The world is a mess and will only get worse. But that world isn’t our world. That world — the world of wars and strife and empty glittering things — has no place for beauty and no place for us. Instead, all that is possible and all that is powerful are the worlds we create around us, the sanctuaries we build for the distinguished guests who arrive to create with us. Not one sanctuary and not one garden, but many sanctuaries and many gardens. Connected and transversed by the flights of birds and the commutes of hares, not one world, but many, many worlds built by each of us and where we welcome each other also as distinguished guests.
Rachel found a little friend in the collard greens today.
Song of the day: “Que Sera Sera” 🎵
Happy solstice!
The real heroes of our time will not be any culture warriors, either left or right–and certainly not any keyboard warriors. The real heroes will be those who can keep their hearts free of hate, anger, and fanaticism.
This is a good video exploring the geography of Indiana and why it is the smallest of the Great Lakes states. Repeated mispronunciations of place names and even shudder “Hoosier” make me wonder if it’s a AI generated essay instead of one based on individual study. Seriously, mispronouncing Hoosier?
Jesse Welles is a folk legend in the making: “The Great Caucasian God” 🎵
One of the best things in my life is Rachel’s bread. It’s been ages since we last bought bread from a store. This is honey oat whole wheat.
I’ve been in the ER with mom since 7am today. Likely a bad episode of vertigo but they’re doing tests to make sure it’s nothing more. At one point, apropos of nothing, a voice I hadn’t heard before suddenly said “the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field.” It became quickly obvious that it was a woman reading to her husband. But the unexpectedness and the setting made it feel like a moment of grace in a tiring day.
Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong:
The Chinese are fond of repeating, “To relax, you must be tranquil.” And we need to regard relaxation as a process of surrendering to a deeper wisdom, rather than acquiring, through effort, a new ability. Developing large muscles requires effort; cultivating relaxation requires letting go.