This is my favorite of your work so far. Clear eyed, critical without cynicism. Wise, even. Certainly informed by decades of thoughtful work and pursuit of Place
Many more thoughts and questions but for now just some notes
“A place to love if only for the pleasure of returning”? “of visiting”?
Seeking Shire. There is longing and joy in perhaps finding one, even if you happily return to your own. Hollywood left out The Return to the Shire, but Tolkien made the reality of small town change the final message. Sometimes a scouring is necessary, and only those who left and returned with a gift that cannot yet be properly received will recognize the need.
Becoming Native to this Place
A Serial Local.
“Conventional Wisdom” is necessary and functional until the context loses its conventions. At that point perhaps only those who have a view from the context can help a place separate wisdom from convention. My joke is that the percentages in the healthiest, best and most beautiful places are at best 10% wisdom…. Leaving 90% convention as filler. These communities if they have a history in the land can usually recover an additional forgotten wisdom, getting them at best to 50/50? But the emulsion always requires reduction of conventional base. From the outside, returning to a place you’ve never been before (thank you John Denver and my 70s roots), the best approach is to work from the True and the beautiful rather than taking on convention directly. This can look like nostalgia, even pandering. Especially cheesy if you quote John Denver. But not untrue and nevertheless actually respectful and pragmatic.
Expecting work from the community tends to weed out those who don’t want to work which correlates generally with those who are not interested in wisdom. Those who are just mean old ladies in the piazza, or worse, tend to be dealt with by a critical mass of those who want better from their once and future home
Finally and primarily: Who gave us this permission to leave and Return as prodigal or prince? Who planted the longing for home not yet found? We need to work within this big picture too, because we are.
This is my favorite of your work so far. Clear eyed, critical without cynicism. Wise, even. Certainly informed by decades of thoughtful work and pursuit of Place
Many more thoughts and questions but for now just some notes
“A place to love if only for the pleasure of returning”? “of visiting”?
Seeking Shire. There is longing and joy in perhaps finding one, even if you happily return to your own. Hollywood left out The Return to the Shire, but Tolkien made the reality of small town change the final message. Sometimes a scouring is necessary, and only those who left and returned with a gift that cannot yet be properly received will recognize the need.
Becoming Native to this Place
A Serial Local.
“Conventional Wisdom” is necessary and functional until the context loses its conventions. At that point perhaps only those who have a view from the context can help a place separate wisdom from convention. My joke is that the percentages in the healthiest, best and most beautiful places are at best 10% wisdom…. Leaving 90% convention as filler. These communities if they have a history in the land can usually recover an additional forgotten wisdom, getting them at best to 50/50? But the emulsion always requires reduction of conventional base. From the outside, returning to a place you’ve never been before (thank you John Denver and my 70s roots), the best approach is to work from the True and the beautiful rather than taking on convention directly. This can look like nostalgia, even pandering. Especially cheesy if you quote John Denver. But not untrue and nevertheless actually respectful and pragmatic.
Expecting work from the community tends to weed out those who don’t want to work which correlates generally with those who are not interested in wisdom. Those who are just mean old ladies in the piazza, or worse, tend to be dealt with by a critical mass of those who want better from their once and future home
Finally and primarily: Who gave us this permission to leave and Return as prodigal or prince? Who planted the longing for home not yet found? We need to work within this big picture too, because we are.
Omg! That’s a lot. Need to sit first 😬
I know. It started as notes then metastasized. But you put out something chock full of critical thought stimulants.