Atmospheric (vol. 7, no. 9)
Here are a few things I’m sharing this month:
1. Question:
“What myth do you live? What myth lives you? Do you suffer the labour pains of a world seeking to be born?” – John Moriarty, Dreamtime
2. Quote:
“Here is something you must understand: There are two sources of change within you. One is the cunningness of your ego that pushes you into efforts to become something other than you are meant to be so that it can give itself a boost, so that it can glorify itself. The other is the wisdom of Nature. Thanks to this wisdom you become aware, you understand it. That is all you do, leaving the change—type, the manner, the speed, the time of change—to Reality and to Nature.” – Anthony de Mello, The Way to Love
3. Poem:
Excerpt from “Over the Weather” by Naomi Shihab Nye
When words we hear don’t fit the day,
when we worry
what we did or didn’t do,
what if we close our eyes,
say any word we love
that makes us feel calm,
slip it into the atmosphere
and rise?
4. Something Inspiring:
“The earth shakes” by Steve Sanfield
The earth shakes
just enough
to remind us.
5. Project updates:
I’m slowly gathering the pieces of a new book called Manly: A Field Report. Here’s one of them:
“I am searching for a king. For Arthur. For someone to knight me. Bid me to bend at the knee. Draw a gleaming sword. Lightly touch my left, then right shoulder. Bid me to rise. Turn me to face a crowd. Standing room only. In a cathedral with vaulted ceilings. Torch-lit chandeliers. White doves flapping their wings for balance in the sunlit rafters. Announce my name. The title of knight ahead of it. To the cheers of those throwing flowers before me. As I walk the aisle. Alone. To the great double oak doors. Push them open with both hands. Into the kingdom. And know. Henceforth. Forever. Wherever I go. Those I meet will know. By accoutrement. By bearing. By gait. That a knight is before them. And that knight is a man of the kingdom. Of course, this is a fantasy. Manhood is conditional. Not easily earned. But easily revoked. Some call it fragile. It is. That is its strength.”
Thanks so much. And have a great day! – shawn
