thinking thursday : books, cardamom, anger, dying, presence, and Prince
MIND
A story of Meryl Streep‘s strength.
What does it mean when we say a book is brave? “I sometimes wonder if what we’re really trying to praise is not the subject matter or the politics or even the aesthetics of the book, but the author’s ability, or even just willingness, to be impolite, to be messy, to be extravagant on the page. A novel can be perfect in its structure, in its logic, in its composure, but the most memorable novels, the most electrifying, are the ones that understand the necessity of imperfection, of ragged edges, of being distasteful, of making mistakes, of being demanding of the reader…. as readers, don’t we read fiction exactly to be upset? A novel, in its truest form, is a questioning of what it means to be human, of what a life is. But what makes it different from, say, a work of philosophical inquiry is, among other things, the way it uses (or misuses, or differently uses) language and, second, the particular sense of discomfiture it can provide.”And then, the art of the short story, the most delicious of forms (to my mind). Mark Haddon on writing the short story: “‘Everything Ravaged’ is not a short story. It is a huge story compressed magically into 20 pages. It convinced me that authenticity had nothing to do with the facts, and it convinced me that the last thing you should do when sitting down to write a short story is to think small.”
BODY
It’s all about the cardamom.
Is there anything better than olive oil cake? Perhaps, but at the moment I can’t think of what it might be. Ships well.
I bet these ship well too. Y’know. In case you make some and have a few left over.
Are you getting enough sleep? Because, dude, it’s no good if you’re not.
Prince died this week. Here’s what I learned about him from tuning my piano.And here is the truth of him: “We’ve all seen The Voice or American Idol — we’ve all bought into the myth, at some level, that a great voice and a little bit of luck can make someone a pop star. After a week with Prince, I realized how ridiculous that is. He was an artist down to the bone. It’s not enough to have extraordinary vision; you have to know how to turn that vision into something that exists in the very flawed, complicated world of human beings and money and phone calls. To do that is an endless battle, especially if what you see in your head is unimaginable to other people. Obviously he could see things and hear things that no one else could, but what amazed me was his ability to defend and cultivate that vision until it became real in everyone else’s heads, until we could all see it too.”
And this: “During my worst moments as a writer, I have the feeling of “flying blind.” These are the times when I feel I’ve lost the sense of what I want, when my internal compass is spinning, when I close my eyes and I have no vision. It was clear, in those few weeks that we made something together, that Prince rarely, if ever, lost his vision. That wasn’t because he was a magical, otherworldly being; it was because he was rigorous, and generous, and he knew how to fight for what he wanted. It was a beautiful, constant fight. It was love.”
SOUL
I know you probably never get angry, but just in case, here’s how to talk about it with your loved ones.
Because her words are important. And here’s a guide to understanding what you just saw.
I love the community aspect of Living, and Dying, at Home — creating villages to support elders.
Because, presence. “The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.”SPEAKING UP
Why we need to speak up about racismWORD
“There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” -Wendell Berry
