “Why I Write” by George Orwell Reading Challenge Downloads The Letters of Jane Austen by Jane Austen Abigail Adams: Letters ed. by Edith Gelles The Letters of Dorothy Osborne to William Temple ed. by G. C. Moore Smith Few Eggs and No Oranges by Vere Hodgson Letters to an American Lady by C. S. Lewis Letters of C. S. Lewis by C. S. Lewis Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor ed. by Sally Fitzgerald Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman by Lord Chesterfield The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer The Aeneid by Virgil The Saga of the Volsungs by Anonymous The Vision of Sir Launfal by James Russell Lowell Evangeline by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Ramayana of Valmiki ed. and trans. by Robert and Sally Goldman The Prelude by William Wordsworth Ballad of the White Horse by G. K. Chesterton P. D. James Edmund Crispin Alan Bradley Patricia Moyes Peter Granger Rex Stout Sir Walter Scott The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke Mythos by Stephen Fry The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell Coming Up for Air by George Orwell P. G. Wodehouse The Last Days of Socrates by Plato The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis Champagne for the Soul by Mike Mason Edges of His Ways by Amy Carmichael The Footsteps at the Lock by Ronald Knox Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey Jane Austen Patrick Leigh Fermor Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes by Robert Louis Stevenson Heroes by Stephen Fry Troy by Stephen Fry Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman The Mabinogion trans. by Sioned Davies The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green Idylls of the King by Alfred Tennyson Cindy's List of Literature of Honor for Boys (archived webpage) Bleak House by Charles Dickens David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens The Man Who Knew Too Much by G. K. Chesterton The 39 Steps by John Buchan Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith The Well Read Poem An Experiment in Criticism by C. S. Lewis The Truth and the Beauty by Andrew Klavan The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill Jacob's Room is Full of Books by Susan Hill The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis by Jason Baxter 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff Q's Legacy by Helene Hanff Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB
The thing about life is that it's not a thing. Life is a series of moments. As the great Annie Dillard said, how we spend our days is how we spend our lives—and how we spend our moments is how we spend our days.
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