Inner Sky (vol. 5, no. 5)

Here are a few things I’m sharing this month:

1. Question I’m living with (not really a question but question-related):

• “If I knew the question, I’d ask it of everyone.” – Mark Nepo (Reduced to Joy)

2. Quote I’m considering:

• “Upon that desolate peak my mind had turned finally inward. It is from that domain, that inner sky, that I chose to speak – a world of dreams, of light and darkness that we will never escape, even on the far edge of Arcturus. The inward skies of man will accompany him across any void upon which he ventures and will be with him to the end of time. There is just one way in which that inward world differs from outer space. It can be more volatile and mobile, more terrible and impoverished, yet withal more ennobling in its self-consciousness, than the universe that gave it birth. To the educators of this revolutionary generation, the transformation we may induce in that inner sky loom in at least equal importance with the work of those whose goals are set beyond the orbit of the moon.” – Loren Eiseley (The Star Thrower, 1978)

3. Poem I’m pondering:

Excerpt from “I Go Among Tree and Sit Still” by Wendell Berry

Then what is afraid of me comes
and lives a while in my sight.
What it fears in me leaves me,
and the fear of me leaves it.
It sings, and I hear its song.

Then what I am afraid of comes.
I live for a while in its sight.
What I fear in it leaves it,
and the fear of it leaves me.
It sings, and I hear its song.

After days of labor,
mute in my consternations,
I hear my song at last,
and I sing it. As we sing,
the day turns, the trees move.

4. Something inspiring:

• The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows – “a compendium of new words for emotions…to capture the delectable subtleties of the human experience.” For example, the word “scabulous” is an adjective defined as “proud of a certain scar on your body, which is like an autograph signed to you by a world grateful for your continued willingness to play with her, even if it hurts.”

5. Rewild School updates:

• I received my first “book review” of Rewild School: https://shawnhumphrey.com/rewilding/rewild-schools-first-book-review/
• I received my first reviews of Rewild School on Amazon. Feel free to leave your own review. I’ve been told that I need at least 20.

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