tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.comments2013-08-22T17:37:40.144-07:00The Wealth of FamiliesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-69316257732754396782013-08-22T17:37:40.144-07:002013-08-22T17:37:40.144-07:00Please +1 this if you feel so inclined. I'd l...Please +1 this if you feel so inclined. I'd like a few more readers.V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16863843229750216929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-82907274425575647022013-08-22T17:11:42.193-07:002013-08-22T17:11:42.193-07:00Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than d...Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.<br /><br />Charles Darwin<br /><br /><br />V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16863843229750216929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-8017123402663447742012-04-14T14:29:56.194-07:002012-04-14T14:29:56.194-07:00I wanted to get the time to read this seriously. I...I wanted to get the time to read this seriously. I love it.trogonpetehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17304975189503132711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-79445738134354593312012-04-14T10:20:06.022-07:002012-04-14T10:20:06.022-07:00your writing here moves me to tears and stirs my s...your writing here moves me to tears and stirs my soul. Thank you for (again) expressing something that is so true and nuanced.tashi deleghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896323842549449272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-14770197775200909212012-04-14T09:15:07.511-07:002012-04-14T09:15:07.511-07:00Some of the vocab is unfamiliar or foreign to me. ...Some of the vocab is unfamiliar or foreign to me. But the point you arrive at is very welcome. And the example is very scary. I think thinking people should read it.Peg Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18045192551906290398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-15184378020037665802012-01-23T21:26:48.208-08:002012-01-23T21:26:48.208-08:00I love the idea of edifying labor. For my whole l...I love the idea of edifying labor. For my whole life I've craved building things, or creating things, mostly with wood. So far I have limited experience with it, largely because there really is no need. I WILL do it someday when we're not living in student housing anymore. That craving is not going to go away!<br /><br />Thanks for another thought provoking post.MandaMommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17511402868161964991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-67366914013665929282012-01-23T19:54:17.981-08:002012-01-23T19:54:17.981-08:00This essay resonates through me in waves, but from...This essay resonates through me in waves, but from it one idea has startled me entirely: "It is central to human nature that we will direct ourselves into uncertainty because what we need is there." I do this, but I assumed I was nuts. I thought that striving to be better was due to deep-seeded insecurities, but it appears that it is actually due to courage, a willingness to enter the unknown, the uncertain, for the sake of growing. That wasn't obvious to me. <br /><br />Likewise with food, it has struck me as we have stiven to grow virtually everything we eat (well, except bananas - so far) with some success, what would we do if our crops failed. Would we suddenly compromise our standards for what we are willing to put in our mouths? Or would we tighten our belts? We don't know - yet. But yes, I meet my ancestors in the furrows. I really do. Thanks for pointing that out. <br /><br />I could read this essay over and over and still pull wisdom from it. In fact, I will.Peg Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18045192551906290398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-506642591811371792012-01-22T18:28:00.149-08:002012-01-22T18:28:00.149-08:00I think your closing metaphor is right on... when ...I think your closing metaphor is right on... when I get to a re-write I think I'll more carefully lay out a difference between basic needs and the stuff that really lets us thrive, a la Maslow. The essay's too dense, and bears some fleshing out. Thanks for your totally exceellent and helpful comment.V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16863843229750216929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-73756343949993808652012-01-22T10:18:54.753-08:002012-01-22T10:18:54.753-08:00and oh yeah p.s. this is Laureland oh yeah p.s. this is Laurelrorohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09414293272120227740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-69281520541951622632012-01-22T10:11:54.802-08:002012-01-22T10:11:54.802-08:00Love it, Van! Keep it up!
"Resources are ...Love it, Van! Keep it up! <br /><br />"Resources are limited, so the great spiritual practice is compassion."<br /><br />An art for living. Figuring that out is a lifework. A specieswork.<br /><br />It seems to me that much of this mass economy came about in part because it is trying to elevate the quality and security of food and shelter for more and more people. A mass economy to raise us out of the gutter en masse. The idea that everyone deserves a college education. That everyone deserves to have a house, to have children and several pets, to have a car, and live to a certain standard. <br /><br />In a way, maybe it's not so much that we don't have a place in the tribe, but we've been led to believe it's reasonable for us each to occupy the exact same place in the tribe. And it is a compelling thought, the promise of opportunity, of mobility, of never going hungry--or more precisely I should say, of never having an empty stomach--and a house at a constant 70 degrees F. <br /><br />The irony is that our fruit, vegetables and animal-based foods may be more uniform, more massive, and more plentiful, but less nourishing, less resilient in their development, and ultimately a net loss for our bodies and the land. <br /><br />So, maybe the mass economy has accomplished some good, but maybe it's given us more dire problems than it has "solved". <br /><br />Compassion and living artfully--word. I guess what I'm wondering is, is there not more than simply eating well, living in safe and clean houses, and having meaningful interactions with others? Many of the students who seek out BOSS experiences have these things. But they are missing something further, even.<br /><br />I think one of the most fascinating topics is that of risk and insecurity. Food security -- our food supplies are threatened by GM, pollution etc. That's Bad. And yet, I wonder whether having NO threat to our food supply of any kind is also, in the long-term, kinda Bad for us, spiritually. It just depends on the nature of the threat.<br /><br />Vicissitudes of the weather affecting the harvest? The luck of the hunt? We were designed to go hungry some of the time. We were designed to fear and respect many things in life and Nature, and I think that that form of danger--and NOT the type of risk involved in NOT kissing your supervisor's ass for your next promotion--is fact a human need.<br /><br />Maybe it's like delicious food, clean and safe shelter, and meaningful interactions are the macronutrients, like protein, fat and carbohydrate. We do need those things. But certain kinds of danger and insecurity and true hardship are micronutrients, like selenium, iodine, and cobalt. If we go without, eventually the malaise catches up with us.<br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the thought-provoking essay. Chug, chug, chug!!rorohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09414293272120227740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-72498781316954511022012-01-21T23:59:30.279-08:002012-01-21T23:59:30.279-08:00"I propose an art for living."
I love t..."I propose an art for living."<br /><br />I love that! I really love the way you've written this. You've already given so much to think about just in this short introduction. I'm eager to read more and I can tell you'll have a lot to say that will really resonate with me.MandaMommyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17511402868161964991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-27924415032202160282012-01-21T22:32:35.149-08:002012-01-21T22:32:35.149-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Peg Lewishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18045192551906290398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-5455718482104223692012-01-21T21:02:51.876-08:002012-01-21T21:02:51.876-08:00This is wonderful! It actually brought me to tear...This is wonderful! It actually brought me to tears to read these truths so plainly written and clearly woven into a coherent explanation for so much of what I've been feeling and fighting for in my life.tashi deleghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896323842549449272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1270511708119332789.post-72776118348263848272012-01-21T20:21:34.696-08:002012-01-21T20:21:34.696-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.tashi deleghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04896323842549449272noreply@blogger.com