Ephemeral Edges (VOL. 2, NO. 8)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month

1. Question I’m living with:

• “When have you been at your bravest?” asked the boy. “When I have dared to show my weakness” said the horse. – Charlie Mackesy (The Boy, the mole, the fox and the Horse) (Note: I cannot stress enough how incredibly beautiful this little book is.)

2. Quote I’m considering:

• “Nagarjuna, the second century Buddhist teacher, said, “Thanks to emptiness, everything is possible.” Emptiness is another term for nonself; when we say things are empty, it means that they are without a separate self. Nonself and impermanence are two sides of reality; impermanence is looking at reality in terms of time, and nonself is looking at reality in terms of space. When we look deeply into our fears, we can see our desire for permanence and our fear of change. But impermanence and nonself are not something negative. Impermanence means transformation at every moment. Therefore we can say “Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.” Thich Nhat Hanh (How to See p. 24)

3. Poem I’m pondering:

“Witchgrass” by Louise Glück

Something
comes into the world unwelcome
calling disorder, disorder–

If you hate me so much
don’t bother to give me
a name: do you need
one more slur
in your language, another
way to blame
one tribe for everything–

as we both know,
if you worship
one god, you only need
one enemy–

I’m not the enemy.
Only a ruse to ignore
what you see happening
right here in this bed,
a little paradigm
of failure. One of your precious flowers
dies here almost every day
and you can’t rest until
you attack the cause, meaning

whatever is left, whatever
happens to be sturdier
than your personal passion–

It was not meant
to last forever in the real world.
But why admit that, when you can go on
doing what you always do,
mourning and laying blame,
always the two together.

I don’t need your praise
to survive. I was here first,
before you were here, before
you ever planted a garden.
And I’ll be here when only the sun and moon
are left, and the sea, and the wide field.

I will constitute the field.

4. Something inspiring:

• Stand Here for Dance Party – Improv Everywhere “placed a decal (designed in the style of the ubiquitous social distancing circles) that read “stand here for dance party” on the ground in Manhattan. When unsuspecting New Yorkers and tourists followed instructions and stood on the decal, they soon found themselves surrounded by a professional b-boy dance crew and a vintage 1980s boombox.” This will make you smile, laugh and wonder if you yourself would have stepped onto the decal. (ht The Art of Noticing)

5. New blogs:

• High School Reunion – “Have a great time honey” my mom says. I peer back into the car and say “Thanks mom.” Having my mom drop me off at my high school reunion was not how I imagined this moment…”
• The Roads that Make Us – “These roads, this landscape, they formed me. Growing up, whenever I wanted to enter into the larger world (and return from it), I had to travel roads like these. They shaped my perspective. They told me…”

If you’re reading this newsletter for the first time, you can read previous issues here, view lists of poems, questions, quotes and songs I’ve shared before here, and subscribe here.

Thanks so much. And, have a great day! – shawn