STA, the subject of these essays, is a reality-based world-view, which was summarised in the last Substack essay The World As It Is. Here I explore what I mean by a ‘world-view’, and why they seem to have gone out of fashion.
A friend has a patch of woodland which she has been gently de-brambling with much the same conflicted thoughts on interfering with nature. Today I wandered along the path and enjoyed the display of bluebells that the space she has created has revealed.
That leads back to your item on art and creativity in that life itself is creative and "art" thrives anywhere that space is made for it.
Clear the dancefloor, weed the garden. Much the same thing.
I always want to leave a comment on these posts of yours because I like them so much. I regularly think about what you say about The Amazon being real and existing whether we acknowledge it or not, but Amazon disappearing if we cease to pay it attention. It’s very grounding.
What you say about our shaky foundation feels very true, and works well with Brian Klaas’s idea of a sandpile. His point is we’ve stacked the sandpile so high that any number of grains of sand added can bring the whole thing tumbling down. So again that concept of shaky foundation, though with a different message. Still, the solution is the same to both issues- we need to build a more solid foundation.
I can’t fix the world. But I can learn to move through it and see what is real and true and grounded. It is gradually changing my perspective. Like, my garden didn’t stress me out this summer. If I couldn’t pull all the weeds, well, “weeds” is a social construct. Without our societal lens, they are plants, with every bit as much right to grow in my garden as what I put there (more, even, as they are native species). Sure I still pull them to give preference to my chosen plants, but not pulling them is no longer a failure on my part.
Perhaps I’ve already told you this about the garden… it’s not easy to check… ah well. It’s all to say thanks, so there’s no harm in repetition.
Thanks so much for your comments. It's very heartening to receive them. I have a lot of work on at the moment and the new book due out, which is always a nervy, uncertain time, so it's great to hear from you.
I've been doing some work in the garden too to steer it towards 'natural' and away from 'neglected'. I like to leave things be, but brambles and ivy have taken too much advantage. As you say, these plants have as much right to their growth as any other. My approach is at least to be very aware of what I'm doing, to acknowledge the plants I dig out and do so with some regret. It can sound a bit sappy and it doesn't make it any better for the brambles (!) but it keeps me alert to what I'm doing and stops me going too far, or from thinking that the garden only exists to give me aesthetic pleasure.
A friend has a patch of woodland which she has been gently de-brambling with much the same conflicted thoughts on interfering with nature. Today I wandered along the path and enjoyed the display of bluebells that the space she has created has revealed.
That leads back to your item on art and creativity in that life itself is creative and "art" thrives anywhere that space is made for it.
Clear the dancefloor, weed the garden. Much the same thing.
I always want to leave a comment on these posts of yours because I like them so much. I regularly think about what you say about The Amazon being real and existing whether we acknowledge it or not, but Amazon disappearing if we cease to pay it attention. It’s very grounding.
What you say about our shaky foundation feels very true, and works well with Brian Klaas’s idea of a sandpile. His point is we’ve stacked the sandpile so high that any number of grains of sand added can bring the whole thing tumbling down. So again that concept of shaky foundation, though with a different message. Still, the solution is the same to both issues- we need to build a more solid foundation.
I can’t fix the world. But I can learn to move through it and see what is real and true and grounded. It is gradually changing my perspective. Like, my garden didn’t stress me out this summer. If I couldn’t pull all the weeds, well, “weeds” is a social construct. Without our societal lens, they are plants, with every bit as much right to grow in my garden as what I put there (more, even, as they are native species). Sure I still pull them to give preference to my chosen plants, but not pulling them is no longer a failure on my part.
Perhaps I’ve already told you this about the garden… it’s not easy to check… ah well. It’s all to say thanks, so there’s no harm in repetition.
Dear Heather,
Thanks so much for your comments. It's very heartening to receive them. I have a lot of work on at the moment and the new book due out, which is always a nervy, uncertain time, so it's great to hear from you.
I've been doing some work in the garden too to steer it towards 'natural' and away from 'neglected'. I like to leave things be, but brambles and ivy have taken too much advantage. As you say, these plants have as much right to their growth as any other. My approach is at least to be very aware of what I'm doing, to acknowledge the plants I dig out and do so with some regret. It can sound a bit sappy and it doesn't make it any better for the brambles (!) but it keeps me alert to what I'm doing and stops me going too far, or from thinking that the garden only exists to give me aesthetic pleasure.
Thanks again for your kind thoughts.
G