Really enjoying reading these emails; they help me to feel a lot less frustrated and depressed about the state of the world right now. I also loved Braiding Sweetgrass; it very much changed my outlook on life. Not sure if you already know about this, but the sci-fi writer Jeff VanderMeer writes a lot about Rewilding and the impact that individuals can have. Not to mention there's a ton of adorable pictures of baby raccoons and armadillos...
We're reading 'Braiding Sweetgrass' at work for our book club, it was chosen as the Common Read by the university we're employed by. I've been evangelical about this book and Robin Wall Kimmerer since I first read her work, and can't wait to discuss this book and how it pertains to our individual and collective efforts. I wobble back and forth between compassion and grief and find myself clinging to anything that will keep me in balance. It's good to know there are kindred spirits out there.
After a couple months of unemployment, I signed an offer for a new job this morning. The first thing I did after that was bake a cake, but the second thing I did was become a paying subscriber ❤️
Thanks for this! Thanks for bringing up Potawatomi! You've helped me through every phase of my life -including the most recent move from Texas to California to Washington state. On the west coast, I saw natural beauty that I could barely wrap my head around (being from the Midwest) and when I arrived in the Pacific Northwest all I could do was exclaim "There's so much air!" Thanks for giving me a lens to view all this new green with!
As always, an interesting and revealing piece of writing. We've communicated before and so I've heard the idea that you are poorly educated. I just want to point out that's not really true. Rather, you've lived an interesting and involved life, done more than most people will in terms of creativity and reflection. You think before you speak, write and I believe before you sing. You may not have read Aristotle in Greek; I know a number of people who have and none them thought it was useful. You are probably one of the brightest and best thinkers in the world of contemporary music, yet you passion seems to be directed toward a lot of things to be in harmony with the world. I think it's worth reflecting that what you've done in terms of intellectual preparation is a lot greater than that of a lot of intellectuals with sets of initials after their names. Enjoy the summer...
neko - there is a house in topeka, kansas which was owned by the 26th governor of Kansas Alf Landon, also a presidential nominee. Anyway his daughter former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker grew up there, she was the 'first woman to win a senate term without her husband previously serving'. Anyway, this house always reminds me of you!... happy 4th!
This is literally the fourth time I've been prompted to read "Braiding Sweetgrass" and the fourth time I've kicked myself for not just buying it. I live on Potawatomi land (Urbana, IL) too, so I really have zero excuses. I do have a background in academics, I'm an second year PhD dropout from the UofI, now turning to art and music. I studied biological anthropology with a focus on primatology. So nature, the wild, is my baseline for understanding the world. I believe that's why I've been so heavily drawn to your music. Academics is not everything, it's the marriage of cultural knowledge with the scientific process that can really help us lead the way to understanding. I've believed that for a long time. Hope that makes sense & I'm looking forward to reading more on your perspective.
Love Kimmerer's book, too, particularly "The Grammar of Animacy" chapter--how language itself not only shapes our perception but creates that relationship for ourselves, too. I'm oversimplifying and not getting it exactly, either. But I loved her idea of a language based on verbs not nouns and objects. Thanks for writing. . .
The gift that First Nation culture offers is to engage with rather than stand apart from nature , after all a female music producer sang "Heaven is a place on Earth" . Respect for and compassion can be a response to the grief of greed and destruction. thanks for your lung life line Neko
The gift that First Nation culture offers is to engage with rather than stand apart from nature , after all a female music producer sang "Heaven is a place on Earth" . Respect for and compassion can be a response to the grief of greed and destruction. thanks for your lung life line Neko
Went to small group therapy where each of new nothing of the other and yet through some exercises compassion and sharing we all healed each other. At least little bit.
Thunderstorms at dusk. Boiling, growing dark clouds roll over a pink-orange skyline. Sitting in the dark listening to the motions of the approaching storm...it is, without a doubt, a romance complete with the compassion and grief...and always worth it.
Seeing this image makes me appreciate I am not alone in taking pictures of small animals in various stages of decay. They will be found near my creek as I check my gardens. Death by natural cause some by a violet act from another animal. Sometimes the neighbors cat brings me mice. We talk sometimes. Me and the cat that is. Thank you. The bitter sweet is a beautiful dance if you get enough of the sweet to keep you going.
