… my desk is once again filled with philosophical texts. It might be hard to find a common theme in the stack of books in front of me, but I guess they all in some sense could fit on a shelf labelled “philosophy of life” – or maybe: getting old (with grace) is the least…
Home away from home
Well, to tell the truth, these rooms have no resemblance whatsoever to the place I usually call home. My home is a typical Scandinavian «no fuss» house. This is something completely different. Hazlitt’s hotel, London is everything my home is not. And I guess this is why I love this place so much. It offers…
Darkness at Noon
Noon Hour BY PEGGY TROJAN Unless hot lunch at schoolwas serving something speciallike corn chowderand baking powder biscuitsor creamed chipped beefpotatoes and browniesI went hometo what mymother madelike most town kids Jack walked the furthestalmost to the riverto his unpainted houseby the railroad tracksWe all knew nobody was therehis mom at the tavern alreadyHe always…
An aesthetics of one’s own
The small things in everyday life are no less sacred than the great issues of human existence. Fifth post on CARE OF THE SOUL: I am a maker. I have been a maker for as long as I can remember. Making (in the form of writing, drawing, painting, knitting, cooking, gardening, blogging …) still gives…
Going deeper
FOURTH POST ON THOMAS MOORE’S CARE OF THE SOUL: Jung equates the unconscious with the soul, and so when we try to live fully consciously in an intellectually predictable world, protected from all mysteries and comfortable with conformity, we lose our everyday opportunities for the soulful life. The intellect wants to know; the soul likes…
Narcissus at work
THIRD POST ON THOMAS MOORE’S CARE OF THE SOUL: The myth of Narcissus is usual evoked when philosophers study the individual’s relation to its own self. In the following Moore paints a bigger picture: SOUL This is one of the deeper implications of the Narcissus myth: the flowering of life depends upon finding a reflection…
December
December On the fire escape, onestupid petunia still blooms,purple trumpet blowinghigh notes at the sky longafter the rest of the bandhas packed upand gone home. — Sarah Frelig
True family
Second post on Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul: The sentimental image of family that we present publicly is a defense against the pain of proclaiming the family for what it is—a sometimes comforting, sometimes devastating house of life and memory. (Care of the Soul: 26) Just a few months ago my uncle, age 70,…
A family is a microcosm
For me, and I guess for many of you, Christmas is all about family. It might be the only time of year we all gather. Or the time of the year one becomes most aware of not having a family, or not wanting to be a part of one’s family. It is a time of…
There is a crack in everything
Peter Clothier: For many years I counted myself among those who reject the notion of art as a potential source of healing. I saw both the practice and the appreciation of art as a largely formal and intellectual exercise: a game of the mind, a game capable of infinite richness, perhaps, but nonetheless a game….
