Your Dash (vol. 3, no. 3)

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

1. Question(s) I’m living with:

  • “Old preachers used to say, when I was growing up, you look on headstones in graveyards, in cemeteries, and you see the name of the person; then you see the year and date they were born, and then a little dash, and the year and date that they died. And the old preachers used to say, the question is not, when were you born? You didn’t have anything to do with that. When did you die? — you probably didn’t have much to do with that, either. The question is, what did you do with your “dash”? That’s the question.” – Bishop Michael Curry

2. Quote I’m considering:

  • “My favorite lines of Charlotte’s Web, the lines that always make me cry, are toward the end of the book. They go like this: ‘These autumn days will shorten and grow cold. The leaves will shake loose from the trees and fall. Christmas will come, then the snows of winter. You will live to enjoy the beauty of the frozen world, for you mean a great deal to Zuckerman and he will not harm you, ever. Winter will pass, the days will lengthen, the ice will melt in the pasture pond. The song sparrow will return and sing, the frogs will awake, the warm wind will blow again. All these sights and sounds and smells will be yours to enjoy, Wilbur — this lovely world, these precious days’…I have tried for a long time to figure out how E. B. White did what he did, how he told the truth and made it bearable…the only answer I could come up with was love…E. B. White loved the world. And in loving the world, he told the truth about it — its sorrow, its heartbreak, its devastating beauty. He trusted his readers enough to tell them the truth, and with that truth came comfort and a feeling that we were not alone.” – Kate DiCamillo (On Being podcast)

3. Poem I’m pondering:

The Next War by Ursula K. Le Guin (ht Matthew Ogle)

It will take place,
it will take time
it will take life,
and waste them.

4. Something inspiring:

  • The Man Who Planted Trees – put on some headphones and enjoy the completely immersive experience that is this short animated film from 1987. I know what I’m doing with my dash. (ht Kyra Haigh)

5. The blog is on hold as I write my “Rewild School” book. So, I’ll leave you with:

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

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

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