Haha! I was on the Black Mountain course at Dartington a few weeks ago and the quote is from a poem I read out which had a very rude word in it. The blade refers to greenstone axes and transformation. Annie
Ah yes the Labyrinth and Dancing Floor Dark Mountain course. Seems like a lifetime ago already! I remember your poem now. It was excellent. Let me know when you have a link for it. Caro.
Uncivil Savant is my favorite Substack subscription. I appreciate that the content of is relevant and not rooted in a scarcity mindset. Some articles force me to challenge my taken-for-granted notions and with others I fall into the beauty and sense of peace I feel as I read them. As someone who has a propensity to live more in my head than my body, The Tai Chi segments help ground me. I just upgraded my membership - thank you!
Oh the joy of edges! Long may we hold and hone our subtle edged blades, and with timeless wisdom discern how best to catalyse change, when those edges meet.
‘The Great Tao has both reality and expression, but it does nothing and has no form.’
I feel like the masters here were describing what in some versions of shamanic practice is known as becoming the hollow bone. Most artists and creatives I know do just that, hollow themselves out such that they can channel the divine, be it a song, script, or wave of color or consciousness. We partner with the unseen, and in undoing, creation pours from/ through us. It has no form and essentially does nothing, yet has reality and expression.
Using that lens I’d say you’re a pretty devout Taoist practitioner.
Celebrating your claiming of the blessed boundaries and look forward to your posts dearly. You are inspiring me to be more vulnerable, more authentic, to share more of my life, and maybe even be more courageous.
Hi Caroline, You might like a podcast that I work on called 'As The Season Turns'. It's a monthly podcast which reflects on the seasons as they change. I have a short segment where I create a 'sonic scrapbook' of a landscape in the UK: https://ffern.co/podcast/
As an aside: the more I think about the term 'convivialism' the more I like it. It lays out for me the things good to focus on, and therefore on the convivial skills and habits I lack. Well expressed in the linked essay, 'The Art of Survival, Taoism and the Warring States'.
I return to that essay each year or so, and make a mental note to ask my brother to teach me how to sharpen saw blades. And then go back to processing acorn or chestnut flour...
I really really love the images of the tiles you posted here.... especially that first one. gorgeous. and i enjoy reading your writings, getting a glimpse into your world, thank you!
"I am the blade now, I am the blade". Greenstone has no temper, I note.
Where is the quote from? And who or what is Greenstone?
Haha! I was on the Black Mountain course at Dartington a few weeks ago and the quote is from a poem I read out which had a very rude word in it. The blade refers to greenstone axes and transformation. Annie
Ah yes the Labyrinth and Dancing Floor Dark Mountain course. Seems like a lifetime ago already! I remember your poem now. It was excellent. Let me know when you have a link for it. Caro.
Uncivil Savant is my favorite Substack subscription. I appreciate that the content of is relevant and not rooted in a scarcity mindset. Some articles force me to challenge my taken-for-granted notions and with others I fall into the beauty and sense of peace I feel as I read them. As someone who has a propensity to live more in my head than my body, The Tai Chi segments help ground me. I just upgraded my membership - thank you!
I love absolutely everything about this post and that is all 🙃 x
Oh the joy of edges! Long may we hold and hone our subtle edged blades, and with timeless wisdom discern how best to catalyse change, when those edges meet.
PS thank you for the ‘Scenius’ link - ‘Collective Genius’ indeed!
It's a super thing. And as usual, our Brian spotted it and had a good name for it asap.
‘The Great Tao has both reality and expression, but it does nothing and has no form.’
I feel like the masters here were describing what in some versions of shamanic practice is known as becoming the hollow bone. Most artists and creatives I know do just that, hollow themselves out such that they can channel the divine, be it a song, script, or wave of color or consciousness. We partner with the unseen, and in undoing, creation pours from/ through us. It has no form and essentially does nothing, yet has reality and expression.
Using that lens I’d say you’re a pretty devout Taoist practitioner.
Celebrating your claiming of the blessed boundaries and look forward to your posts dearly. You are inspiring me to be more vulnerable, more authentic, to share more of my life, and maybe even be more courageous.
PS -that entire album of Neneh Cherry broke me open and tumbled me over a thousand times.
Very much like this: 'partner with the unseen'.
Hi Caroline, You might like a podcast that I work on called 'As The Season Turns'. It's a monthly podcast which reflects on the seasons as they change. I have a short segment where I create a 'sonic scrapbook' of a landscape in the UK: https://ffern.co/podcast/
Hi Alice, I have been enjoying your music. Thanks for this, I will check it out.
Thanks too from here; in those last 25 minutes I have been transported - into exactly where I truly and wholly am. Thanks for the grounding. Jack x
Thanks Jack!
As an aside: the more I think about the term 'convivialism' the more I like it. It lays out for me the things good to focus on, and therefore on the convivial skills and habits I lack. Well expressed in the linked essay, 'The Art of Survival, Taoism and the Warring States'.
I return to that essay each year or so, and make a mental note to ask my brother to teach me how to sharpen saw blades. And then go back to processing acorn or chestnut flour...
I really really love the images of the tiles you posted here.... especially that first one. gorgeous. and i enjoy reading your writings, getting a glimpse into your world, thank you!