Really enjoying reading these emails; they help me to feel a lot less frustrated and depressed about the state of the world right now. I also loved Braiding Sweetgrass; it very much changed my outlook on life. Not sure if you already know about this, but the sci-fi writer Jeff VanderMeer writes a lot about Rewilding and the impact that individuals can have. Not to mention there's a ton of adorable pictures of baby raccoons and armadillos...
https://www.jeffvandermeer.com/yard/
https://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2021/06/21/wild-tallahassee-six-months-of-jeff-vandermeers-urban-wilderness-columns/
We're reading 'Braiding Sweetgrass' at work for our book club, it was chosen as the Common Read by the university we're employed by. I've been evangelical about this book and Robin Wall Kimmerer since I first read her work, and can't wait to discuss this book and how it pertains to our individual and collective efforts. I wobble back and forth between compassion and grief and find myself clinging to anything that will keep me in balance. It's good to know there are kindred spirits out there.
After a couple months of unemployment, I signed an offer for a new job this morning. The first thing I did after that was bake a cake, but the second thing I did was become a paying subscriber ❤️
Thanks for this! Thanks for bringing up Potawatomi! You've helped me through every phase of my life -including the most recent move from Texas to California to Washington state. On the west coast, I saw natural beauty that I could barely wrap my head around (being from the Midwest) and when I arrived in the Pacific Northwest all I could do was exclaim "There's so much air!" Thanks for giving me a lens to view all this new green with!
As always, an interesting and revealing piece of writing. We've communicated before and so I've heard the idea that you are poorly educated. I just want to point out that's not really true. Rather, you've lived an interesting and involved life, done more than most people will in terms of creativity and reflection. You think before you speak, write and I believe before you sing. You may not have read Aristotle in Greek; I know a number of people who have and none them thought it was useful. You are probably one of the brightest and best thinkers in the world of contemporary music, yet you passion seems to be directed toward a lot of things to be in harmony with the world. I think it's worth reflecting that what you've done in terms of intellectual preparation is a lot greater than that of a lot of intellectuals with sets of initials after their names. Enjoy the summer...
Love your observations and writing voice. A stick dangling from a tree branch by a spiderweb.
If "ticks and moss and paper wasps" doesn't somehow wind up in lyrics of one of your songs it would be a travesty.
Always loved your music, now I get to read your ponderings too. Your brain is a gift, thank you, thank you, thank you...
neko - there is a house in topeka, kansas which was owned by the 26th governor of Kansas Alf Landon, also a presidential nominee. Anyway his daughter former Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum Baker grew up there, she was the 'first woman to win a senate term without her husband previously serving'. Anyway, this house always reminds me of you!... happy 4th!
This is literally the fourth time I've been prompted to read "Braiding Sweetgrass" and the fourth time I've kicked myself for not just buying it. I live on Potawatomi land (Urbana, IL) too, so I really have zero excuses. I do have a background in academics, I'm an second year PhD dropout from the UofI, now turning to art and music. I studied biological anthropology with a focus on primatology. So nature, the wild, is my baseline for understanding the world. I believe that's why I've been so heavily drawn to your music. Academics is not everything, it's the marriage of cultural knowledge with the scientific process that can really help us lead the way to understanding. I've believed that for a long time. Hope that makes sense & I'm looking forward to reading more on your perspective.
Love Kimmerer's book, too, particularly "The Grammar of Animacy" chapter--how language itself not only shapes our perception but creates that relationship for ourselves, too. I'm oversimplifying and not getting it exactly, either. But I loved her idea of a language based on verbs not nouns and objects. Thanks for writing. . .
The gift that First Nation culture offers is to engage with rather than stand apart from nature , after all a female music producer sang "Heaven is a place on Earth" . Respect for and compassion can be a response to the grief of greed and destruction. thanks for your lung life line Neko
The gift that First Nation culture offers is to engage with rather than stand apart from nature , after all a female music producer sang "Heaven is a place on Earth" . Respect for and compassion can be a response to the grief of greed and destruction. thanks for your lung life line Neko
Went to small group therapy where each of new nothing of the other and yet through some exercises compassion and sharing we all healed each other. At least little bit.
Thunderstorms at dusk. Boiling, growing dark clouds roll over a pink-orange skyline. Sitting in the dark listening to the motions of the approaching storm...it is, without a doubt, a romance complete with the compassion and grief...and always worth it.
Seeing this image makes me appreciate I am not alone in taking pictures of small animals in various stages of decay. They will be found near my creek as I check my gardens. Death by natural cause some by a violet act from another animal. Sometimes the neighbors cat brings me mice. We talk sometimes. Me and the cat that is. Thank you. The bitter sweet is a beautiful dance if you get enough of the sweet to keep you going.